Bills fans south of the 49th aren't too excited about their team playing a 'home' game in Toronto.
BUFFALO -- Fans of the Bills are not bullish about their beloved team playing in Toronto next Sunday.
And not just because the team all but eliminated itself from post-season play with a 10-3 loss to the hapless San Francisco 49ers at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday, falling to 6-6.
A straw poll of ticket holders surveyed prior to the start of the game between the Bills and 49ers indicated few people will be crossing the border to see the Bills play host to the rival Miami Dolphins at Rogers Centre.
The game, which is not included in the Bills’ season-ticket package, is financially taxing relative to the cost at the Ralph. Tickets range from $53 to $295, an average of $183. By comparison, the average ticket price for a game in Buffalo is $51.
However, there are some V.I.P. tickets at this Sunday’s game that sell for a whopping $550.
Combined with travelling to Toronto and the hassles of crossing the border, Bills fans are simply not interested in attending the first-ever, regular-season National Football League game in Canada.
Roberta Snyder, a three-year season-ticket holder, said she isn’t going to the game because it’s too expensive to buy the seats and to attend the whole event.
"It’s too much trouble to do all that," she said.
An individual who only wanted to identify himself as Ed said he won’t be attending the game for similar financial reasons.
"You just can’t go on a Sunday and show up," he said. "If you’re going to go, you’ve got to show up on a Saturday. You’ve got to make it a weekend. But it is different over there. Here in Buffalo it’s a big party-type atmosphere in the parking lot. In Toronto, I know it’s different. They don’t have the same atmosphere as far as the tailgating parties go. You’re not partying like you do here."
Ed’s friend John said Bills fans are miffed that playing the game in the Toronto will take away the advantage their team has playing outdoors.
"To give (the Dolphins) a dome, we kind of lose our field advantage," John said. "I think Miami will love it. I’m sure the people that are going there will have a good time, but I think it’s going to benefit Miami more than it will us. It will make it more of a neutral game."
That was a story that developed earlier this week from fans concerned about the fact the retractable roof at Rogers Centre will be locked. It is shut tight after the baseball season.
John believes the decision to play eight games, including five regular season, from 2008-2012, is the beginning of the Bills’ full-time relocation to Toronto.
"I think the plan’s already in the works and I think (Toronto) will eventually get it rather than Los Angeles," he said. "The way they’ve thought this thing through is if they can obviously get over the CFL problem they can sell it as, ‘This is your home team’ because for a lot of years Canadians come down to Buffalo to support the team. They’ll just flip that over and say, ‘You can still support the team. They’re still in the TV market.’ That’s how they’ll do it. It would be the best of probably a bad situation. There are no corporations around here to support it -- not enough -- so from a marketing standpoint it makes sense to do that. It’s probably the best we could hope for down here."
Snyder is optimistic the Bills aren’t leaving Buffalo any time soon.
"The Bills are on their way to the end forever. I think they’ll stay here," she said.
Dan Matychak, who lives in Central New York, said he hopes the games in Toronto are merely a move to broaden the marketplace.
"I think a lot of the times it is the affordability of having an NFL stadium that close that you get so many people from across the border," he said. "You’re not going to get the same pull from this side, I don’t think."
Chris Scharping, a 30-year season-ticket holder who lives in Syracuse, said the travel and the cost are simply too prohibitive. But he said the game is good for Canadians.
"I kind of (will) miss the Miami game here because we’ve always played them and it’s kind of a rivalry, but one game up there is okay. I don’t have a real problem with that," he said.
Scharping is hoping the Bills don’t relocate to Toronto at some point because he figures he won’t attend many, if any, games.
"Personally I’m not overly worried because there’s not much I can do about it either way," he said. "I’m hoping they don’t go up (to play full-time in Toronto), but to play a game now and then, I can live with that."
Frank Duggan, a Port Dover Huron resident who has been a season-ticket holder since 1992 and was attending the game with his son Daniel, who lives in London, Ontario, stated a very simple reason for not attending the game.
"I hate Toronto," he said. "I went to one Canadian Football League game about 20 years ago. The parking sucks."
Daniel Duggan said when he heard some of the games were being relocated to Toronto, in particular the annual home game between the Bills and Miami, he felt something traditional had been taken away.
"I’m going to miss the Miami game. It’s always a fun game, but at the same time I don’t like going to Toronto for football games," he said.
But both Duggans are not concerned about the possibility of the Bills leaving Buffalo for Toronto.
"Toronto will never support the Bills, Daniel Duggan added. "Unless you’re the Leafs you’ve got to win in Toronto."
"It would never fly in Toronto," Frank Duggan added. "Football is a party. Buffalo is noted for one of the best tailgate parties."
