During his weekly radio show Wednesday, Buffalo Bills president Russ Brandon expressed concern over whether the Bills lose a competitive edge playing home games in Toronto. Brandon says the series held in the Rogers Centre will "be reviewed in a grand manner." Meanwhile, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says he would like to see all Bills home games played in Orchard Park.
The wisdom of the series is once again being questioned by fans after the Bills lost 34-31 to the Atlanta Falcons before a small unenthusiastic crowd in Toronto Sunday.
During recent lease negotiations for Ralph Wilson Stadium, Poloncarz said he opposed expanding the series.
"Truthfully they receive a significant amount of money from Rogers Communications for holding the game in Toronto. Almost double what they generate at one game at Ralph Wilson Stadium. If it was up to me there would be no Toronto games. It's not my call. When we did the negotiations with the Bills they truthfully talked about having more games in Toronto, to which our response was no," said Poloncarz.
But that was before the Bills dropped to 1-5 in regular-season games under the dome. They are now facing their 14th year in a row out of the playoffs.
Poloncarz said the focus now is on making the $130 million worth of improvements called for in the current lease.
"That's what we're talking about right now is getting ready for the day when the players clean out their lockers and the construction managers and equipment move in to start renovating Ralph Wilson Stadium," said Poloncarz.
Poloncarz said a lot of work is planned in the upcoming offseason.