Published: February 01, 2009 11:28 am      

BUFFALO BILLS: Are they Niagara bound?

It was a Detroit businessman, Ralph Wilson, who joined what was called the “Foolish Club” and brought professional football to Buffalo in 1960.

The endeavor earned him a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Now, it’s another Detroit transplant, marketing and sales manager Glenn Fitzgerald, who is looking to make sure the Bills don’t leave here.

With a Web site and merchandise already available, Fitzgerald is unveiling his plan to hold onto to the Bills by pushing for a change in the team’s name and a move to a new, state-of-the-art domed stadium in Niagara County.

Fitzgerald sees a Western New York future for the “Niagara Bills.”

“Say it about a thousand times,” Fitzgerald said, “and it doesn’t sound so wacky.”

Maybe not. Fitzgerald points to the move of the then Boston Patriots to a new stadium in Foxboro, Mass. in 1970 and the impact the move to regionalize had on that team.

“I spent some time in New England and my brother is a Pats fan,” Fitzgerald said. “When they moved to Foxboro they regionalized and, while Boston was against it, they increased their fan support and their fan base. Now they are one of the most successful teams in all of sports.”

Fitzgerald argues that further regionalizing the Bills is absolutely essential for the team’s future here. He points out the Bills themselves have been taking that approach by moving training camp to Rochester and experimenting with playing a limited number of games in Toronto.

“If (the Bills) fully intend to regionalize, the Niagara Region is right here,” Fitzgerald said. “So why not move (the team) to the Falls, it’s closer to Toronto and really regionalize it?”

He’d even support, for the short term, a few more games in Toronto.

“I think (the Bills) have the right idea. I’d like to play some more games there in the short term to harness the fan base,” Fitzgerald said. “Then with a domed stadium in Niagara (County) we’d have the best of all worlds.”

A fan for more than a decade, Fitzgerald points out that creating a Bills fan base — starting with Buffalo but reaching to Rochester, Hamilton and Mississauga, Ontario, and Toronto — that would put the team in the third-largest media market in the NFL. He also said that while taking orders for some of his “Niagara Bills” merchandise, Canadian customers have embraced the more regionalized name.

“We’ve talked to people (outside of Buffalo) who’ve said, ‘I wouldn’t root for the Buffalo Bills, but I would root for the Niagara Bills.’,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald appears to be on the same page as another Bills backer intent on keeping the team here. Hall of Fame Bills quarterback Jim Kelly has not only suggested the team needs a new stadium but has touted the Falls as a potential location.

Speaking in Toronto, before the Bills game there this season, Kelly said, “I think in the near future we have to build a stadium closer (to Toronto), maybe in Niagara Falls. They definitely have the land to do it. It makes sense not only with the tourism, one of the wonders of the world, and it’s 45 minutes closer for Canadians.”

Niagara Falls new economic development czar, Peter Kay, says no one has spoken to him yet about moving the Bills north from Orchard Park, but he’s willing to listen to the idea.

“Niagara Falls would be a great place for a domed stadium,” Kay said. “If someone comes to us with a proposal, we’d try to find a place for it.”

Fitzgerald also thinks a domed stadium home for the Bills in the Falls or Niagara County might even entice the NFL to play their biggest game here.

“I think you could have a Super Bowl, it would make it an international event,” Fitzgerald said.

The only place where Fitzgerald and Kelly part on a plan to keep the Bills here is over the team name. Asked about the “Niagara Bills”, Kelly was categorical.

“No,” the hall of famer said. “It’s the Buffalo Bills. It’s not going to change. It won’t change as long as I’m part of it.”

So what does Wilson and the Bills organization think of all this discussion of news stadiums, new names and more regionalization? Apparently, not much.

“We have no plans to move to Niagara Falls and we have had no discussions with Glenn Fitzgerald,” Bills spokesman Scott Berchtold said. “When Jim (Kelly) made his statement some time ago we did not offer a comment and that holds true for now as well.”

Despite that cold shoulder, Fitzgerald seems undeterred.

“We haven’t been competitive and we’re in jeopardy of losing the team,” he said. “This is an idea to keep the team here for the long haul.”

Contact reporter Rick Pfeiffer

at 282-2311, ext. 2252.

Sports reporter Jonah Bronstein contributed to this story.