That time the NFL came to Toronto

Toronto has a plethora of sports teams. From hockey to basketball to baseball, there are no shortage of opportunities to watch a high-level, A-tier game in town.

While football fans have the CFL's Toronto Argonauts (who obviously do very well for themselves), the city remains one of the largest sports markets on the continent without a team in the National Football League (NFL).

Though it hasn't been officially declared an NFL home just yet, the league has seen Toronto as more of a "home away from home," coming to the city when needed for exhibition games, but never anything official.

That is, until the 2008 season, when Toronto was awarded a series of regular-season NFL games.

The first down

Technically, the first time American football kicked off in Toronto was in 1926, when the Los Angeles Wildcats took on the New York Yankees (different) at Maple Leaf Stadium. But that was the American Football League, and the NFL had only done exhibition games since then.

Though there has been hope over the years. On August 15, 1960, Toronto broke a record for being the first ever city to host an NFL game with two NFL teams outside the U.S. — seeing the New York Giants and Chicago Bears play at Varsity stadium. That game sparked hope that the league would eventually expand into Toronto with a franchise.

But since that day, expansion was nothing but talk, with the only serious Toronto player devoted to football being the Blue Jays CEO and president Paul Godfrey — who had pursued the idea of a franchise since 1988, but was priced out.

Bringing the league north

Talks turned a bit more serious in 2006, when minority owner of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Larry Tanenbaum and Rogers Communications tycoon Ted Rogers.

These two, with so much capital and influence behind them at the time, were seen as having enough sway the NFL would actually listen. There was even a rumour that the duo made a $1 billion dollar bid for the New Orleans Saints — but that was conjectured by Sports Illustrated Peter King.

The NFL wasn't super into the idea, as their only expansion plans at the time was bringing Los Angeles into the league's fold.

Consensus at the time was that Toronto's best bet at bringing American Football to the city was the closest team — the Buffalo Bills.

Touchdown!

It was 2007 when Ralph Wilson, owner of the Buffalo Bills, got his petition to allow the team to play one game in Canada for each of the next five years approved by NFL commissioner at the time, Roger Goodell.

This proposal would help expand the Bills, which were then characterized as a "diminishing market" in western New York, into Toronto. The partnership with Tanenbaum and Rogers helped bolster the team, with one report stating that the team was getting $78 million to play in Toronto — which was calculated to be more than their operation costs in 2006 of $31.2 million.

This big deal, and the dwindling reception the team had in their home state, led many to speculate that the Bills were using this as a test to seriously move the franchise up north, only emboldened by the characterization that Wilson was non-committal about waving away those rumours.

A big fumble

From 2008 to 2013, the Bills Toronto Series saw the NFL team travel north of the border one game per season, though this commitment had diminishing returns, with attendance at games dropping from just over 50,000 to just under 40,000.

There were a number of factors contributing to the Bills Toronto Series' decline. Some cited the exorbitant ticket prices of the games, with 2008 seeing Rogers Stadium charge $183 per ticket compared to the $55 per ticket at the Bills home turf of Highmark Stadium — then Ralph Wilson Stadium (the Ralph).

Even with halftime entertainment provided by big names like "Gangnam Style" artist Psy, the Rogers Centre was a rough venue for football fans.

Failed Hail Mary

When the initial five-year contract for the Bills Toronto Series was up, the team renewed a five-year extension for reportedly "significantly less" than the $78 million they initially contracted for.

This was received with mixed-to-negative reception at the time. Some hometown fans of the Bills were "begrudgingly" accepting of the money for the team, while other fans boycotted the Toronto games. There were also claims of poor turf at the Rogers Centre.

The deal was also scrutinized over the diminishing returns, with plenty of free tickets being given away to fill seats — a far cry from the close to $200 ticket price they wanted.

But the Bills playing in Toronto wasn't all bad for the team, as the team saw an increase in Canadians hopping the border for a game, from 11 to 20 per cent.

The end zone

After a dismal showing in their 2013 game, and an overall record of 1 – 5 in Toronto, it's unsurprising that, on March 5, 2014, the Bills and Rogers released a joint statement to postpone the 2014 game to regroup and discuss the future of this contract.

Though only 20 days later, on March 25, 2014, Bills owner Ralph Wilson died of natural causes. This unfortunate death presented an opportunity, and Tanenbaum teamed up with Edward Rogers III and "Livin' On A Prayer" musician Jon Bon Jovi to make a bid for the Bills.

But their bid was unsuccessful, and it was husband and wife owners of the Buffalo Sabres, Kim Terrence Michael Pegula, who won the Bills with a $1.4 billion bid, all in cash — beating out Tanenbaum-backed Bon Jovi and the third interested buyer, now-U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Sabres power couple ultimately decided to keep the Bills in Buffalo, with no intention of bringing them to Toronto.

Now, Toronto's football scene is squarely in the hands of the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL, and the Rogers Centre was resurfaced with a permanent baseball turf attached to the stadium's floor in time for the 2021 season following the Argos' move to BMO Field.

Even if the Bills wanted to return to Toronto, the Rogers Centre is no longer capable of hosting them after reconfiguration from its original multipurpose stadium design.