NFL in Toronto

The Wildcats lost the regular season game to the New York Yankees (which would join the NFL the following year) 28–0 in front of 10,000 fans at Maple Leaf Stadium on 8 November 1926.

[20] The Bills played in two pre-season American Bowls in Toronto in 1995 and 1997, organized by Paul Godfrey, in an attempt to prove the city's worthiness to host a franchise permanently.

[25] A planned game featuring the Chicago Bears in the 2002 season was called off in part due to the poor state of the artificial turf at the SkyDome.

[26][27] At the 2005 Super Bowl, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the league was considering staging an NFL regular season game in Toronto within a few years,[27] with Godfrey and Rogers Communications bidding to host a game at the SkyDome, which had been renamed the Rogers Centre, in partnership with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and Larry Tanenbaum, chairman and minority owner of MLSE.

[31][33][34][35][36][37] On October 18, 2007, the Bills announced that they were seeking NFL approval to play a pre-season and at least one regular season home game in Toronto in an attempt to regionalize the franchise and capitalize on the southern Ontario market.

[38] Moving games from Ralph Wilson Stadium required the approval of Erie County and the Empire State Development Corporation.

Toronto is within a 75-mile (120 km) radius of Ralph Wilson Stadium, and thus it was subject to the league's blackout policy for home games that do not sell out.

[46][48] In March 2009 Rogers announced that it was considering renegotiating the agreement to add a second annual regular-season Bills game beginning in 2010,[49] though this never came to fruition.

During negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement with the players in 2011, NFL officials considered lengthening the season by 2 games, with the possibility of incorporating additional international play.

[65] Following the death of team owner Ralph Wilson in March 2014 the Bills were purchased by Kim and Terrence Pegula, who announced their intentions to end the Toronto Series in a November 2014 interview.

[67][68][69] When a major snow storm hit Buffalo in late November 2014, forcing the Bills to move a home game from Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Rogers Centre was considered as an alternate site.

However, a conflicting event and concerns about getting passports for all the players and staff on short notice made this unworkable, and Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan was chosen instead.

[96] The same year, a separate group brought the New York Giants and Chicago Bears to Toronto to play an exhibition game at Varsity Stadium with the goal of eventually acquiring an expansion franchise for the city.

[136][137] The controversy surrounding the Browns' relocation to Baltimore eventually persuaded the NFL to agree to a settlement stipulating a return to Cleveland as soon as possible.

"[142] By this time there were questions whether SkyDome was a viable long-term NFL venue, with Godfrey developing plans for a new stadium near Downsview Park.

[144] It was speculated that if Toronto's bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics were successful, the stadium constructed for the games could be repurposed for an NFL club.

"[151] Late that year it was reported that Rogers had targeted the Arizona Cardinals to relocate to Toronto, with plans for the SkyDome to undergo a significant renovation to make it acceptable for the NFL, including removing the attached hotel so it could be replaced with extra seats.

[154] Godfrey has stated that in 2005 the NFL gave him and Tanenbaum permission to discuss the sale of the New Orleans Saints with team owner Tom Benson.

[163] In March 2010 it was reported that a Toronto group was one of three parties attempting to buy the St. Louis Rams (the others being Shahid Khan and a Dave Checketts–Rush Limbaugh partnership),[164] though the team was ultimately sold to Stan Kroenke.

[167] In July 2013, Tim Leiweke, the new President of MLSE stated of the organization's involvement in bringing an NFL team to Toronto, "it is a safe bet to say we’ll have some role there, to be determined, but that's on our radar screen", and that "we'd go out of our way to make it work here.

The difficulties selling tickets, particularly late in the season when the weather is much poorer, was part of the reason why capacity of the team's home, Ralph Wilson Stadium, was decreased by 7,000 during its 1998 renovation.

[190] Western New York's economic difficulties have forced the Bills to keep their average ticket prices among the lowest in the NFL,[191][192] and the team did not opt into the loosening of blackout restrictions in 2012.

[196] The stadium is unlikely to be satisfactory for the Bills beyond the current lease term, with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell describing the renovations as a "short-term solution".

[225][226] It was reported that the trust was desirous of a quick and clean sale, which was no guarantee with the Toronto group due to the possibility under the non-relocation agreement of a lawsuit from the county or state blocking the sale if they suspected the team would be moved, as well as potential difficulty in securing approval from the NFL due to the likelihood of negative fan reaction for several years until the franchise transfer could take place.

[227][228] Despite requests from the bank conducting the sale for a clear statement from the Toronto group that they would not move the team, only vague promises to work with local government to build a new stadium in Buffalo were provided.

[231] On 9 September 2014 it was announced that the franchise had been sold to Kim and Terrence Pegula, who committed to keeping them in Buffalo, for the reported price of $1.4 billion.

[234] In December 2024, Pegula sold a minority stake in the Bills franchise to a number of partners, including retired professional athletes Jozy Altidore, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady who played for Toronto based teams.

[236] In late 2015, the St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders submitted applications to relocate to Los Angeles, though it was unlikely that the league would approve all three teams moving to the city.

Likewise, any relocation would have to be approved by the same amount, though Al Davis moved the Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles in 1982 against the league's wishes.

The Montreal Expos, Vancouver Grizzlies, original Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques all left the country between 1995 and 2004 when the value of the Canadian dollar was low.