Bills will be paid $78 million for eight-game Toronto series

The Buffalo Bills will receive $78 million -- more than double their calculated 2006 operating income -- to play eight games in Toronto over the next five years.

The payment to the Bills was disclosed for the first time in Rogers Communications' 2008 first-quarter report released Tuesday. The Toronto-based company is part of a consortium that negotiated a deal with the Bills to have them play five regular-season and three preseason games, starting this year, at the downtown Rogers Centre.

In becoming the NFL's first team to play annual games outside the United States, the Bills are scheduled to host Pittsburgh in a preseason match at Toronto on Aug. 14, followed by a regular-season game against Miami on Dec. 7.

Rogers spokeswoman Jan Innes would not comment beyond the one-paragraph statement included in the company report, except to say the $78 million figure was in Canadian currency. The Canadian dollar hovered around par to its U.S. counterpart during the first quarter this year.

Innes declined to say whether any portion of the payment has been made to the Bills.

Bills spokesman Scott Berchtold also declined comment, citing a policy that the team does not discuss financial details of its business relationships.

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