2001 Toronto Phantoms ticket and signatures

2001 Toronto Phantoms ticket and signatures. Great collections item. Football. "The Toronto Phantoms were a professional arena football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The team was a member of the Eastern Division of the National Conference of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team also previously operated in New York City and Hartford, Connecticut. The Toronto Phantoms marked an abortive attempt by the Arena Football League to enter Canada. The team was purchased by a group led by TD Securities Inc. investment banker, Rob Godfrey. The majority share of the team was owned by Rogers Communications[1][2] alongside minority owners Ronnie Strasser, Peter Shoniker and Simon Serruya The group paid a reported $6–8 million for the franchise.[3] The Phantoms played the 2001 and 2002 Arena seasons in Toronto, and were then disbanded. All home games were played at the Air Canada Centre, also the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League, the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association, and the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League. The team's primary rival was the Buffalo Destroyers, located 80 miles south in Buffalo. The Phantoms' logo included a Grim Reaper character whose scythe carried the word "Toronto" with the word "Phantoms" appearing over it. The name came from The Phantom of the Opera, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that played at the Canon Theatre (then Pantages Theatre) in Toronto for nine years. The name was also a nod to minority owner Ronnie Strasser, whose family owned Phantom Industries, a women's hosiery company. In 2001, the Phantoms posted a reasonable 8–6 record, winning the AFL Eastern Division Championship,[4] and making the playoffs. They would beat the New York Dragons in the first round of the playoffs; however, they would lose to the Nashville Kats in the second round. In 2002, they went 5–9, missing the playoffs. Following the season, Rogers announced that they were suspending operations of the franchise. The Phantoms drew an average of just 6,976 fans per game over their two seasons at Air Canada Centre. Six years later, Rogers entered into a five-year sharing agreement with Ralph Wilson to lease Wilson's NFL Buffalo Bills to Rogers for an annual regular season game in exchange for cash, marking the return of American football to Canada, after a fashion. Among the notable Phantoms players were Offensive Specialist Damian Harrell, fullback/linebacker Jermaine Younger, as well as defensive back/wide receiver Ty Law (unrelated to the NFL player of the same name). During their time in Toronto, these players were not widely recognized in an already congested sports market."

• ConditionGood