Toronto to Get NFL Team?

[cigaretteman]

Toronto councillor Doug Ford says he was told last week by NFL Canada that Toronto is “right up there on the list” of cities awaiting NFL teams.
“They have to take care of the problem in Los Angeles first,” said the candid Ford, who is the brother of Toronto mayor Rob Ford. “Two teams are kind of in play here: Jacksonville’s number one; New Orleans is the other. So there’s two teams. Once they take care of Los Angeles, we’re going to fly over to New York, set up a meeting with [NFL commissioner Roger] Goodell and give him our pitch.”
One problem, Mr. Councillor. The city lacks an NFL-ready venue, according to Goodell. But last month, Ford explained his vision of a waterfront stadium to The Globe and Mail’s Marcus Gee. He expanded on the stadium issue in an interview with me at his office Wednesday, stating that he’s talked to Rogers Communications about adding seats to Rogers Centre.
“When I talked to Rogers they were very interested,” Ford said. “Now, they could take the hotel out and add another 10,000 seats but that still wouldn’t get us up to the 75,000 that we need for the Super Bowl.”
Did he just say “Super Bowl”?
“The NFL’s saying, ‘OK, if you’re building a stadium, build it [with 75,000 seats] or you won’t even be eligible for the Super Bowl.’”
Wait, he just said it again. A Super Bowl outside of the United States? In Canada? Now we’re dreaming big. Now we’re shooting for the stars. It’s enough to make an interviewer overlook the fact that, moments prior, Ford passively suggested demolishing the Renaissance Hotel’s 70 rooms that overlook the field.

Toronto Councillor on NFL: “They can’t keep ignoring a market this size” | Blog Archive | Goal-line Stand | Blogs | TheScore.com

[erikbj]

Fail........Jacksonville will be in L.A. and N.O. will stay where they are, that team has meant too much to the community since the hurricane, no way they move.

[intrepid27]

I think the NFL should just keep adding games and teams until the talent pool and enthusiaism dwindles to to a JC college level.
A wise man once told me: "If the circus came to town every week instead of once a year........nobody would go."

Another great example is casinos in Iowa. Evertime they build a new casino it does not create more gambling.......it just moves it around.

[jdoggivjc]

It's been rumored for years that the Bills will eventually move to Toronto. It's beginning to become quite the urban legend.

[Haverhill]

It's been rumored for years that the Bills will eventually move to Toronto. It's beginning to become quite the urban legend.

They should just play half and half like the Packers used to do in Milwaukee.

[Al_4_State]

New Orleans to move? That would be a shocker...

[Wesley]

They might want to move before the flood comes down the Mississippi this year. They must hope their levees do the job again.

[CyBroncos]

Moving the Saints out of New Orleans would be a sad day for the NFL.

[WalkingCY]

As long as they don't have a crappy logo like the Titans when Houston moved to Tenn.



Man that logo sucks. It's a flaming "T"

The Oiler's logo/jerseys were sweet.

[RayShimley]

Moving the Saints out of New Orleans would be a sad day for the NFL.

That would be a PR nightmare. It was bad enough when they moved the Browns, and they had been terrible forever.

[jdoggivjc]

They should just play half and half like the Packers used to do in Milwaukee.

To some extent they already do - last year the Bears-Bills game was played in Toronto. I think in past seasons multiple games were played there.

As long as they don't have a crappy logo like the Titans when Houston moved to Tenn.



Man that logo sucks. It's a flaming "T"

The Oiler's logo/jerseys were sweet.

I agree that the Titans' logo left a lot to be desired, but the Oilers' name and identity had to be changed - Nashville and Tennessee has nothing to do with the oil industry, and long-term adoption of a team can be a struggle if its fans cannot identify with it.

For instance, when the Quad Cities got its AHL team a couple of years ago, the Calgary Flames, half owners of the team, decided to "lend" (more like force) its identity (colors, logo, hell, they even wore the exact same uniforms as its parent organization) upon our team. For more than a decade professional hockey in the Quad Cities has been associated with the "Mallards" name. When the Flames left two years later and hockey at a lower level was brought back in, the "Mallards" name was readopted. Apart from the fact the team was fairly horrible (and Quad City fans are some of the fairest-weather fans in existence), not liking/being able to relate to the "Quad City Flames" identity was part of the failure of the AHL team in the Quad Cities. Want to know why I'm not full of **** on this one? The Rockford Ice Hogs moved up from the UHL to the AHL the same year we did, and the Peoria Rivermen moved up from the ECHL not too much earlier. In both cases they retained their identites when they moved up the ladder. Neither has significantly greater attendance, but both franchises have been successful.

[Rural]

Memphis Grizzlies
Los Angeles Lakers
Indianapolis Colts
Arizona Cardinals

You really think people wouldn't have gone to the games if they were called the Tennessee Oilers?

[CtownCyclone]

It's been rumored for years that the Bills will eventually move to Toronto. It's beginning to become quite the urban legend.

There are quite a few Bills fans in Toronto anyway. When I was up there this past summer, I saw plenty of Bills gear. I think they just go to Buffalo to tailgate though - Canadian laws prohibit fun tailgating.

[clintr]

Memphis Grizzlies
Los Angeles Lakers
Indianapolis Colts
Arizona Cardinals

You really think people wouldn't have gone to the games if they were called the Tennessee Oilers?

Good call. You can add the LA Dodgers and the Utah Jazz to the list.

The Jazz in Utah was the strangest one IMO. As it turns out, it's a state law that Jazz can not be played in public. If in private, you are in violation of the BYU honor code.