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Posted

laffin....your just determined to call bullchit on poor Russ....

 

well, statement #1- all season ticket account holders have their tickets mailed to them with something called an address. it's also a very useful tool in tracking your customers. statement #2 - most single game tickets are purchased using a credit card, when the buffalo bills or ticketmaster take those orders, an address is also required. seeing as most games are sellouts (approx 6 of 8) there is very little "walk up" ticket sales paid in cash.

Yes I am--if he continues to claim the increase of Ontarians is due to the games in Toronto. By all accounts, these games have been an embarrassment for the Bills brand--bogus sellouts, dead crowds, heavy cheering mostly reserved for opposing teams, frustrated players.. Of course Russ is goig to shine this as a boon to the Bills--that's what Ralph pays him for.

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Yes I am--if he continues to claim the increase of Ontarians is due to the games in Toronto. By all accounts, these games have been an embarrassment for the Bills brand--bogus sellouts, dead crowds, heavy cheering mostly reserved for opposing teams, frustrated players.. Of course Russ is goig to shine this as a boon to the Bills--that's what Ralph pays him for.

 

you keep making the same lame arguement......"that the game on the field in toronto can't be contributing to the bills increased fan base from southern ontario". it's either utter nonsense or you have a complete lack of understanding of basic marketing. The Buffalo Bills say their annual excursions to Toronto are helping to grow their fan base from Southern Ontario (they have never said it is the only reason). Billboards, television ads, radio ads, newspapers ads, content on local TV sports segments, radio call-in talk shows and YES...the actual game experience are all contributing factors in more fans wanting to see the bills in toronto AND at the Ralph. The success is also measured in increases in canadian based sponsors of in stadium advertising at the Ralph. Can you provide any proof whatsoever that the bills regionalization marketing approach is hurting ?...no you can't. if a 44% increase in sales doesn't impress you, then you are determined to be miserable.

Posted

you keep making the same lame arguement......"that the game on the field in toronto can't be contributing to the bills increased fan base from southern ontario". it's either utter nonsense or you have a complete lack of understanding of basic marketing. The Buffalo Bills say their annual excursions to Toronto are helping to grow their fan base from Southern Ontario (they have never said it is the only reason). Billboards, television ads, radio ads, newspapers ads, content on local TV sports segments, radio call-in talk shows and YES...the actual game experience are all contributing factors in more fans wanting to see the bills in toronto AND at the Ralph. The success is also measured in increases in canadian based sponsors of in stadium advertising at the Ralph. Can you provide any proof whatsoever that the bills regionalization marketing approach is hurting ?...no you can't. if a 44% increase in sales doesn't impress you, then you are determined to be miserable.

I don't know--maybe you're misrepresenting my argument on purpose because it is at odds with yours. I have alredy stated that the increase in Canadians is due to better marketing in the region--why are you asking me to prove something I don't believe? "Hurting"?

 

They never said it was the only reason?? You certainly implied it was the main (or only one mentioned) by citing this article--in which Russ says:

 

Bills Chief Executive Officer Russ Brandon told a crowd of fans Monday that the team continues to see concrete positive results from the five-year, eight-game deal it signed with Rogers Communications in 2008.

 

"After three years of that experience, we've had a 44 percent increase in season-ticket holders from Southern Ontario to One Bills Drive," Brandon said.

 

"That experience" is the Toronto deal.

 

This is what that deal has actually brought:

 

BILLS A TOUGH SELL IN TORONTO: The GLOBE & MAIL's Stephen Brunt writes tickets for a "one-off game, at big-time prices, are going to be a tough sell until locals find a way to stake a real or imagined emotional claim" to the Bills. Sources said that "about 10,000" of the announced crowd "were giveaways, but there were real human beings in nearly all of those seats" (GLOBE & MAIL, 11/8). REUTERS' Frank Pingue noted Toronto "has not fallen in love with the idea of paying exorbitant prices to watch a team that has not made the playoffs in a decade." There was "plenty of buzz when the Toronto-based games were announced in 2007 but the initial excitement fizzled out," and prior to yesterday's game, the Bills had "yet to attract a sellout crowd in a stadium that seats some 7,500 fewer than the NFL's smallest venue." Despite "efforts to promote games, the mood inside the Rogers Centre" for the four games prior to yesterday's was "far from the raucous atmosphere typical at most NFL stadiums, and the talk has mostly revolved around poor attendance"

 

The Bills and Bears yesterday played in front of a sellout crowd of 50,746 at Rogers Centre for the latest edition of the Bills Toronto Series, but the Bills "will tell you privately that playing at the Rogers Centre is hardly a home-field advantage," according to Robert MacLeod of the GLOBE & MAIL. The Bears' fans "clearly outnumbered those favouring the Bills, something that never would have happened in Buffalo at Ralph Wilson Stadium without several brawls breaking out" (GLOBE & MAIL, 11/8). In Buffalo, Jerry Sullivan writes under the header, "Dome Field Was No Advantage To A Team That Needed It." Sullivan: "It was the first time I felt that playing a home game [in Toronto] had actually cost the Bills a victory. OK, they're 0-8. They're capable of losing on their own merits. ... But there's no getting around the fact that they played a home game at a neutral site, before a crowd that was decidedly pro-Chicago" (BUFFALO NEWS, 11/8). The NATIONAL POST's Scott Stinson notes the "biggest cheers of the first quarter, in fact, came not for the Bills at all, but for Jay Cutler's 24-yard sideline completion to Johnny Knox and his ensuing touchdown throw" to TE Greg Olsen for the Bears' first score (NATIONAL POST, 11/8). YAHOO SPORTS' Nicholas Cotsonika noted the "cavernous stadium was so quiet in the third quarter -- even though the game was tied at 7 -- you could hear the Bills' cheerleaders clearly in the third deck." Near the end of the game, "even though the Bills were behind by only three and had the ball," many fans "had already left." While the players "were polite about it, they couldn't help but notice it was 'a little bit quiet,' as running back Chester Taylor put it, especially in key situations." Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick: "There were more Bears fans than I expected, I guess I can say that" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/7).

 

If you want to now claim that the Toronto games may be helping, might be helping, minimally helping, not helping at all--fine: you can join the rest of us on this thread. But that's clearly different form your original post--which was clearly to put out Brandon's claim that the increase in sales are the result of the Toronto games.

 

Givne the above description of the games, it's impossbile to see how this can be true. You need to relax a bit.

Posted

Buffalo = 50th largest metro area.

 

Buffalo/Rochester/Toronto = 4th largest NFL Market Area.

 

Toronto is good for the Buffalo Bills.

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