The man is an absolute tool; this is just one of the many reasons. http://www.torontolife.com/daily/in...to-“world-class”-by-bringing-nfl-to-the-city/
Wait for a few years until Ralph Wilson dies... His estate is in charge of selling the team once he dies as his kids don't want it.
They struggle to sell out one game a year in Toronto, they aren't going to sell a season's worth. I think I'm right in saying that football is the number one sport in every city that has a franchise - that would be impossible in Toronto.
That would really suck. It would likely make the AFC have to re-align their divisions. Go to Toronto. The city wouldn't even care that the Bills have been irrelevant for 10+ years. Plus, they are usually good for 2 easy wins per year....
Football is actually pretty popular in Toronto. Plus the Bills suck, if they weren't so bad, they'd probably do fine.
The NFL to Toronto isn't a good fit. Toronto sports fans only love the Leafs, and that is pretty much it. The Jays attendance fell off after the 2 World Series Championships. The Raptors have become (IMO) a novelty, Argos (CFL) only sell about 25K per game, TFC (MLS Soccer) is starting strong, but without winning will eventually die off. The NFL needs to focus on LA first. + Rob Ford is a dolt.
Football is pretty popular in Canada generally, q.v. the number of us on TGG who live here. That doesn't mean that a city, even one the size of TO, can support a football team; as TorontoJETSfan said, it's the Leafs first and everything else a decent second. There are two CFL teams struggling to sell out, the Raps don't manage it either except when the Lakers or Celtics are in town, the Jays struggle to get a third of capacity and by the way, it's going to be -29C (-20F) in Ontario this weekend. I know the US has cold cities as well, but no-one's going to sit and watch a football game in TO in those conditions. TJF, no-one I knows has a good thing to say about Ford. How the hell did he win in the first place?
He is seen as a "everyday Joe" type. Extremely popular amongst his riding. To his credit, he has been very hands on with his people. He consistantly has been the most frugal Polition, always using very little budget to run his office. He is not very polished, but his plans on transit and service cuts will (IMO) have a negative impact on the City. If you are from Toronto or driven in Toronto, you know the road systems absoultely SUCK. In the end, I think it was more of a " throw it against the wall and lets see what happens" vote.
I'm in TO with work every week, and I drive down most of the time. I'm well acquainted with the misery of the DVP.
I'm not sure about NY, but you can definitely make a case for it, since the Mets were clearly bigger than the Giants in the mid 1980s, and the Yankees bigger when they won the Super Bowl a few years ago. St. Louis is definitely right - they actually lost a football team, remember.
I stand corrected. Still, I think my point still largely holds true - an NFL franchise would be competing for too little leftover sporting mindshare behind the Leafs, and crucially the seasons clash which football and baseball don't. Much better for any franchise on the move to go to LA or Vegas.
LA will probably get a team first. Then once all the LAers who are bitching and moaning now realize their team isn't winning the SB every year, they'll stop going to games, the city will stop supporting the team, and the team will pack its bags. Then maybe Toronto will get a turn.
Detroit says Hi! The Lions are Wwwwaaaaayyyyy behind the Red wings in popularity in that town. Tons of the Fans from Toronto already make the trip to Buffalo every Sunday. A team would thrive there and it would have more attractive better corporate ticket buyers than Buffalo. No matter wht happens I really think the team will move somewhere when he old man kicks it. Hopefully not too far so there is no need to realign the divisions. I doubt Goodell would let a team in LA play in the AFC east.
