Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The National Football League's Buffalo Bills travel north tomorrow for the first of eight games in Toronto. Not everyone will welcome them.

Toronto, 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Buffalo, is the home of the Canadian Football League's Argonauts. CFL fans like Canadian Senator Larry Campbell say the games may represent a beachhead for an eventual NFL franchise in Canada's biggest city.

``Should the Bills or any NFL team come to Toronto, it would virtually spell the demise of the CFL,'' said Campbell, 60, who is trying to pass legislation that would make it illegal for the NFL to establish a team in Canada.

Bills owner Ralph Wilson insists the Bills, which haven't made the playoffs in almost a decade, aren't moving anywhere. Instead, the series of five regular season and three exhibition games over five years is meant to drum up fan interest outside the team's base, he said in February.

``I think it's been very successful in making the Bills stronger in western New York,'' NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in Buffalo last month, according to the team's Web site. ``It's bringing more people down from Toronto.''

The Bills kick off the series against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Argonauts' Rogers Centre stadium tomorrow. On Dec. 7, the Bills will play the Miami Dolphins in the first regular-season NFL game in Canada.

On the Rebound

The NFL arrives with the CFL on the rebound. After losing a franchise in Ottawa in 1996, league attendance has risen six straight years to an average of 29,167 per game in 2007, the highest since 1983. There are eight teams in the league, including the Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who play 115 kilometers from Buffalo.

Wilson, 89, has said he doesn't plan to sell the team. He started the Buffalo franchise in 1960 as a team in the American Football League, which merged with the NFL in 1970. Wilson is the only original AFL owner to keep his team in the city where it began.

The Argonauts, whose supporters like to cheer them on by screaming ``AARRRGGOOOS,'' are all a football fan needs, said Trevor Boyer, a 27-year-old season-ticket holder from Kitchener, Ontario.

``I hate the NFL,'' said Boyer, a laborer who has held season tickets since he was 15. ``The CFL's the game in Canada. The NFL can stay in Buffalo.''

Ticket Sales

A new Bills owner might be attracted to Toronto. With a population of about 2.5 million people, the city is nine times bigger than Buffalo, and is Canada's financial hub. Buffalo last week was listed as one of America's fastest-dying cities by Forbes magazine, citing a decline in residents and higher-than- average unemployment.

Tickets for the first three NFL games in Toronto are almost sold out, with ``only a few thousand'' left for tomorrow's match-up, said Anthony Antonelli, a senior director of marketing for the series. The Argonauts averaged 30,931 at Rogers Centre last season.

Prices range from C$55 ($51.56) for a ticket in an eight- game package, to C$575 for a ``Premium VIP Package'' ticket that includes admission to a pre-game tailgate party, he said. The most expensive seat for an Argonauts game at the 54,000-seat Rogers Centre is C$79, according to the team's Web site.

Helped by an increased fan base in Toronto, the Bills have sold 54,200 season tickets this year, the third-highest in team history.

Faster Game

Fans like Boyer say the CFL is superior because it's a faster game played on a larger field. The Canadian teams have only three chances, or downs, to advance 10 yards to keep the ball, compared with four downs in the U.S.

That leads to more passing plays, and higher scoring, supporters say. The league has been a training ground for NFL players including quarterbacks Joe Theismann, who led the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XVII, and Warren Moon, a nine-time Pro Bowl selection.

``The Argos are a better deal; I'll tell you that,'' said school teacher Wayne Riley, 42, who traveled about 100 kilometers from Kitchener to see the Argonauts defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Aug. 1.

``For five hundred dollars, you can buy a seat for the Bills, or you can get season tickets for the Argos,'' he said. They put a good product on the field at a good price.''

Protect the League

Senator Campbell, who attended the last two NFL Super Bowls, introduced his bill in June to protect the CFL, whose teams have battled for the Grey Cup championship since 1909.

``I just don't want to see a team coming into Canada and sucking the CFL dry,'' he said in a phone interview from Vancouver.

While the Argonauts are offering Bills tickets to their Toronto fans, they still view the NFL as competition.

``I don't think there's any doubt that a game like this can take some of the attention away from our team,'' Argonauts President and former running back Michael `Pinball' Clemons, 43, said in a telephone interview. ``We have to make sure we really stay focused.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Sean B. Pasternak in Toronto at spasternak@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 13, 2008 00:07 EDT