Buffalo Bills open to playing more NFL games in Canada

The Buffalo Bills and the Toronto Argonauts are teaming up to grow youth football in Canada. The Bills announced the new partnership on Tuesday with the Argonauts and their owner, MLSE. According to a press release, this is one of several community partnerships the Bills plan to form in Canada this season.

At a ceremony at BMO Field announcing the new partnership, former Toronto athletes Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, and Jozy Altidore, who were named Bills minority shareholders earlier this year, were in attendance. The new partnership, however, raised a question for many: could the Bills play a game in Canada for the first time in over a decade?

Between 2008 and 2013, the Bills played six regular-season and two preseason games at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, the former home of the Toronto Argonauts. To this day, these remain the only NFL regular-season games ever played in Canada, though the country has hosted several preseason games over the years.

Since 2007, the NFL has expanded its global presence by playing regular-season games in various countries, including England, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Ireland, and Spain. Through the end of the current season, a total of 55 such games have been played or are scheduled to be played outside of the United States.

Canada represents a key market for NFL teams located near the border, like the Bills, Seattle Seahawks, and Minnesota Vikings. While the Bills have a significant following in Southern Ontario, fan loyalties are diverse and extend to many of the league's 32 teams. Although it makes sense to expand the sport's international reach, each team typically has only eight or nine home games a year. Playing games abroad often disrupts local season ticket holders, which has been a point of contention in the past.

Despite the inconvenience of the cross-border trip to Buffalo, Toronto is much closer to the Bills' home stadium than many other recent international game sites. So, will the Bills play in Canada again soon? While a return might not be immediate, especially with their new 62,000-seat stadium set to open for the 2026 season, a team executive didn't completely rule out the possibility.

“I wouldn’t rule it out,” Buffalo Bills Pete Guelli COO said in a question asked by Offside about future home games in Canada. “I think we want to build [the MLSE partnership] the right way and make sure we’re here inspiring that next generation of football fans. We’ve got a new stadium to launch and we’re probably going to play most of our games there in the short term at least, but long term, yeah, we’d absolutely consider it.”

BMO Field, which is currently expanding its capacity from 28,000 to approximately 45,000 with temporary seating for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, is a potential venue. For comparison, the lowest attendance for a Bills game at the Rogers Centre was 38,969 in 2013. The Argonauts moved to BMO Field in 2016, and the Rogers Centre, now with a reduced capacity of about 39,000, has not hosted a regular football tenant since.

With BC Place in Vancouver and Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton being the only active Canadian stadiums with a capacity over 40,000, and both being a considerable distance from Buffalo, it seems unlikely the Bills will play in Canada anytime soon. For now, Canadian fans will have to stick to watching the Bills on TV.