Proper stadium ‘key’ to potential future NFL games in Toronto: Roger Goodell

Photo courtesy: NFL

Roger Goodell has a high opinion of Toronto, but believes Canada’s largest city lacks one key feature required to host an NFL team.

The NFL commissioner sat down with the hosts of TSN 1050’s OverDrive radio show on Thursday ahead of the opening of Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, and appeared to indicate that the absence of a similar venue was standing in the way of future games in The Six.

“We’re all huge fans of Toronto. They’re great sports fans. It’s a great city. I’m from Western New York, so I know the relationship, and they do have a great relationship with the Bills,” he said. “I think the Bills are focusing more and more on the business opportunities and how to expand the Bills into Ontario and Toronto. I think the big thing is the stadium. Ultimately, this (Highmark Stadium) sets another mark, and the stadium is an important element of any team. I think that’s going to be key.”

The idea of a Canadian NFL team has been floated as far back as the 1950s and as recently as the owners’ meetings in 2021, with Goodell stating that Toronto could be a “great city” for the league. However, those conversations have dried up, in part due to the lack of a viable venue.

The Buffalo Bills played regular-season games annually in Toronto from 2008 to 2013 to mixed results, with attendance declining toward the end of the series. A later bid by MLSE chairman Larry Tannenbaum, the Rogers family, and rock star Jon Bon Jovi to buy the franchise and relocate it north of the border was unsuccessful.

While both Goodell and the Bills have expressed interest in future games in Toronto, the Rogers Centre, which hosted that series, is now considered outdated and undersized by modern NFL standards, with a max capacity in the low 50,000s. BMO Field, the home of the Toronto Argonauts, was temporarily expanded to 45,736 seats for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and will play host to a cross-border NCAA football showcase between Syracuse and Wake Forest next year, but still doesn’t meet the threshold for an NFL venue.

That problem is replicated in other cities in Canada, with most lacking an adequate stadium, the necessary market size, or both to be an attractive NFL destination. The league did host a preseason game in Winnipeg in 2019 and would be open to similar events in the future, though Goodell suggested those opportunities might also be shrinking due to factors outside the country’s control.

“They’re great fans. We’ve had a great relationship with the CFL and a great relationship with the fans,” he said. “I can see that we’ll continue to play preseason games up there. I’m hoping to reduce the preseason games because I don’t think they’re as necessary as they once were.”

The NFL has continually expanded its international footprint in recent years and will play a record nine contests outside the United States this season. England, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Ireland, Spain, and Australia have all already hosted regular-season games, with France set to host their first next month. The league appears to have its sights set on Asia for future showcase events, with conversations shifting away from Canada.

That hasn’t softened the NFL’s financial interest north of the 49th parallel, however. Seven NFL teams — the Bills, Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders, and Seattle Seahawks — have staked claim to Canada as one of their International Home Marketing Areas, which allows them specific marketing rights in the country, including the ability to host in-person events and sell sponsorships.

Last year, the Bills struck a formal partnership with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), which owns the Argonauts, Raptors, and Maple Leafs, intended to engage fans and grow the game of football. At the time, chief operating officer Pete Guelli told the media in Toronto that 10 to 15 percent of the team’s season-ticket holders live in Canada.

Goodell indicated there are ways to reach international markets without playing games on their soil.

“Listen, we want to be a global game. We want to be globally accepted, and games are only a part of it. Media is the most important issue,” he said. “That’s how you share your game with most of the fans, including here in the States.”

The Barenaked Ladies are scheduled to perform ‘O Canada’ on Thursday, September 17, when the Bills host the Detroit Lions. The game will mark the first regular-season contest at Highmark Stadium, the new $2.2 billion venue located in Orchard Park, N.Y., located 60 kilometres southeast of Niagara Falls, Ont.