Why MLSE’s Keith Pelley believes partnership with Bills is ‘win-win’

TORONTO — The NFL coming to Toronto has been on the vision board of powerful people in southern Ontario for decades. 

Even before the Toronto Blue Jays became the first Canadian franchise of a major U.S. sport to set up shop north of the border back in 1977, there were enthusiasts who had their eyes set on an NFL team. 

Barely a decade has passed where one group or another hasn’t floated the idea of Toronto as a logical destination for an NFL team on the move, or for an expansion team to head north. 

On multiple occasions it seemed like the NFL team most likely to make its way across the border was the one already closest, with the Buffalo Bills looking at their considerable southern Ontario fanbase as a possible soft-landing place if western New York — one of the league’s smallest markets — couldn’t keep up with the growing demands of serving an NFL team hungry for new revenues, bigger markets and a flashier stadium. 

That was the undercurrent, for example, when the Rogers Centre hosted NFL exhibition games in the early 1990s, or when the Bills signed a $78 million deal to play nine ‘home’ games over five years at Rogers Centre beginning in 2009 (the Bills opted out of the final year of the deal after years of declining attendance in Toronto). 

And the Bills-to-Toronto buzz began again in the early days of former MLSE president Tim Leiweke’s tenure back in 2013, when he was cozying up to rock icon Bon Jovi who was wondering aloud about buying the Bills then, as was Donald Trump prior to setting his gaze on politics.   

Any talk of the Bills leaving western New York has been effectively quieted in the past decade or so, first when the Pegula family bought the club in 2014 after the death of longtime owner Ralph Wilson. And the team’s long-time future in Buffalo seems especially secure given the club will be moving into a new, $1.7 billion stadium next season, with half of the funding coming from New York taxpayers and the public also on the hook for maintenance costs when the stadium opens next season. 

So what were the Bills brass, the head honchos from MLSE, former Toronto stars Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady of the Raptors, Doug Flutie of the Toronto Argonauts and Jozy Altidore of Toronto FC, doing at BMO Field on a bright Tuesday afternoon, perfect for football? 

Well, for the record, no one was plotting about the NFL finally making Toronto home. 

“We have not had any of those discussions at this particular time,” said MLSE president Keith Pelley. “This is about a partnership that can grow the Argos, can grow football in our city and bring it to greater heights and at the same time enhance the Buffalo Bills’ presence here and be part of it. All the possibilities are open, from ticketing to marketing to commercial deals. When you see Real Sports (MLSE’s flagship sports bar in Maple Leaf Square) today, it’s all Bills and Argos, it’s a win-win.”

What the gathering of Toronto sports luminaries was doing then — officially — was to cut the ribbon on a new marketing partnership where the Bills get the benefit of MLSE’s local ties to extend their footprint into southern Ontario and — who knows — add some more season ticket holders for the new stadium where the price of admission is likely to take a significant hike.

“Toronto is a key market for them,” said Pelley.

The deal includes the Argos and Bills coordinating on “Future of Football” clinics for kids in the GTA, a ‘Bills Day’ at the Toronto Argonauts game on Oct. 4, establishing Real Sports as the official ‘Bills watch party destination,’ the availability of Bills merchandise at Real Sports Apparel and a limited edition ‘Bills x Argos’ merchandise collection.

The deal has been in the works for more than a year, the possibility coming from a meeting between Bills chief operating officer Pete Guelli — who holds the same title with the Pegula-owned Buffalo Sabres — and Pelley at the NHL board of governors meeting soon after each man joined their respective companies in the spring of 2024. 

A significant tell came December 2024 when Carter, McGrady and Altidore — three athletes with deep Toronto ties developed while playing for MLSE-owned teams — were added to the Bills ownership roster as limited partners.

Joining forces with the Bills makes sense for MLSE, given the alternative is to stand idly by as the club — which has the NFL marketing rights for southern Ontario — comes into their backyard anyway looking to make deals with the same business interests that MLSE relies on for its sponsorship revenue.

If you can’t beat them — or in this case, buy your own NFL team — you might as well join them. 

“It’s a great opportunity. The NFL is the NFL. The Buffalo Bills are the Buffalo Bills,” said Pelley. “We have incredibly strong brands, and we think that the Buffalo Bills can help grow football not only in Ontario and Toronto, but we also think they can help the Argonauts (the CFL franchise owned by MLSE alongside the Raptors of the NBA, Maple Leafs of the NHL and TFC of MLS).

“There are so many possibilities, but you can’t dispute the strength of the NFL and the strength of the Buffalo Bills…

“The Bills also recognize the strength of MLSE and the power that we have in the community … they love what we do with the Leafs and the Raptors in the community, they love what we do with TFC and the Argos, so I think it’s a win-win for both sides.”

More from Sportsnet

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment enters into partnership with Buffalo Bills

NFL fines Eagles DT Jalen Carter for spitting on Cowboys QB Dak Prescott