Downtown stadium talk

[Cru Jones]

Just read a few of the news stories about this and am just wondering, are any of you are any of you as annoyed as I am to hear a clamoring for a domed/retractable roof stadium?

 

Personally I would love a downtown venue, as long as there is enough parking/ tailgating space and a better or at least equal (to the ralph) traffic situation to and from the game. I realize what it could create some vigor in the city as a multi-use facility, but as a Bills fan I can't help but be selfish and only think of what it means to me as a fan. If there is a roof, in my opinion it will close in November and not open til May, I hope I'm wrong about this, but Ive rarely seen teams with retractable roofs keep them open in the cold. Especially in the Super Bowl even in warm areas like AZ and Houston where the roofs are for when it's too hot, the NFL chose to keep them shut. And in Toronto a few years ago the players wanted to open the roof in December and it didnt happen. So what I'm selfish about as a fan is this, there is a mystique about the Bills that goes beyond the players and organization, the harsh weather and grizzled, maniac fans who withstand it and enjoy it through thick and thin have been the true Identity of this team and I'd hate to lose it so that an RV or boat show can come through town.

 

One more thought...

 

Of these 5 cities who has the worst weather? Minneapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago. Of those cities whose football team is never in the conversation as having the best fans? Hint: the answer to both questions is the team that plays under a roof.

[mrags]

Let's hope they keep it open. Your right about the Jets, Giants, Pats, Steelers, Browns, Seahawks, Packers all have open roofs. Personally i'd be ok with a Dallas type stadium or Seattle type stadium. The field of play is under the weather while the fans are under cover but still cold. Would be the best of both worlds IMO.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Just read a few of the news stories about this and am just wondering, are any of you are any of you as annoyed as I am to hear a clamoring for a domed/retractable roof stadium?

 

Personally I would love a downtown venue, as long as there is enough parking/ tailgating space and a better or at least equal (to the ralph) traffic situation to and from the game. I realize what it could create some vigor in the city as a multi-use facility, but as a Bills fan I can't help but be selfish and only think of what it means to me as a fan. If there is a roof, in my opinion it will close in November and not open til May, I hope I'm wrong about this, but Ive rarely seen teams with retractable roofs keep them open in the cold. Especially in the Super Bowl even in warm areas like AZ and Houston where the roofs are for when it's too hot, the NFL chose to keep them shut. And in Toronto a few years ago the players wanted to open the roof in December and it didnt happen. So what I'm selfish about as a fan is this, there is a mystique about the Bills that goes beyond the players and organization, the harsh weather and grizzled, maniac fans who withstand it and enjoy it through thick and thin have been the true Identity of this team and I'd hate to lose it so that an RV or boat show can come through town.

 

One more thought...

 

Of these 5 cities who has the worst weather? Minneapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago. Of those cities whose football team is never in the conversation as having the best fans? Hint: the answer to both questions is the team that plays under a roof.

News stories?

 

Where?

 

Do you have a link?

 

 

[mrags]

News stories?

 

Where?

 

Do you have a link?

Not sure about a link. It was on WGR as a 20/20 sports update. They commented saying they met or were planning to meet today or soon to discuss the possibilities of it.

[DukeyBomb]

I'm having a nice discussion with my friend about this topic. Here is what would make the most sense. Keeping the Ralph in O.P. Moving Coca-Cola field to the river front. Anything they want to do in a new stadium can be done in that. No excuses. The only thing you won't be doing is playing NFL football in it. Ralph should NOT leave to go down town.

[RTW2012]

In other Council matters Tuesday, Pat Freeman, sports director at WUFO 1080-AM radio, gave a presentation calling for the construction of a domed football stadium in downtown Buffalo, rather than making renovations to the current Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park.

 

Freeman was invited to the session by Majority Leader Demone A. Smith.

 

buffalonews

[Beebe's Kid]

I don't get why the Ralph has to move.

 

Invigorate downtown? 73,000 of your closes friends...oh yeah, and over half of this crowd is heavily intoxicated...I can just see how all the people who piss in the woods will go over when their in the city. If you think that there will be five minutes of the shennanigans that goes on in the parking lots now...please...stop, you'll only get hurt worse when you get to the Taj Mahal, and the parking lots all look like work camps, complete with new security who doesn't want to get the new place dirty, further perpetuated by their barely meeting the standard of 4 port-o-potties per 10,000 people...just enough to keep them from being sanctioned by the UN.

 

Same traffic situation? Impossible. There is a big lake on one side of downtown. That immediately eliminates roads coming in from all directions...and like the old proverb says "less road in...less road out." Author's Note: I don't consider the bridges a road, per se.

 

Roof? !@#$ that.

 

My biggest problem? If they build a stadium downtown, you would hope they would increase capacity, but...there again...traffic, more drunk people, terrible parking made increasingly worse. But the big problem for me would be the PSL that I would have to buy. That and I have decent seats...I don't want to get into a lottery and end up in an endzone or something. (No offense to those who sit/enjoy sitting in the endzone...we can't all like those seats, or else they'd cost a lot more)

 

I guess some people consider it a little ghetto that we'll park in fields, go to games in blizzards*, have continued to pile in to a dinosaur stadium in Butt !@#$ Egypt to see a painfully bad team rip us to shreds, etc, but I guess its just kind of always been that way. Geez...I don't want to get all emotional or nothin', but the Ralph's the only place that I ever seent the Bills play...they just can't tear it down, they just can't.

 

*For those too young to remember, in the winter time, which used to start in late August, we used to get big snow storms...other people called them blizzards, book learnt type, but they never stopped us.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Beebe's Kid

[Kiwi Bills fan]

I'll probably get crucified for saying this, but...

I think anyone would have to be out of their f'ing minds to support having a taxpayer funded stadium built.

 

Don't get me wrong. I love the Bills and hope and pray that they'll always be successful and stay in Buffalo.

 

However; this talk about a new stadium just seems to me that peoples priorities are way out of whack up there.

I could be incorrect on my assumptions, since I haven't lived in the region for over 20 years, but I thought Western New York was really struggling financially.

Is this not the case?

 

Don't you think hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers dollars could be spent on something better??

 

For those that say that an idea like this would revitalize downtown Buffalo... I just don't see how 8 home games could make this happen.

 

Go Bills.

[NewEra]

1334120572[/url]' post='2434325']

News stories?

 

Where?

 

Do you have a link?

 

 

 

It's in the front page of tbd

[RTW2012]

I'm having a nice discussion with my friend about this topic. Here is what would make the most sense. Keeping the Ralph in O.P. Moving Coca-Cola field to the river front. Anything they want to do in a new stadium can be done in that. No excuses. The only thing you won't be doing is playing NFL football in it. Ralph should NOT leave to go down town.

 

To me this sounds like it makes the least sense.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

In other Council matters Tuesday, Pat Freeman, sports director at WUFO 1080-AM radio, gave a presentation calling for the construction of a domed football stadium in downtown Buffalo, rather than making renovations to the current Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park.

 

Freeman was invited to the session by Majority Leader Demone A. Smith.

 

buffalonews

Hmmm… stuck at the end of a story on a townhouse development in the Fruit Belt.

 

The project would cost close to $1 billion.

 

Improvements to the Ralph might run $200 million, tops.

 

I just don't see where the money would come from and also the cost/benefit seems unfavorable.

 

 

[rjg1993]

can someone please explain to me why we need a new stadium. i assume politics or economy, but I'm just uneducated on the issue. It always struck me as odd that all owners ever talk about is wanting a new stadium. Thats the "reason" for almost all of the franchise moves in the last 30-40 years. And as a fan, I could care less where I watch a team. I'm from Detroit, and I'm obviously biased, but I definitly prefer the Ralph to the fancy Ford Field. It makes the game a lot less fun when you feel like you're watching it in a hotel. So who exactly wants all these new stadiums, and who does it benefit?

[Zulu Cthulhu]

can someone please explain to me why we need a new stadium. i assume politics or economy, but I'm just uneducated on the issue. It always struck me as odd that all owners ever talk about is wanting a new stadium. Thats the "reason" for almost all of the franchise moves in the last 30-40 years. And as a fan, I could care less where I watch a team. I'm from Detroit, and I'm obviously biased, but I definitly prefer the Ralph to the fancy Ford Field. It makes the game a lot less fun when you feel like you're watching it in a hotel. So who exactly wants all these new stadiums, and who does it benefit?

Come on man, you really don't know the answer to your question? New stadiums benefit the owners and the league.

[rjg1993]

Come on man, you really don't know the answer to your question? New stadiums benefit the owners and the league.

 

I know that. My question is how? It can't be from more ticket sales, right?

[Buffalo Barbarian]

They could use it as the center piece of the "water front" project but to put one downtown would require to take out half the city with all that parking. Also don't want a dome as that is for puzzy clubs and fans.

 

I don't get why the Ralph has to move.

 

Invigorate downtown? 73,000 of your closes friends...oh yeah, and over half of this crowd is heavily intoxicated...I can just see how all the people who piss in the woods will go over when their in the city. If you think that there will be five minutes of the shennanigans that goes on in the parking lots now...please...stop, you'll only get hurt worse when you get to the Taj Mahal, and the parking lots all look like work camps, complete with new security who doesn't want to get the new place dirty, further perpetuated by their barely meeting the standard of 4 port-o-potties per 10,000 people...just enough to keep them from being sanctioned by the UN.

 

Same traffic situation? Impossible. There is a big lake on one side of downtown. That immediately eliminates roads coming in from all directions...and like the old proverb says "less road in...less road out." Author's Note: I don't consider the bridges a road, per se.

 

Roof? !@#$ that.

 

My biggest problem? If they build a stadium downtown, you would hope they would increase capacity, but...there again...traffic, more drunk people, terrible parking made increasingly worse. But the big problem for me would be the PSL that I would have to buy. That and I have decent seats...I don't want to get into a lottery and end up in an endzone or something. (No offense to those who sit/enjoy sitting in the endzone...we can't all like those seats, or else they'd cost a lot more)

 

I guess some people consider it a little ghetto that we'll park in fields, go to games in blizzards*, have continued to pile in to a dinosaur stadium in Butt !@#$ Egypt to see a painfully bad team rip us to shreds, etc, but I guess its just kind of always been that way. Geez...I don't want to get all emotional or nothin', but the Ralph's the only place that I ever seent the Bills play...they just can't tear it down, they just can't.

 

*For those too young to remember, in the winter time, which used to start in late August, we used to get big snow storms...other people called them blizzards, book learnt type, but they never stopped us.

They said that about the rock too.

[CarolinaBill]

I like the idea of a waterfront stadium, a smaller venue, retractable roof is almost a given nowadays, but would prefer an open air building similar to the Seahawks stadium.

Of course, I don't live in the area, so it wouldn't affect me either way, but I think I'd be cool to have a new multipurpose stadium on the water.

[Kiwi Bills fan]

Exactly.

They want taxpayer funded stadiums that have more corporate luxury boxes that they can charge bucketloads for.

The luxury boxes take up space, so there are fewer "regular" seats, so... according to supply and demand... they can charge more for each regular seat.

Each step of the way, the average taxpayer/football-fan gets screwed.

Yet, so many people just love the idea of these new stadiums.

 

Come on man, you really don't know the answer to your question? New stadiums benefit the owners and the league.

[Zulu Cthulhu]

I know that. My question is how? It can't be from more ticket sales, right?

 

Read Kiwi's response.

 

New stadiums = better and more amenities. Bigger and better luxury boxes and concessions. On site restaurants, museums, shops, fanzones, etc... All that extra **** adds up to more revenue for the teams and the league. More revenue raises the values of ALL the teams in the long run.

That's how.

[UConn James]

This is a non-starter until the franchise changes hands.

 

What will probably end up happening is an $80M - $90M renovation to RWS over the course of a new lease of 10-12 years. The new owner/s will wait until the end of the lease to decide their next step.

[mead107]

It would be tough parking at Hammers and getting to the stadium.