Bills in Toronto Series nearing extension, per report

It has been a few months since we were updated on the Buffalo Bills being optimistic about an extension of the team's series in Toronto, but wonder no more: Daniel Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal reported on Monday that an extension of the series appears imminent.

Kaplan writes that an extension of the series could be approved by the NFL's international committee as soon as this week.

The Bills signed a five-year agreement for the series in 2008, with this year's "home" date against the Seattle Seahawks the final scheduled appearance under that deal. Since the series began, the Bills have played four regular season games at the Rogers Centre, winning just one - last year's 23-0 shutout over the Washington Redskins. Prior to that, they'd dropped games to the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Chicago Bears.

Bills CEO Russ Brandon has insisted for years, and throughout this extension process, that the Bills in Toronto series is a vital cog in the team's regionalization plan to keep the franchise viable in Western New York.

The original five-year deal yielded the Bills a reported $78 million from Rogers Communications for five regular season games (the fifth of which has yet to be played) and three pre-season games, the last of which has already been moved back to Ralph Wilson Stadium this coming fall. Due to trouble selling tickets to these games (an issue stemming from exorbitant ticket prices more than anything else), it's reasonable to expect that the extension won't be as lucrative for Buffalo this time around.

How do you feel about the looming extension, keeping in mind that it's been obvious for a very long time that this development was inevitable?