PromoTheRobot Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 No offense, but I've heard the "young and talented team that is on the rise" spiel one too many times over these last 14 years. I'll believe it when I see it. Okay, but don't complain that you can't buy tickets later.
CodeMonkey Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 (edited) Okay, but don't complain that you can't buy tickets later. Ohh ok. So it will be the fans fault if the team moves? The incompetence of the organization has nothing to do with the fact that fans are sick and tired of spending their hard earned money at RWS and watching a crappy product and as a result not going to the game? Got it. I suspect he meant that there won't be tickets left for you to buy with the team still in Buffalo if the team breaks it's 14 year ****-streak and becomes good. Which seems logical. If they can sell 50,000 seasons now just imagine how many will want them if they become a good team. Edited May 30, 2014 by CodeMonkey
BillsVet Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 44k ST sold is still a 21% drop from the high in 2009. It's hard to see this as success with the NFL riding such a popularity wave this century.
Kirby Jackson Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Ohh ok. So it will be the fans fault if the team moves? The incompetence of the organization has nothing to do with the fact that fans are sick and tired of spending their hard earned money at RWS and watching a crappy product and as a result not going to the game? Got it. Fan bases that will only support a winner are not good fan bases. What was your impression of Patriot fans prior to 2002? We are lucky to have a team and if people do not want to continue to support the team they should not be the ones complaining when the team leaves. There are season tickets that can be had for like $300 or whatever it is now. If you can find a better way to spend $30 10 times a year in WNY then more power to you. If you choose to be negative about a team that CLEARLY has young talent - so be it. The "we have sucked for 14 year" argument is and continues to be the weakest argument that people make on here. It is different people playing the games and different people selecting the talent!! Because Derrick Dockery was a bad free agent signing in 2007 the Bills will be bad this year. I see the correlation and could not agree more (sarcasm font). If you choose to have reservations about this particular team feel free. I have questions about if EJ can be the franchise guy; I hope that he can. In no way does the last 14 years have ANYTHING to do with this season. If you want to wait for a winner to support them go for it. That strategy has worked well for the fine folks of New England.
PromoTheRobot Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 I suspect he meant that there won't be tickets left for you to buy with the team still in Buffalo in the team breaks it's 14 year ****-streak and becomes good. Which seems logical. If they can sell 50,000 seasons now just imagine how many will want them if they become a good team. Thanks, Code. That's exactly what I meant. Obviously it whizzed over Scott's head. Really I was talking about playoff tickets specifically. I can imagine the whiney threads about not being able to take their poor crying kids to a playoff game because all the "greedy" season ticket holders bought all the seats and resold them on StubHub. Well, that's the privilege you earn for "drinking the kool aid" for years. In fact I look forward to seeing those threads and laughing at them.
CodeMonkey Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Thanks, Code. That's exactly what I meant. Obviously it whizzed over Scott's head. Really I was talking about playoff tickets specifically. I can imagine the whiney threads about not being able to take their poor crying kids to a playoff game because all the "greedy" season ticket holders bought all the seats and resold them on StubHub. Well, that's the privilege you earn for "drinking the kool aid" for years. In fact I look forward to seeing those threads and laughing at them. I'm looking forward to it coming to that!
YoloinOhio Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 44k ST sold is still a 21% drop from the high in 2009. It's hard to see this as success with the NFL riding such a popularity wave this century. Again, was the high in 2009 measured on May 30?
Big Turk Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Doubt anywhere other than GB would be likely pushing 50,000 season tickets after missing the playoffs 14 years and having one winning season during that time frame
zow2 Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Again, was the high in 2009 measured on May 30? Maybe not but I bet the team has some kind of measurement over many years that shows 95+% of ST sales/renewals happens by May 30th.
Mr. WEO Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Okay, but don't complain that you can't buy tickets later. This from the guy who endlessly tells us that the Bills couldn't sell out all the games "even in the SB years"...
PromoTheRobot Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 This from the guy who endlessly tells us that the Bills couldn't sell out all the games "even in the SB years"... DId someone say your name 3 times today, or do you just stalk me on your own? The Bills had no trouble selling out the first playoff game but fell off later. But I do recall someone within the last year or two complaining about not being able to take their kid to a game because of greedy season ticket holders.
Dibs Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 What's attractive to owners is how many luxury suites a team sells, and PSLs, neither of which sell well in Buffalo. By my understanding these boxes/suites typically sell for between $50K (low end) and $100K per box. A lot of stadiums have around a 100 of 'em or so plus/minus one way or the other. You can do the math, but that's somewhere on the magnitude of $10M per season. At $100 per ticket for 70K seats, about what the Ralph has, $7M in ticket sales for the season. And tix don't cost $100 ea. at the Ralph. I would imagine that if most owners could make, and sell, which obviously they can't, all luxury suites then they would. Point being, that's what's attractive to owners. Not having a team that struggles to sell their last 20K seats every season, often has to have some charitable business buy them, and a team that ranks among the worst few in failing to sellout their games. To perhaps further the point you were making..... As far as I'm aware(someone can correct me if I'm wrong), standard ticket sales come under revenue sharing whereas the boxes/suites don't. This means that extra ticket sales really don't increase your teams profits by much at all.......but every cent of profit from the boxes is money in the bank.
purple haze Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 44k ST sold is still a 21% drop from the high in 2009. It's hard to see this as success with the NFL riding such a popularity wave this century. 44,000 as of May 29th. There is still almost three months before the final number of season tickets sold is known. It is very likely to be over 50,000 and might approach that previous high. Maybe not but I bet the team has some kind of measurement over many years that shows 95+% of ST sales/renewals happens by May 30th. You'd bet that, why? Just wait until the season starts. We shall see...
papazoid Posted May 30, 2014 Author Posted May 30, 2014 Is the date when STHers can buy general admission tickets known yet? for me it's Monday June 2nd don't know if that's for ALL season ticket holders or if they are staggering dates by seniority like they do for seat relocation.
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 and is that an incorrect statement? and what exactly is wrong with that statement? Nothing is wrong with it. The other poster must have thin skin. Isn't it undisputed that the Bills have been terrible for 14 years? I am not sure it is "negative" to concede that, and then applaud Russ for being able to use his marketing talents to still sell a lot of tickets. I am not sure any other FO person in the league could work the magic that Russ has worked-- bad team, small market, and yet increased sales.
thewildrabbit Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 DId someone say your name 3 times today, or do you just stalk me on your own? The Bills had no trouble selling out the first playoff game but fell off later. But I do recall someone within the last year or two complaining about not being able to take their kid to a game because of greedy season ticket holders. The only playoff game that I can recall that i couldn't record in the entire late 80's early 90's hey day era was the greatest comeback game.(1992 season) I think that was only because both QB Jim Kelly, and biscuit were out with injuries, and a lot of fans most have thought the SB run was over. During that era the stadium held 80 thousand plus, and sold out just about every single game. In fact I'm pretty certain they set attendance records for the NFL during that time. I know Buffalo fans set an NFL single-season attendance record of 635,889 in 1991. The Stadium holds fewer now then it did back then due to the 1998 refitting with larger seating, club seating, and luxury boxes. Anyway, I'm still very amazed how many season tickets sell every year considering how mediocre the team has been over the last 14 years. If i recall correctly the 1984 (2-14) season the team only sold around 17, 000 season tickets.
HalftimeAdjustment Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 What's attractive to owners is how many luxury suites a team sells, and PSLs, neither of which sell well in Buffalo. By my understanding these boxes/suites typically sell for between $50K (low end) and $100K per box. A lot of stadiums have around a 100 of 'em or so plus/minus one way or the other. You can do the math, but that's somewhere on the magnitude of $10M per season. At $100 per ticket for 70K seats, about what the Ralph has, $7M in ticket sales for the season. And tix don't cost $100 ea. at the Ralph. A little issue here: tickets cost on a per game basis. You took 70K*$100 = $7M. However, based on an average season ticket cost of $500 that is 70K*$500 = $35M per season. http://www.buffalobills.com/tickets/season-ticket-pricing.html Also, the average revenue per seat is probably a little higher. If each person spends $15/game on associated costs (parking, concessions, whatever) then they could easily see revenue of $1M/game = $8M/season on top of that from the "regular fans". The luxury boxes are all-inclusive up to a certain point, I am sure there is some associated additional revenue but given there are fewer people, it probably isn't too much.
Luxy312 Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 44,000+ seasons is nice. Still 10,000 less than 2009. NFL says minimum 65,000 seats. How many season tickets will they sell in a new stadium with a $5,000 PSL, $150 tickets and $50 parking? Anyone going to pay $13K for 10 games? Get them now while they are still reasonable. If there is a new stadium or major overhaul, the PSL will be amortized over 10 years. So basically people paying for the tickets, parking, food, etc. already to the clip of $2,000-$4,000 per season will simply be adding $500 to their tab. I.e. if you can already afford that much to watch a game, then you can afford the PSL as well.
BillnutinHouston Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 If there is a new stadium or major overhaul, the PSL will be amortized over 10 years. Can you explain this statement? Are you saying that PSLs generally don't have to be paid in a lump sum?
PromoTheRobot Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 The only playoff game that I can recall that i couldn't record in the entire late 80's early 90's hey day era was the greatest comeback game.(1992 season) I think that was only because both QB Jim Kelly, and biscuit were out with injuries, and a lot of fans most have thought the SB run was over. During that era the stadium held 80 thousand plus, and sold out just about every single game. In fact I'm pretty certain they set attendance records for the NFL during that time. I know Buffalo fans set an NFL single-season attendance record of 635,889 in 1991. The Stadium holds fewer now then it did back then due to the 1998 refitting with larger seating, club seating, and luxury boxes. Anyway, I'm still very amazed how many season tickets sell every year considering how mediocre the team has been over the last 14 years. If i recall correctly the 1984 (2-14) season the team only sold around 17, 000 season tickets. Tickets sold well the first two years of the SB run. The Houston comeback was blacked out for the reasons you stated, but other games needed Ralph of Ch.2 to buy the last couple thousand seats to avoid the blackout. Specifically the AFC championship vs KC. Can you explain this statement? Are you saying that PSLs generally don't have to be paid in a lump sum? Correct, if you commit to season tickets for, say, ten years. They spread out the payments.
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