My View From The "Cheap" Seats

Well, there it is.

A ticket from the "first" game for the Bills in Toronto (and by first, of course I mean third).

Please note the price.

Well, we all have, haven't we. The biggest complaint going into the Bills in Toronto experiment was the outrageous pricing Rogers put on seats to these games.

100 level seats are $575, and nosebleed 500 level seats like the one in the picture were almost $200 each.

And yet...48,000 people were in the Rogers Centre with me last night.

And yes, I know the stories. Scalpers unable to unload their plethora of tickets. Thousands given away by Rogers in the past week to show the NFL that this wasn't a colossal mistake. The Rogers tickets, by the way, were how I was able to get this seat, because, honestly, I wouldn't pay $10 for a pre-season game in any sport, let alone $200.

But throughout all the negative stories and frustrated CFL fans, one thing remained true about the game: it was entertaining. An opening drive deflected interception, a kickoff return for a touchdown and several exciting catch and runs. Was it worth $200-$575? I guess that depends on your disposable income.

The one thing I do know, though, is that the crowd at the game was evenly split between Bills fans and Steelers fans, who were only outnumbered by general NFL fans. When the Dolphins come here in December for Canada's first regular season NFL game, it will not seem like a home game for the Bills, regardless of the signs and cheerleaders on the field.

Until the Bills move here permanently, and build a new football-friendly stadium along with it, Toronto will just be a city where the Bills play, and not their home.

As for the CFL fans worried about the state of their preferred league...the only reason to be concerned would be if more people went to see the Bills in Toronto than the Argos or the Tiger-Cats. And if that happens, your preferred league wouldn't have stood a chance anyway.