Bills' owner Wilson in no rush to move north of the border
In an interview with the Associated Press yesterday, Bills owner Ralph Wilson said he will wait "two or three years" to decide whether staging games in Toronto's Rogers Centre is a successful venture.
He also mentioned that, despite Rogers Communications (the company that owns the stadium and the Toronto Blue Jays) expressing interest in more regular season games (the current agreement is one per year through 2012 plus three preseason contests), there is no plans for adding more as of now.
"I'm sure they want another game. And who knows?" Wilson told the AP at his home outside Detroit. "I don't know whether they'll get another game or not. We'll have to see how it works out up there."
In the inaugural Toronto game, the Bills lost to Miami, 16-3, in Week 14 in front of an announced attendance of 52,134. Since the Rogers Centre is a dome, the early December game was played in a balmy 68 degrees instead of 15 degrees outside. Miami, which is 2-7 in games at Orchard Park after Dec. 1, also had plenty of fans in the stadium that afternoon. Maybe the addition of this guy will add more Buffalo fans this year.
"It definitely didn't feel like an away game for us," said Dolphins safety Yeremiah Bell after the game. "The way we played up here today and just to look out in the stands, I think we did win over some fans."
Fans expressed displeasure over high ticket prices for the game, which averaged about $200 for lower-tier seats. Prices have been cut 17 percent this year, with 11,000 tickets selling for under $100.
Despite all these factors, it's difficult for the small-market Bills to turn down the $78 million Rogers is paying them for the rights to these games.
Said Wilson: "We're doing this to keep the team (in Buffalo). I could see why people think that this is just the first step of moving the team. But they don't realize how difficult it is to compete against the Cowboys and all these new stadiums."
The Bills will play host to the Jets in the Rogers Centre Thursday, Dec. 3 (Week 13) at 8:20 p.m.
(AP Photo)
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