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Toronto is a market where NFL football is believed to be extremely popular.
But that apparently doesn't mean a flood of consumers willing to pony up top dollar to see the Buffalo Bills — at least in exhibition action.
With the Bills' preseason encounter against the Pittsburgh Steelers just 22 days away, between 6,000 and 8,000 tickets remain available for the Aug. 14 contest. They went on sale last week on a single-game basis.
Tickets for Buffalo's first regular-season game in Toronto, against the Miami Dolphins in December, also remain available, but only to those willing to buy seats for the exhibition contest against Pittsburgh as well.
There are still plenty of top-dollar tickets for those wanting to see Marshawn Lynch et al. do their celebrating at the Rogers Centre. (Rick Stewart/Getty Images)
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"I think we're very pleased with where ticket sales have gone to date," said Adrian Montgomery, the general manager of the Bills in Toronto series. "We've sold the bulk of the tickets for the three and eight-game packages to lottery subscribers and we're now moving through the normal process of selling tickets knowing we've got a few thousand remaining."
Based on what tickets remain available, it would appear that Rogers Communications may have pushed the upper price point too aggressively. For instance, an online search for a pair of tickets revealed nothing available below $255 dollars a seat, but plenty of seats priced from $255 to $575. The same is true for the two-game packages, which include next month's exhibition game and the December game against the Dolphins.
Those tickets are priced slightly higher than they were for those who committed to three-game and eight-game packages through the lottery.
"The high-priced tickets or packages are always the hardest to move," Montgomery said. "But we only put them out for public sale a while ago. Like any ticket, they require a dedicated sales effort."
Rogers paid $78-million for eight Bills home dates (five regular-season and three exhibition games) over a five-year period, requiring them to set an average ticket price above $200 (including VIP seats that include some amenities). By comparison, the NFL's New England Patriots had the league's highest average ticket price last season at $91.
"Is it an aggressive price point? Absolutely," Montgomery said. "Is it expensive to have the NFL come to Canada and did it cost us a lot of money? Yes. We were happy to do it because this city is a world-class sports town and the NFL is the only thing missing. That's an acknowledgment that it's an aggressive price point, but we're not deterred by the level of interest and passion for the NFL."
The positive side of that price point means that the Toronto games — sold out or not — will reap considerably more revenue than if the games were being held in Buffalo, which has the NFL's lowest average ticket price at just $51.
"We've sold a ton of tickets, and we've done very well in meeting our obligation to the Bills," Montgomery said.
Whether or not any fans and corporations have been deterred from buying Bills tickets because of the CFL's efforts to gently play the nationalist card the past few months is impossible to say.
But the fact that Toronto may fail to sell out an NFL exhibition game shouldn't come as a complete shock. The Bills' previous exhibition game in Toronto in 1997 featured roughly 7,000 empty seats for a contest against the Green Bay Packers.
The fact Toronto sports fans understand the nature of preseason football — combined with much lower ticket prices in Buffalo for the same product — also played a role in curbing demand. It's much more likely the regular season game will sell out.
Another hindrance is the fact that ticket pricing and distribution did not begin until early May, with the push on VIP seats waiting until June.
"In a perfect world, you want as much lead time as possible," Montgomery said. "But it took us a fair amount of time to negotiate the deal and get ready. For something like this, you take full advantage and don't worry about the ideal situation."
