PromoTheRobot Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 (edited) In danger of joining this obvious trolling session from Joe W.... I don't think it was that hard of a sell for rogers to get Brandon to take the game back. Think about it, the Bills were definitely paid in full (the 78 mill) and on top of it they get a game back. The Bills make all of the money from ticket sales/season tickets, concessions, and parking. So as beerme stated it is a dick move and I have to agree with Joe W that is a screw job but I also think it was a great business move which means I also agree with you ptr. Not sure how I agreed with people that are arguing different things but I think I just did As an aside I think it is unfair to call steelers fans real fans bc they want to go to a preseason game. There are so many threads dedicated to how the Bills don't treat them as anything more than a practice. I can see it being upsetting to people that pay full price for these tickets. I hated having to pay for preseason, and the lie that was put out (a scheduling conflict) I can see upsetting people. That said I respect Brandon's game as CEO he has done a tremendous job (for ralph - but hey that's who signs the checks ) There is no question pre-season games are a joke and a rip-off. But you have to recognize fans that will follow a team no matter what. To me there are only two teams that garner that level of support: the Packers and Steelers. They show up no matter what. We like to call Bills fans the NFL's greatest, but come on. We are luke warm at best. The playoff drought is a handy excuse but I'm old enough to recall the Super Bowl 90s. The Bills still had trouble selling out games. Heck we couldn't even sell out playoff games without ch.2 buying up seats! The '94 AFC championship vs KC was almost blacked out. I don't know where Joe W's coming from. If anyone got taken these last 5 years it's Rogers. Every team makes fans buy pre-season games. It's part of the deal. Considering how cheap Bills tickets are we have it better than most. Try being a Pats fan where seats start at $100 and parking costs $50. PTR Edited August 22, 2012 by PromoTheRobot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section122 Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 There is no question pre-season games are a joke and a rip-off. But you have to recognize fans that will follow a team no matter what. To me there are only two teams that garner that level of support: the Packers and Steelers. They show up no matter what. We like to call Bills fans the NFL's greatest, but come on. We are luke warm at best. The playoff drought is a handy excuse but I'm old enough to recall the Super Bowl 90s. The Bills still had trouble selling out games. Heck we couldn't even sell out playoff games without ch.2 buying up seats! The '94 AFC championship vs KC was almost blacked out. I don't know where Joe W's coming from. If anyone got taken these last 5 years it's Rogers. Every team makes fans buy pre-season games. It's part of the deal. Considering how cheap Bills tickets are we have it better than most. Try being a Pats fan where seats start at $100 and parking costs $50. PTR I must be extra agreeable today because I agree with everything your saying. However I wonder how much the extended success has to do with their passion. If these same fans were treated with a 12 year drought would they react the same? I don't think the Bills have the best fans in the NFL but I think they do have great fans. I heard an interesting bit on the Colin Cowherd show where he blasted fans of poor teams for continuing to be fans. His stance was that by leaving/not attending fans would force their teams into being more competitive. It was interesting to me because of the hostage situation Bills fans find themselves in. The regionalization and selling of games/no promise of future location forces Bills fans to accept whatever is put out on the field - and we do. The fans here have followed through a ton of poor seasons, personnel decisions, heartbreak, and a general laughingstock connotation of their favorite team. I know you are on of these people and I applaud you for it but there are so many more that also are excellent fans. I also though, don't blame fans that are wary or apprehensive about the Bills and the moves they make - it doesn't make them less of a fan (just a more annoying one) after all this has been the longest suffering any fan of any team in the NFL is enduring (including the Browns, Lions, and Bengals). To wrap it all up I'll bring it back to where I started. Would Steelers and Packers fans be as loyal and driven as they are now facing the situation Bills fans are in? I also would like to see the early 90's example of attendance not be used an example anymore for two reasons 1. The NFL was not anywhere near the cultural phenomenon then that is now. Popularity for this league is at an all time high and 2. That was 20 years ago! Your point of the games being the cheapest and forced on the other fans stands as 100% correct. The only thing I can say is this was a promised reprieve that was yanked from the fans. It was almost a nice little tradeoff of hey I know we stole a game that counts but to help you out we are going to take one that doesn't count too. It was a carrot that was dangled and then yanked with the reasoning being a lie (scheduling conflict). I know you can understand how that would be upsetting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I must be extra agreeable today because I agree with everything your saying. However I wonder how much the extended success has to do with their passion. If these same fans were treated with a 12 year drought would they react the same? I don't think the Bills have the best fans in the NFL but I think they do have great fans. I heard an interesting bit on the Colin Cowherd show where he blasted fans of poor teams for continuing to be fans. His stance was that by leaving/not attending fans would force their teams into being more competitive. It was interesting to me because of the hostage situation Bills fans find themselves in. The regionalization and selling of games/no promise of future location forces Bills fans to accept whatever is put out on the field - and we do. The fans here have followed through a ton of poor seasons, personnel decisions, heartbreak, and a general laughingstock connotation of their favorite team. I know you are on of these people and I applaud you for it but there are so many more that also are excellent fans. I also though, don't blame fans that are wary or apprehensive about the Bills and the moves they make - it doesn't make them less of a fan (just a more annoying one) after all this has been the longest suffering any fan of any team in the NFL is enduring (including the Browns, Lions, and Bengals). To wrap it all up I'll bring it back to where I started. Would Steelers and Packers fans be as loyal and driven as they are now facing the situation Bills fans are in? I also would like to see the early 90's example of attendance not be used an example anymore for two reasons 1. The NFL was not anywhere near the cultural phenomenon then that is now. Popularity for this league is at an all time high and 2. That was 20 years ago! Your point of the games being the cheapest and forced on the other fans stands as 100% correct. The only thing I can say is this was a promised reprieve that was yanked from the fans. It was almost a nice little tradeoff of hey I know we stole a game that counts but to help you out we are going to take one that doesn't count too. It was a carrot that was dangled and then yanked with the reasoning being a lie (scheduling conflict). I know you can understand how that would be upsetting. I have no doubt Packer fans show up no matter what. Let me see if I can find attendance info for the last 20-30 years. As good as Green Bay is now they had a pretty bad playoff drought not long ago and yet Lambeau sold out every game. We forget, too, that the Steelers were the joke of the NFL in the early 70's. Not sure how attendance was then. Again, let me see if I can find some numbers. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Since 1972 Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I have no doubt Packer fans show up no matter what. Let me see if I can find attendance info for the last 20-30 years. As good as Green Bay is now they had a pretty bad playoff drought not long ago and yet Lambeau sold out every game. We forget, too, that the Steelers were the joke of the NFL in the early 70's. Not sure how attendance was then. Again, let me see if I can find some numbers. PTR Early 70's? Let me see if I can find out how long ago that was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section122 Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I have no doubt Packer fans show up no matter what. Let me see if I can find attendance info for the last 20-30 years. As good as Green Bay is now they had a pretty bad playoff drought not long ago and yet Lambeau sold out every game. We forget, too, that the Steelers were the joke of the NFL in the early 70's. Not sure how attendance was then. Again, let me see if I can find some numbers. PTR I do hold Packer's fans in high regard without numbers. I think the way that team is run with the shares and the sense of community are something all sports teams should follow. They don't strike me as a sports is a business sports is about winning organization and I love that. As for the Steeler's they have had a long long stretch of competitiveness/superiority that other teams (yes us) could only dream of. I'm a Lakers fan in basketball and believe me it's very easy to be passionate/supportive of them, the Bills? It takes much more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 (edited) I do hold Packer's fans in high regard without numbers. I think the way that team is run with the shares and the sense of community are something all sports teams should follow. They don't strike me as a sports is a business sports is about winning organization and I love that. As for the Steeler's they have had a long long stretch of competitiveness/superiority that other teams (yes us) could only dream of. I'm a Lakers fan in basketball and believe me it's very easy to be passionate/supportive of them, the Bills? It takes much more The last time the Steelers had an extended streak of losing seasons was from 1964 to 1971. Since then they have had only 5 sub-.500 seasons. The Packers had a really bad stretch from 1968 to 1991 when they only had 4 winning seasons. The Packers media guide shows attendance averaged around 400,000 during that stretch. PTR Edited August 22, 2012 by PromoTheRobot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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