Rogers moves Bills exhibition game to Buffalo
Posted February 21, 2012 11:25 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Buffalo Bills pre-season game scheduled to take place this summer at Rogers Centre has been moved back to Ralph Wilson Stadium.
According to a press release issued Tuesday by the Toronto Blue Jays who, like the stadium they play in, are owned by Rogers Communications the move was necessitated due to a “potential scheduling conflict.”
During an appearance Tuesday on the Jeff Blair Show on Sportsnet Radio Fan 590, Rogers Media president Keith Pelley said two Blue Jays home stands in August and “one other event” Rogers is hoping to host at Rogers Centre that month, left Sunday Aug. 26 as the only date available to the Bills.
But, Pelley added, the Bills could not guarantee Rogers that date, hence the decision to move the game back to Buffalo.
In 2007, Rogers Communications entered into a reported $78 million, five-year deal to bring the Bills to Rogers Centre for eight games (three pre-season, five regular season) through 2012.
Pelley said the decision to move the game has nothing to do with Rogers’ commitment to the Bills and that in fact, the two parties continue to discuss the possibility of extending the partnership beyond 2012.
As for the yet-to-be-determined 2012 regular season Bills game in Toronto, it will continue as planned with the date and opponent announced sometime in April after the NFL schedule is released.
Ticket holders for this August’s pre-season game will receive a full refund in the amount of the original pre-season game ticket price paid for the 2012 pre-season game.
