Preseason Idea for Kraft to Consider

[Wandering Athol]

To punish myself for being an evil Patriots fan, I was reading an article somewhere about the Buffalo Bills plans for the future (Wilson's family supposedly has no interest in running the franchise after Ralph's passing). The NFL is allowing the Bills to play 1 regular season game a year, and a few preseason games as well, up in Toronto, in order to increase the size of the team's fanbase. So I got to thinking....

Why couldn't Kraft, who holds some sway in NFL circles, and is always on the lookout for a few more bucks, convince the league to allow him to play ONE preseason game a year up in, let's say Montreal? Kraft expands his team's influence, the league taps into another avenue from which revenue sharing monies can come, and Pats season ticket holders have one less preseason game that they have to pay full price for. It's a short trip, so I can't see the players bitching too much about it either.

There are two big unknowns to me:
1) Do the the facilities exist to have such a contest?
2) Will the socialist government allow this possible competition with the Allouettes?

Does this seem reasonable, or am I off my rocker here? :shrug_n:

[Undertaker #59]

There is a stadium:

The Olympic Stadium is a stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada built as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics. It subsequently became the home of Montreal's professional baseball and Canadian football teams. Since the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington, D.C. in 2004, the stadium has had no main tenant, and with a history of financial and structural problems, is largely seen as a white elephant. It currently serves as a 56,040-seat multipurpose facility for special events (e.g. concerts, trade shows) during non-winter months, and continues to serve as a venue for select Montreal Alouettes and Grey Cup games.

[Wandering Athol]

Two things you'd have to consider still:
1) The CFL schedule overlaps the NFL schedule in August. Finding an open date shouldn't be too difficult though.
2) There might be existing (or proposed, if word leaked out) covenants against another football team playing in Olympic Stadium.

[Spentcartridge]

Additionally, the Canadian dollar is now worth more than the American dollar. Bob K. could say something like, " As added value, the Patriots organization will sell tickets @ Canadian prices.":reche:

[oldbagfan]

Here's the PFT contribution about this topic today:

GOODELL WILL MEET WITH SENATOR ON POSSIBLE BILLS MOVE by Michael David Smith
The meeting that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is having today with U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) isn't his only scheduled meeting with a senator.
In addition to the Goodell-Specter Spygate meeting, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has scheduled a meeting with Goodell and Bills owner Ralph Wilson to discuss what can be done to keep the team in Buffalo.
"[Goodell] and I are going up to meet with Mr. Wilson in the near future to discuss the future of the Bills and try to figure out ways we can help the Bills to stay in Buffalo (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/bills/2008-02-13-goodell-meeting_N.htm)," Schumer told reporters in a conference call today.

The Bills plan to have a total of eight preseason and regular-season games at the Rogers Centre in Toronto in the next five years, and that has led to some speculation that Toronto, which is a bigger and wealthier city than Buffalo, might ultimately be an attractive home for the Bills on a permanent basis.
But Schumer said he's confident that the team will stay in Upstate New York.

"Commissioner Goodell is committed to doing anything he and the league can to keep the Bills in Buffalo," Schumer said.
U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., also said today that he wants to do all he can to keep the Bills where they are. In a letter to Goodell, Higgins said the league should consider allowing full community ownership of the Bills, modeled after the Green Bay Packers, or at least allow local fans to own a minority stake in the team.

[MEPATNUT]

How about Halifax?

[patriotswin4me]

How about Halifax?

We don’t have a stadium here in Halifax, but we do have the Halifax country club. :thumb:
http://www.halifaxcc.com/ (http://www.halifaxcc.com/) :shrug_n2:

[TrueBeliever]

There is a stadium:

The Olympic Stadium is a stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada built as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics. It subsequently became the home of Montreal's professional baseball and Canadian football teams. Since the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington, D.C. in 2004, the stadium has had no main tenant, and with a history of financial and structural problems, is largely seen as a white elephant. It currently serves as a 56,040-seat multipurpose facility for special events (e.g. concerts, trade shows) during non-winter months, and continues to serve as a venue for select Montreal Alouettes and Grey Cup games.

Here's my concern - if this stadium isn't being used much, is it up to NFL standards? Back in '97 the Bills and Packers played an "American Bowl" game at the Skydome. Apparently the stadium commission or whoever runs that place told the NFL they would use the same turf that they use for Blue Jays games, but when the teams got there that turf had been replaced with an old, backup turf that didn't stay in place that well. Fortunately there were no injuries, but the NFL quietly told the commission "We won't be coming back here if you're going to pull that s**t."

So if this place is just sitting empty, what kind of shape is the field in?