After an opening act of conflict and suspicion, with an NFL franchise venturing into CFL territory, the Buffalo Bills and Toronto Argonauts are ready to play nicely on the football field.
It's a big yard, regardless of the rules, officials of both sides said Wednesday, in a telephone conference call to promote Football Week in Toronto, Aug. 14 to 20.
While the Bills have set their sights on selling into the Toronto market, the Argos, a cornerstone franchise for marketing of the Canadian game, aren't fearful that it means the demise of the CFL.
"I can't determine what will happen down the road in terms of what will happen with the NFL in Toronto. We're just going to focus on building a strong CFL base in Toronto," said Bob Nicholson, president and chief executive officer of the Argos.
"We want to expand our market reach into Toronto," said Russ Brandon, chief executive officer of the Bills. But not just to push the U.S. product in Canada's biggest market; the Bills want Torontonians to head south of the border for their NFL fix, too.
Brandon declined to say whether the Bills series of games in Toronto would extend beyond the current schedule of five years, which runs out in 2012. "Fans come back here to Ralph Wilson Stadium, too," he said.
The NFL may want to establish the brand in Toronto, but the two brands (CFL and NFL) can work hand in hand, Nicholson said.
"I don't think the CFL has ever been stronger," he said. "I believe it will help both the Argos and the Bills."
"Our relationship is a very solid one," said Paul Beeston, president and CEO of the Rogers Centre, home to both teams in Toronto.
The idea of Football Week is to push the game from the grassroots amateurs to the top pros. Three pro games are played that week at Rogers Centre - the Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes play the Argos on Aug. 14, the Bills play a preseason game against the Super Bowl runners-up Indianapolis Colts on Aug. 19, and the Argos play the archrival Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 20.
The Bills-Colts match will be the fourth of eight contests the NFL club is scheduled to play in Southern Ontario. The Bills will also play a regular-season game in Toronto against the Chicago Bears in November.
There are also Ontario varsity football conference finals on Aug. 15, showcasing minor-league football, a Football Week clinic on Aug. 16, and a media flag football challenge on Aug. 17.
"This will shine a light on football," said Richard Munro, chief operating officer of Football Canada, the governing body of amateur football in the nation. "There are now 14 or 15 Canadians playing the game in the NFL."
When the Bills and Rogers Communications Ltd. first unveiled the Bills Toronto Series, some interpreted it as a sign the NFL club had designs on relocating to Southern Ontario.
But Brandon said the series was part of a long-established marketing initiative to strengthen the Bills brand north of the border.
"We're squarely focused on what we stated from Day 1 with our primary objective of this series and that's to expand our market reach into the Greater Toronto Area," Brandon said. "We're very focused on regionalizing our brand."