Who do you cheer for?

Craigerrr said:
Not throwing stones at either organization, but I find it remarkable that such a small city (Cincinnati) is able to support pro sports teams.
There use to be talk of bringing an NFL team to Toronto (GTA pop = 6+ million), but it has been all quiet on that front for several years now.
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Cincinnati might be on the smaller end of NFL markets but it's not that small. About 2.2 million people in the Cincinnati tri-state area, Buffalo has about half that but was much larger in the 60's and 70's when our teams were founded. Still much larger than Green bay. Buffalo teams also get a large degree of support from expats and their children. I can run into Bills and Sabres fans almost anywhere I go. Even in Austin Texas I've gotten a "Lets go Buffalo" leaving the airport in a Sabres T-shirt. I know Sabres fans that have grown up in Ohio, Indiana, NYC, and even one that grew up in Edmonton (Also met some from southern Ontario that can't stand the Leafs:D) I guess the point is population doesn't directly correlate to the size of a fanbase.
I'm sure there were factors (such as ticket price) but the Bills Toronto series is largely considered a huge failure (atleast on this side of the border). I hope you guys get a team someday but I don't think it'll be because a team doesn't have support where they are. It'll be because they can't extort the local government into building them a new stadium so they'll go somewhere that will. Serious question though, if you get an NFL team what happens to the Argos?
 
Craigerrr said:
Not throwing stones at either organization, but I find it remarkable that such a small city (Cincinnati) is able to support pro sports teams.
There use to be talk of bringing an NFL team to Toronto (GTA pop = 6+ million), but it has been all quiet on that front for several years now.
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If they did that, they'd have to change the name: National Football League to ???
 
SabreSteve said:
Cincinnati might be on the smaller end of NFL markets but it's not that small. About 2.2 million people in the Cincinnati tri-state area, Buffalo has about half that but was much larger in the 60's and 70's when our teams were founded. Still much larger than Green bay. Buffalo teams also get a large degree of support from expats and their children. I can run into Bills and Sabres fans almost anywhere I go. Even in Austin Texas I've gotten a "Lets go Buffalo" leaving the airport in a Sabres T-shirt. I know Sabres fans that have grown up in Ohio, Indiana, NYC, and even one that grew up in Edmonton (Also met some from southern Ontario that can't stand the Leafs:D) I guess the point is population doesn't directly correlate to the size of a fanbase.
I'm sure there were factors (such as ticket price) but the Bills Toronto series is largely considered a huge failure (atleast on this side of the border). I hope you guys get a team someday but I don't think it'll be because a team doesn't have support where they are. It'll be because they can't extort the local government into building them a new stadium so they'll go somewhere that will. Serious question though, if you get an NFL team what happens to the Argos?
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Denver proper is only about 600,000. Metro Denver is likely pushing 3 million. So you add the Northern KY cities (Florence, Erlanger, etc.) and the Ohio suburbs, Cincinnati is not that small.
 
Nosybear said:
Denver proper is only about 600,000. Metro Denver is likely pushing 3 million. So you add the Northern KY cities (Florence, Erlanger, etc.) and the Ohio suburbs, Cincinnati is not that small.
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Yeah I think Cincy is around 500-600K. The 2.2M is including all the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana suburbs. I actually used to work in Florence, people there are one of a kind. The Cincy metro is very far-flung, partly due to I-275 which I believe is the 3rd longest beltway in the US. As far as Buffalo too you got to take into account that the Buffalo sports market also draws from Southern Ontario and the Rochester NY metro area (where I currently live) which has about 1m people and is only about a 1 hour ride down I-90
 
The area around is a decent sized population really. Besides when the Reds or Bengals are good the stands are FULL.
 
Josh Hughes said:
The area around is a decent sized population really. Besides when the Reds or Bengals are good the stands are FULL.
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The Cincinnati Cyclones also constantly draw well despite being the equivalent of a AA team in a non-traditional hockey market. Used to enjoy their games, sad to hear they're opting out of this coming season. With no Cyclones and likely no AHL the Sabres are going to need to have some place for their prospects, unless the NHL goes to taxi squads like MLB did this year
 
SabreSteve said:
I'm sure there were factors (such as ticket price) but the Bills Toronto series is largely considered a huge failure (atleast on this side of the border). I hope you guys get a team someday but I don't think it'll be because a team doesn't have support where they are. It'll be because they can't extort the local government into building them a new stadium so they'll go somewhere that will. Serious question though, if you get an NFL team what happens to the Argos?
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The Bills in Toronto was a massive failure!
There are a lot of Bills fans in Ontario, but there are as many fans of most other NFL teams as well.
I was at Ralph Wilson in 2010 for the Steelers game, and it was truly a home game for the Steelers.
The Argos... for those that don't know, the Toronto Argonauts are in the CFL (Canadian Football League). The majority of the players in the CFL are American players that aren't good enough to make an NFL team. There is actually a minimum number of Canadians each team must field. There is an MVP award, and a top Canadian award. Point being that the talent level leaves much to be desired.
It is a very safe bet that there are far, far more Canadian football fans at any single Bills game than at any Argo's game.
 
Craigerrr said:
The Bills in Toronto was a massive failure!
There are a lot of Bills fans in Ontario, but there are as many fans of most other NFL teams as well.
I was at Ralph Wilson in 2010 for the Steelers game, and it was truly a home game for the Steelers.
The Argos... for those that don't know, the Toronto Argonauts are in the CFL (Canadian Football League). The majority of the players in the CFL are American players that aren't good enough to make an NFL team. There is actually a minimum number of Canadians each team must field. There is an MVP award, and a top Canadian award. Point being that the talent level leaves much to be desired.
It is a very safe bet that there are far, far more Canadian football fans at any single Bills game than at any Argo's game.
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Steelers Nation travels well (I've seen it firsthand in Cincinnati) but that was also at the height Bills drought. I think a part of the problem was the reason the NFL wanted Toronto is they were hoping they could charge big city prices. Buffalo has long had the lowest average ticket price in the NFL and with revenue sharing that pisses all the other owners off. That's why the NFL is pushing hard for a new Bills stadium so there's an excuse to raise prices. The Toronto games failed cause they were trying to push that big city price to prove the market but so many Southern Ontario fans are so used to crossing the border for Bills and Sabres games anyways that they'd rather do that than pay 2-3 times as much in Toronto. It was a poorly thought out experiment.

Speaking of CFLers, our Cincinnati area people might remember Zach Collaros from the University of Cincinnati. Kind of a star QB in the CFL from what I've seen. Think he tore it up for a year or two with the Ti-cats maybe?
 
There is talk of tearing down the sky dome (Roger's Center), it truly is a terrible building. Blue Jay's would like a more intimate stadium that is not dual purpose. It would take VERY deep pockets to bring the NFL to Toronto. They would need a new multi billion dollar stadium for one, which would need to have a retractable roof. The trickiest part is that, IIRC, NFL rules stipulate the a team must have a single entity owner, no consortiums.
 
Craigerrr said:
There is talk of tearing down the sky dome (Roger's Center), it truly is a terrible building. Blue Jay's would like a more intimate stadium that is not dual purpose. It would take VERY deep pockets to bring the NFL to Toronto. They would need a new multi billion dollar stadium for one, which would need to have a retractable roof. The trickiest part is that, IIRC, NFL rules stipulate the a team must have a single entity owner, no consortiums.
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The rules are apparently that a single "majority" owner must own atleast 30% and no ownership group can exceed 24 people. The one exception to the rule of course is the Packers who are community owned. So yeah, I think MLSE would have trouble if they were to try lead a bid for a team. London has fully replaced Toronto as the NFL's prime target for international expansion. I think it's just a matter of time, just have to figure out the travel/scheduling. I don't know if the NFLPA would go with it but I think you just have to split London's schedule into four 4-week blocks with a bye week between any two blocks. They'd spend 4 weeks on the road in the US and then 4 weeks at home. You'd have to get a little creative with game times so they can air in the UK and US without tape delay. Then any team that plays in the UK you just give a bye week after
 
There is also the "suitable stadium" catch 20
The dome in Toronto is NOT suitable, but if you build it, will they come?
Mexico City is more likely to get a team before Toronto
 
As long as draft position isn’t affected. I guess a win again he Steelers is worth a spot though
 
Craigerrr said:
There is also the "suitable stadium" catch 20
The dome in Toronto is NOT suitable, but if you build it, will they come?
Mexico City is more likely to get a team before Toronto
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I don't know about Mexico City...
Nosybear said:
...since we don't have a lot else worth cheering for here in Denver. Except beer. We do have really great beer.
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I mean the Avs have a great young team...
 
The Bengels-Steelers game reminded me of the Packers-Bears game earlier this month. Being in Wisconsin most of us are Green Bay Packer fans. Our manager however is a fan of our arch-rival the Chicago Bears. So in the first staff meeting that followed the Packers destroying the Bears, most of us surprised our manager and wore our Green Bay Packer's gear and put up Green Bay Packers backgrounds. The image I used was of their quarterback fumbling the ball and the Packers scooping it up and running it in for a touchdown. The game wasn't in question after that. (Not sure why the image is reversed. Probably just a setting I never noticed.)
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My manager is a good sport about all of this. Unrelated to the above, however he is no longer my manager. At least he says it's not related! :D
 
World Junior Hockey Tourney kicked off yesterday. Of note Canada beats Germany 16-2, and the Young Americans beat Austria 11-0
 
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