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The final day of the CFL regular season will have a different flavour in Toronto this fall - a regular season NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears.
And while the NFL clash on Nov. 7 might divert some attention in Southern Ontario away from the Toronto Argonauts wrapping up their regular season later that same afternoon at Montreal, the CFL isn't quaking in its boots.
"[Playing an NFL game during the CFL season]doesn't shake the foundations of the CFL," said Toronto Argonaut president and chief executive officer Bob Nicholson. "It was always anticipated after the first year they'd want to play a game in season."
The Bills had previously played two regular games in Toronto in December, after the Grey Cup had been played.
But Toronto Blue Jays president Paul Beeston, who is overseeing the Bills Toronto Series for the first time, said there were two reasons he wanted to move the annual Toronto game to early November. One was for the chance to have the Rogers Centre roof open. The other was to improve the chances that the game will be meaningful in the standings.
Last season, the Bills were eliminated from the playoffs by the time they showed up in Toronto and the previous season they arrived with just a mathematical chance at the post-season.
Beeston said he doesn't believe the Bills playing in Toronto on an Argo road date is a bad thing for either club.
"We think it's a good football date," he said. "You can watch the Bills at 1 p.m. and the Argos at 4 p.m. If the Argos had been playing at 1 p.m. then the Bills would have played at 4 p.m. We're trying to be considerate of them, as much as we'll take criticism for it."
Nicholson said he does not view the NFL's selection of an earlier date as a challenge for the CFL. "It doesn't bother us," he said. "We're accustomed to them coming into the Rogers Centre. Even when they played games in December, they were promoting them through October and November."
While Nicholson didn't take the Nov. 7 date in a major Canadian market as a threat, several other officials of CFL clubs declined to comment because they have been asked to let the league office comment on the matter.
"This doesn't change our focus, which is on preparing for our season and strengthening our league," said Michael Copeland, chief operating officer of the CFL. "And I know it doesn't change the Argos' focus, which is on building, on and off the field."
CFL commissioner Mark Cohon was travelling and not immediately available to comment, a spokesman said.
The game between the Bears and Bills will mark the third consecutive year that Buffalo has played a home game in Toronto. The first two were December dates against the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. Those games took place after the Grey Cup championship game and the CFL had finished playing for the season, but they weren't compelling draws for NFL fans. Both the Dolphins and Jets were coming off non-playoff seasons in the AFC. The Bills lost both contests and some Buffalo fans complained the club was giving up home field advantage - in the cold and wet outdoors - to division rivals by playing the game indoors in Toronto.
The league earlier announced a pre-season game in Toronto, when the Bills are hosts to the AFC champion Indianapolis Colts on Aug. 19.
Tickets for both games have been re-priced from last year and start at $65 with discounts available to those who buy both games.