Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills have entered the NFL’s Global Markets Program for the first time.
Until this offseason, only 29 NFL teams had official Global Markets Program deals with the league to help grow the game and the team’s brand internationally. The Buffalo Bills were one of three teams without a country, but were approved for one this week at the NFL Owner’s Meetings.
The Bills have marketing rights in Canada now, unsurprisingly. They are joined by the Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, and Seattle Seahawks. Notably all of those cities except Arizona broadcast over the air directly into Canada on television.
This isn’t a direct partnership between the Bills and the country of Canada. It’s just a way for teams to broaden their fan base footprint without running into more competition in the market from too many other NFL teams.
Here is the description from the press release:
Launched in 2022, the Global Markets Program awards NFL clubs international marketing rights to build brand awareness and fandom beyond the U.S., through fan engagement, events, commercial opportunities and NFL Flag development.
The Bills already did some of this within the Toronto market, from adding minority shareholders in the team from the city and participating in some cross-promotional events with the Blue Jays. Now those events can actually use the Bills’ logo among other investments.
This does not mean we’re going to see a return to the Bills Toronto Series any time soon and they definitely won’t be selling home games north of the border. But this could pave the way for the NFL’s expansion into Canadian markets for individual games that could include the Bills.
For instance, the Atlanta Falcons have marketing rights in Germany and they are playing a game there this coming season. The Miami Dolphins are playing in Madrid in 2025 and thet have marketing rights in Spain.
So if the NFL decides to continue expanding their international offerings to a Canadian market, it’s likely the Bills would be on the short list.
The Buffalo Bills go way back in terms of playing games in Canada. In 1961 they scrimmaged the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a game that played one half on American football rules and the other on Canadian football rules. Hamilton won 38-21.
As part of the NFL’s international expansion in the late 1980s, the Buffalo Bills were set to play a preseason game in Toronto but it was canceled. They returned in 1995 to play the Dallas Cowboys in a Super Bowl rematch at SkyDome and again in 1997 to play the Green Bay Packers.
The Buffalo Bills signed over the rights to eight games to be played in Toronto instead of Orchard Park. (The number was later reduced to seven.) One regular-season game for five years and preseason games in every other...
