dear NFL

[frogger]

go ahead and take Jacksonville's team, honestly they do not deserve one. Geographically the largest city in the country, they can not sell out a meaningful game in the month of December. With two games remaining in the season the 8-6 Jags, still have a chance to make it to the playoffs, yet their fans do not show up.

Lets compare it to Buffalo, where a team heading for an early draft pick has sold out an otherwise meaningless game, unless you are in western NY...or in my case Orlando. Sure, one can say that it took a business owner to make the sellout happen. But last I knew Jacksonville is full of businesses, many with lots of money, where is the support from the city there?

Buffalo has been known for its nasty winters, and I can understand not wanting to see a game when its 20 degrees outside. Jacksonville is in Florida, the weather will be chilly by Florida standards, but not 20.

And has anyone ever met an out of state Jags fan?

I honestly believe they have the worse fans in the NFL, I have friends who are Jags fans (including my girlfriend) but when the team sucks there is no way they are going and when the team is winning they catch the highlights on sportscenter.

[Thoner7]

I have no worries - the team aint moving. Its a cash cow with the most dedicated fan base around. The NFL knew if F'ed up when they moved the Browns which is why they brought them back. The NFL is dumb but they arent dumb enough to make that mistake again.

[San-O]

I have no worries - the team aint moving. Its a cash cow with the most dedicated fan base around. The NFL knew if F'ed up when they moved the Browns which is why they brought them back. The NFL is dumb but they arent dumb enough to make that mistake again.

 

 

The NFL wants and needs a team in LA.

 

When the team is sold, the NFL won't stand in the way.

[CodeMonkey]

Lets compare it to Buffalo, where a team heading for an early draft pick has sold out an otherwise meaningless game,

Well ... uhhh .... you may have noticed that the Bills have not been selling out recent games. And the only reason Sundays sold out was due to the generosity of one local business owner who purchased 7000 tickets at the last minute.

 

But carry on.

Edited December 24, 2010 by CodeMonkey

[Nanker]

Well ... uhhh .... you may have noticed that the Bills have not been selling out recent games. And the only reason Sundays sold out was due to the generosity of one local business owner who purchased 7000 tickets at the last minute.

 

But carry on.

 

Yeah, it's a real problem that only Buffalo has chooch.

[Thoner7]

The NFL wants and needs a team in LA.

 

When the team is sold, the NFL won't stand in the way.

 

They have unsuccessfully had 3 teams there already, and currently have another 1.5 hours South. They have multiple teams struggling in other cities while Buffalo is actually thriving. There is a long list of suitors that are in line before Buffalo. Besides, the NFl wants a team in this market anyways.

[nucci]

I have no worries - the team aint moving. Its a cash cow with the most dedicated fan base around. The NFL knew if F'ed up when they moved the Browns which is why they brought them back. The NFL is dumb but they arent dumb enough to make that mistake again.

It's a cash cow for Ralph but wouldn't be for a new owner. Lowest ticket prices, luxury boxes that do not bring in enough revenue and I don't think merchandise sales are at the top of the league. Would take a long time to recover the $600m-$800m selling price.

[Albany,n.y.]

It's a cash cow for Ralph but wouldn't be for a new owner. Lowest ticket prices, luxury boxes that do not bring in enough revenue and I don't think merchandise sales are at the top of the league. Would take a long time to recover the $600m-$800m selling price.

If you're worth $3 billion, you have plenty of time to recover the selling price.

[frogger]

Well ... uhhh .... you may have noticed that the Bills have not been selling out recent games. And the only reason Sundays sold out was due to the generosity of one local business owner who purchased 7000 tickets at the last minute.

 

But carry on.

 

 

I am sorry, did I not mention that in the post...wait I did, and I addressed it... but thanks

[boyst]

If you're worth $3 billion, you have plenty of time to recover the selling price.

I imagine it will be an ownership group that purchases us. I imagine it will be run as a board of commissioners, Jim Kelly on the board and several figures in business.

 

If the Bills continue to stay in the Buffalo metro area I see them building a stadium beside the current location or erecting a brand new structure toward the Falls. There will not be a new stadium until there is new ownership and the promise that the Bills will stay in the metro area. The new ownership agreeing to keep the team in the area will drive the demand by the community to build the stadium. I also predict retractable roof, as well. Not because of the football games but because the increased options to host events.

[benderbender]

I imagine it will be an ownership group that purchases us. I imagine it will be run as a board of commissioners, Jim Kelly on the board and several figures in business.

 

If the Bills continue to stay in the Buffalo metro area I see them building a stadium beside the current location or erecting a brand new structure toward the Falls. There will not be a new stadium until there is new ownership and the promise that the Bills will stay in the metro area. The new ownership agreeing to keep the team in the area will drive the demand by the community to build the stadium. I also predict retractable roof, as well. Not because of the football games but because the increased options to host events.

 

A dome or retractable roof is will be part of any new stadium, so much for the cold weather "advantage." The supposed advantage being against Miami, considering the other teams in our division play in the same climate.

[The Dean]

A dome or retractable roof is will be part of any new stadium

 

 

You sure about that? Some fairly recent northern NFL stadiums include:

 

New Meadowlands Stadium 2010. Open air

 

Gillette Stadium 2002. Open air

 

Heinz Field 2001. Open air

 

Cleveland Browns Stadium 1999. Open air.

 

Of course there are examples of domed/retractable stadiums as well, as well as other open air stadiums in cities with iffy weather (Mile High, for example). Do you also know for fact if Lambeau will be replaced with a covered field? What about Soldier Field? Arrowhead? Are they all destined to be replaced with covered stadiums?

[Kelly the Dog]

The Dean would know about a lot more about the television element than I would, but it seems to me that the NFL really wouldn't make any more money having a team in Los Angeles versus having a team in Buffalo, provided the owner of the LA team isn't paying a huge amount more for the purchase of the team, therefore making other franchises worth a little more. But for argument sake, if there is a Buffalo owner and an LA owner paying the same amount for a franchise, I don't see how the NFL makes much if any more money.

 

The main factor, of course, is television. But CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, The NFL Network and DirecTV pay as much as they can possibly pay right now, couldn't and wouldn't likely pay a nickel more. They lose money on the NFL as it is, and the next round of negotiations is very likely to yield less money in TV rights and not more, because of advertising dollars. Sure, the LA market is enormous compared to Buffalo's, but the ratings have already been factored in, and again, even if a lot more households (which really would be marginal overall) were tuned into the game because it was an LA team and not a Buffalo team,and the overall ratings would be slightly higher, the amount the networks pay and the amount the league makes will stay the same. They can't pay any more. The amount the local stations may charge for ad rates for commercials may be substantially higher in LA but I fail to see how the league benefits financially from that. Seems to me the networks and affiliates would be the ones to make the additional money because of local television.

 

The Bills have always done pretty well as far as merchandising, and while surely a brand new team would spike jersey sales for the short term, that probably wouldn't be a huge factor either. The LA owner could charge huge amounts for luxury boxes and such, but that goes to him or her and not the league. I suppose corporate sponsorships overall could be a little higher with an LA market instead of a Buffalo market, but I would almost bet those are maxed out like the TV contracts, and the beer companies et al pay as much as they are possibly going to pay as it is. And local corporate sponsorships go to the team not the league.

 

I'm probably forgetting something. And I could be wrong about whether the networks would pay more if there were a team in LA (although I work in the entertainment field in LA and know a bit about it, and really, really don't think they would or could).

[cantankerous]

Blah blah blah everyone cries about the Bills leaving yet there is little to no chance they will do that. The recent Toronto games have shown just how much they want the Bills. I see posts about this all the time and it's totally a waste of time to debate the Bills leaving. They aren't going anywhere, quit freaking out already.

[stony]

go ahead and take Jacksonville's team, honestly they do not deserve one. Geographically the largest city in the country, they can not sell out a meaningful game in the month of December. With two games remaining in the season the 8-6 Jags, still have a chance to make it to the playoffs, yet their fans do not show up.

Lets compare it to Buffalo, where a team heading for an early draft pick has sold out an otherwise meaningless game, unless you are in western NY...or in my case Orlando. Sure, one can say that it took a business owner to make the sellout happen. But last I knew Jacksonville is full of businesses, many with lots of money, where is the support from the city there?

Buffalo has been known for its nasty winters, and I can understand not wanting to see a game when its 20 degrees outside. Jacksonville is in Florida, the weather will be chilly by Florida standards, but not 20.

And has anyone ever met an out of state Jags fan?

I honestly believe they have the worse fans in the NFL, I have friends who are Jags fans (including my girlfriend) but when the team sucks there is no way they are going and when the team is winning they catch the highlights on sportscenter.

 

They sold out all their home games. Do your freaking homework first. This is just bad.

[The Dean]

They sold out all their home games. Do your freaking homework first. This is just bad.

 

 

They cover about 10,000 seats in their stadium for the Jags. That helps those fake sellout numbers. They have also needed the help of local businesses to sell out.

 

You also should factor in their record (they have been in the thick of the playoff race) and the difference in weather conditions between J-Ville and Buffalo. There is little chance the Jags sell out, when nothing is at stake, in bad weather. In fact, they wouldn't sell enough seats (counting the covered seats) to make the purchase of the remaining tickets very possible.

[stony]

They cover about 10,000 seats in their stadium for the Jags. That helps those fake sellout numbers. They have also needed the help of local businesses to sell out.

 

You also should factor in their record (they have been in the thick of the playoff race) and the difference in weather conditions between J-Ville and Buffalo. There is little chance the Jags sell out, when nothing is at stake, in bad weather. In fact, they wouldn't sell enough seats (counting the covered seats) to make the purchase of the remaining tickets very possible.

 

Yes, I know. But regardless of this, they have still sold out all their games this year.

 

I don't buy the weather argument because teams that are good will sell out as long as the team is competitive (GB, Chicago, NE, NYJ, NJG Pitt).

 

Anyhow, no biggie. I'm hitting the hay.

 

Merry Christmas to everyone.

 

Cheers, Stony

[The Dean]

Yes, I know. But regardless of this, they have still sold out all their games this year.

 

I don't buy the weather argument because teams that are good will sell out as long as the team is competitive (GB, Chicago, NE, NYJ, NJG Pitt).

 

 

 

Agreed, but this isn't the measure of fandom.

 

If the Bills simply covered the seats they can't sell for games like this, they'd sell out irrespective of their record.

 

Anyway, enjoy your rest and have a Merry Christmas!

[artmalibu]

The lease is up soon so lets see what happens with that.

[PromoTheRobot]

Meanwhile Oakland has it's 7th blackout of the season.

 

PTR