Not with how the franchise has hyped its "Bills Toronto Series" debut Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Thousands of fans shuffled through a free seven-hour tailgate party Wednesday in the heart of downtown Toronto. Buffalo players signed autographs rather than being sequestered in their hotel rooms for customary pre-game preparation. A repetitive loop of Bills highlights splashed across the giant video screen lording above a stage for ear-splitting musical acts. There were cheerleaders, memorabilia displays, interactive games and enough advertising to further numb the senses.

All for a meaningless exhibition contest.

"It's a very different type of scene," said Chris Hazard, a Bills season-ticket holder who ventured to Yonge-Dundas Square from his Toronto work office. "It really is unbelievably corporate."

Such hoopla from both a football and commercial standpoint is understandable -- and necessary. How well the Bills are received with eight games in Toronto over the next five seasons will affect the club's cloudy future in Buffalo.

"We'd be remiss if we didn't try to branch into a marketplace with five million people," said Russ Brandon, the Bills' top business executive. "Everything we're doing is about strengthening the viability of the franchise in Western New York."

Trying to keep pace financially with their NFL brethren in an economically depressed region, the Bills have successfully expanded beyond their Buffalo borders. The club has sold more than 54,000 season tickets for 2008, the team's highest total in 16 years.

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A significant surge began in 2000 after Bills training camp was moved 75 miles away to Rochester. With more than 15,000 fans from Southern Ontario attending Bills games last season, testing the waters in a major North American city two hours north of Buffalo was a logical next step.

Rogers Communications made it in a no-lose proposition. The Canadian business powerhouse will pay $78 million to sponsor five regular-season and three preseason games through 2012. That has guaranteed far greater revenue for the Bills than even a sold-out Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo could produce.

In turn, Rogers Communications has passed that expense onto fans. Individual tickets and club seating in the Rogers Centre lower bowl between the 20-yard lines cost between $350 and $575 (the exchange rate between the U.S. and Canadian dollars is roughly equal). The average cost of "cheap seats" is $183, more than double the NFL's highest ticket price in New England.

Sellouts for regular-season games in the first three years, including a Dec. 7 Buffalo-Miami meeting, are considered a lock. But some Bills faithful are unwilling to pay hefty prices for ticket packages that include preseason contests. The Steelers game isn't sold-out even though the Rogers Centre only houses 54,000 fans.

"The preseason is pretty dull," said Chris Thompson, who tends bar at a restaurant (the Pickle Barrel) across the street from the Bills pep rally. "You worry whether players are actually going to perform and it's going to be a decent game."

Jason Whitwell and his father Jim traveled from nearby Whitby, Ontario, for Wednesday's festivities but also won't attend the Steelers game.

"You can get really great seats in Buffalo for $65 or $75," Jason Whitwell said. "For the same amount of money to see a game here, we'd prefer to go to Buffalo, stay in a hotel, have a tailgate party and get our tickets. This feels like a bit of a money grab."

Even so, patrons inside Joe Patel's Sportzone shop in downtown Toronto can't grab enough Bills merchandise. Patel said he sold 48 hats, 24 T-shirts and 50 jerseys on Tuesday and Wednesday alone.

"Even the J.P. Losman jerseys sold out," said a laughing Patel, referring to the former Bills starting quarterback who is now a second-stringer.

It's impossible to forecast whether this city will have the same enthusiasm for the Bills in five years, let alone the state of the franchise. The "History in the Making" moniker for the Toronto series is apt on several levels.

Ralph Wilson, the team's 89-year-old owner, has said the club will be sold upon his passing to shield his family from inheritance taxes. It's unknown if the new owner would want to keep the franchise in Buffalo. So is whether the NFL would block any move elsewhere despite its recent push for international expansion.

While the league doesn't allow corporate ownership of teams, Rogers Communications kingpin Ted Rogers has ample personal wealth (an estimated $7.8 billion, according to Canadian Business magazine) to make a bid. But even Rogers would be faced with serious issues should he want to permanently move the club to Toronto or push for more games there a la the Green Bay Packers splitting appearances between Green Bay and Milwaukee from 1933 to 1994.

By doing the latter, the Bills risk alienating their U.S. fans.

"I'm not going to drive three hours to a football game," said Rochester resident Greg Wood, a Bills season-ticket holder since 1986.

The less "special" games in Toronto become, the less likely fans will be willing to pay such high prices to attend. Ticket costs could be lowered in a larger stadium, but that would require another massive financial undertaking. Major expansion of the Rogers Centre isn't feasible.

There also could be resistance from the Canadian government in trying to prevent a U.S. "invasion" that would potentially doom the Canadian Football League. Canadian Senator Larry Campbell has introduced a bill that would ban NFL regular-season games from being played north of the border.

Still, this much is certain: Buffalo would not be the same if the NFL someday unveils the Toronto Bills.

"The Bills are like the heart of the city," Bills wide receiver Lee Evans said. "People live and die by the Bills.

"I was growing up in Cleveland when the Browns left, so I know what the feeling is like . . . It's not a good feeling at all."