One would think that with the size of Canada that it would have a least one national football league. It doesn’t however although there are enough football fans that would welcome it.
Toronto Games
Even though there are no national football leagues there have been NFL games played in the city of Toronto. The first game of this type took place in 1959. This was a game between the Chicago Cardinals and the Canadian Football League outfit, the Toronto Argonaut. The game was played at Toronto’s exhibition stadium. This has not been a one-time occurrence either. There have been several preseason games held in Toronto between the NFL teams.
Hosting Regular Games
Toronto has been host to regular games for the NFL along with London and Mexico City.
Bringing NFL to Canada
Canada, on the whole, would like to be part of the NFL as it is the largest city not to have its own NFL. In the past, there has been talk about forming a league but it went nowhere. Now there is some indication that in 2020 there is renewed interest in this. This comes with some conditions and one of them would be building a new football stadium.
- 1952: There was some talk that the Dallas Texas team would be moved to Toronto but this never took place.
- 1955: The future owner of the Toronto Argonauts was holding discussions to have an NFL team established in Toronto.
- 1960: A group in Toronto reported that there were negotiations taking place to have a franchise in Toronto by 1962.
- 1969: A group from Toronto approached the NFL about bringing a team to Toronto.
There was even talk about making the Argos an NFL team. Then there were ongoing talks throughout the years about building a new stadium.
By the amount of talk that has taken place over the years there is plenty of interest to have the NFL come to Toronto.