BiggieScooby Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/41218/when-games-resume-suspend-blackouts-a-while Have heard a few reasons why they'd do this. The most obvious is payback to the fans. I don't know the exact amount, but I believe this would cover most Bills blackouts the past decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/41218/when-games-resume-suspend-blackouts-a-while Have heard a few reasons why they'd do this. The most obvious is payback to the fans. I don't know the exact amount, but I believe this would cover most Bills blackouts the past decade. He is saying they should lift the blackouts for the first four games of the season...nice idea, but I would be shocked if the NFL did this...also, provided there isn't a huge chunk of the season missed, I would be shocked if the lockout impacts the NFL business that much. The NFL has proven to be bad-PR proof time and again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 The NFL should actually set a hard value for blackouts. Its much easier to sell out a 60-65K seat stadium than it is to sell out the Ralph at 74k seats. If you sell a specific number of tickets (the same across the league), the blackout should be lifted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T master Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 The NFL should actually set a hard value for blackouts. Its much easier to sell out a 60-65K seat stadium than it is to sell out the Ralph at 74k seats. If you sell a specific number of tickets (the same across the league), the blackout should be lifted. That sounds totally fair seeing as most of the new stadiums being built have less seating than the older stadiums like the Ralph . An average across the league would be a good thing and make it more even between the markets ! Good idea !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AthensThunder Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 This has been a sore point for a long time especially considering the tax that the county people are taxed for the stadium. I have long insisted that you build a fan base by tv appearances. Its hard to judge one city from the next.62900 people floor for Buffalo may be fine for Buffalo but not for say Dallas. I also remember seeing seats covered by canvas eliminating them from counting toward the blackout number. Each stadium has a seating capasity.If you sell out 85% of that number that should get you out of a blackout situation in my opinion. My overall opinion is that blackouts do not insure sell outs especially for bad teams.I think blackout are more of a hinderance in building a fan base so the leagure is cutting their own throats with this stupid policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTW2012 Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 The 72-hr blackout rule has been in effect since 1973. Before that, all home games were blacked out, sell out or not. In the 80s, Bills' blackouts were the rule rather than the exception. Bills' fans can't have it both ways. They can't boast of their support for the team in the face of declining population and then whine about how the stadium is too big to sell out. Waiving the blackout rule for the first month or so of the season would be a good PR move for the league if the lockout spills over into August and beyond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KollegeStudnet Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Meanwhile in the office of Wayne Weaver...he is estatic to order less tarp than previous seasons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiggieScooby Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 An interesting idea to help solve Bills financial woes would be this: have Russ Brandon create a program were we pool the national Bills fanbase into a non-profit funding union to purchase a luxury box. We get to help the Bills sell out tickets that otherwise would not have. Best part would be this box money would be fully retained and not have to be shared with the visiting team. It costs so much money and time for me to fly up from South Carolina - this would be a way for us to contribute to the Bills staying in Buffalo. This would be similar to the Bills Bonds plan only Ralph wouldn't owe back any money. In essence there are probably 40,000 to 80,000 displaced hardcore Bills fans throughout the U.S.. Clemson Alumni have a program called IPTAY (I Pay Ten A Year). IPTAY taps all Clemson Alumni boosters to help fund their athletics program. Perhaps the Bills could formulate a similar program and have graduated tiers: $10 Bronze, $50 Silver, $100 Gold, $1,000+ Platinum. If you had 20,000 fans donating $50 you're looking at $1,000,000 a year to the bottomline. Now get the stadium naming deal and you're looking at another $1,000,000 a year. If the Bills are "breaking" even with the current CBA, or profiting $20,000,000 another $2,000,000 wouldn't hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincec Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 This has been a sore point for a long time especially considering the tax that the county people are taxed for the stadium. I have long insisted that you build a fan base by tv appearances. Its hard to judge one city from the next.62900 people floor for Buffalo may be fine for Buffalo but not for say Dallas. I also remember seeing seats covered by canvas eliminating them from counting toward the blackout number. Each stadium has a seating capasity.If you sell out 85% of that number that should get you out of a blackout situation in my opinion. My overall opinion is that blackouts do not insure sell outs especially for bad teams.I think blackout are more of a hinderance in building a fan base so the leagure is cutting their own throats with this stupid policy. This has always been my thinking too. It's really an archaic rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsWatch Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 (edited) Problem is that Bills at 95% full do not bring in as much revenue as some stadiums do at 75% not counting PSLs which go only to team. I can see validity in argument it should be revenue not seats which determines when blackouts should occur. Edited June 21, 2011 by BillsWatch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justnzane Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 The whole concept of the blackout is so flawed in nature and harms struggling teams more than anything. All teams get a chunk of the television revenue regardless of the stadiums being full or not. This television revenue is considerably higher than stadium revenue. Furthermore, the disparity in team income comes from the luxury boxes and merchandising. Since the TV revenue generates almost 3x as the non-suite revenue, one can argue that it does more harm to black out a local market from its team as it causes resentment amongst the local fan base. In addition, I am surprised that the networks or affiliates haven't challenged this in court as it can cost them immensely in advertising revenue by preventing them from broadcasting a program that they have purchased the contractual obligations to show. In other words, the blackout rule is so unfair to everyone, and inhibits the growth of the game. It needs to be scrapped or revised severely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Bills' fans can't have it both ways. They can't boast of their support for the team in the face of declining population and then whine about how the stadium is too big to sell out. I'm pretty sure whatever lack of "support" there may be today, it's FAR more directly related to the product on the Field than "declining population..." If The Bills are winning they wont have Blackout problems whatsoever...It's really no different than most NFL Teams, outside of the Jags of coarse...Sure the The HUGE Markets will do better...But that does not mean Buffalo can't Sell Out every Game with a decent Team... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Meanwhile in the office of Wayne Weaver...he is estatic to order less tarp than previous seasons! Hilarious. Serious question, though -- how do the Jags get away with this practice? Do they say certain seats are "unusable" or under repair? It just seems like an obvious attempt to subvert the blackout rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Hilarious. Serious question, though -- how do the Jags get away with this practice? Do they say certain seats are "unusable" or under repair? It just seems like an obvious attempt to subvert the blackout rule. Pretty simple. The bills could do the same thing if they wanted to. The only catch is once you tarp them the Jags can not open those seats up at any point during the season, even for a highly anticipated highly attended game or a playoff game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Pretty simple. The bills could do the same thing if they wanted to. The only catch is once you tarp them the Jags can not open those seats up at any point during the season, even for a highly anticipated highly attended game or a playoff game. Ah, I see. So "tarped" seats are out of commission for the entire season, including playoffs. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kipers Hair Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 The NFL should actually set a hard value for blackouts. Its much easier to sell out a 60-65K seat stadium than it is to sell out the Ralph at 74k seats. If you sell a specific number of tickets (the same across the league), the blackout should be lifted. Would you factor in cost of seating then? Someone with a stadium charging 40% for tickets than Ralph does could argue that their 60,000 seats cost as much as 80,000 in the Ralph...This dynamic will stop that from happening... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts