JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 Another enjoyable and productive get-together. John Murphy came up before his show to just chat a bit and share his enthusiasm for this season. After every meeting one member goes on his show - I'm gonna volunteer for that (and of course plug TBD). Some tidbits: Wi-Fi Update - vendor has been chosen. Plan is to have wi-fi available in-stadium by the opener. May need some tweaks early in the season to get it optimized for all areas and usage. Loyalty/Rewards program for Season Ticket Members (not holders - they call them Members) - In the works. Bills Bucks being replaced by a card on which they can load value. Will start with a percentage rebate of your season ticket price (2% I think). Working on a more robust system but will be starting simple. There will be much more discussion on the particulars of this program. OneBuffalo - They are beginning to consolidate and cross-pollinate with the Sabres. I suggested maybe a OneBuffalo sports weekend with a Friday Sabres game and Sunday Bills game package. They did say the NFL is adamant about keeping themselves separate from other sports leagues but sounded intrigued by the idea. Question asked re: ticket packages to home or away games. They will not get into the travel agency business, but if someone wants them to check on tickets to away games they are happy to do that. It would be last minute, from any of their unused allotment which are usually pretty bad seats. Some teams are more cooperative than others for other requests. All tobacco products, matches & lighters, and e-cigs will be officially banned and not allowed entry into the stadium with these items. Leave 'em in your cars, people. Drones are illegal in Orchard Park and have been officially banned from all stadium property. Bills Bucks expiring - this was something Delaware North (who run the food concessions and the Bills Store) wanted for accounting purposes. If you have expired bucks, call your ticket rep or customer service and they can work with you. For out-of-towners they even said they could take your bucks and buy what you want and ship it to you. The Bills are improving in just about every metric taken by the league. For last season they were first overall in club seat holder satisfaction and 5th in general ticket holder satisfaction. Other Fan-Fest like benefit suggestions? I said how people were so into that event I got to go to with Rex, Jim, and Thurman and suggested maybe something like that (but bigger) maybe tied into the 20th anniversary of the 4th Super Bowl team. Get alumni and fans together to talk about that team/season and anything else that might come up. Also wondered if there was a way Bills Backers around the country could be involved. Maybe something like that will come to be... Season Ticket Members watch your emails tomorrow or Monday for communication regarding tickets for the game in London. They were disappointed with no home primetime game this year, but are optimistic that another successful season will land them one next year. They said that Buffalo comes off great in that type of game if the national interest is there. They are looking for ways to entice people to get into the stadium earlier. I basically said they'd have to come up with a compelling reason for people to leave their tailgates and come in. Any suggestions any of you have along those lines would be appreciated. Everybody in the front office said that Rex Ryan is always just the way you see on TV. And he wants to win so badly... His truck was still there when I left the stadium at 8:20. He needs to work on parking between the lines
Doc Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 So the Bills want home primetime games? I thought they didn't because of all the out-of-town fans?
Beerball Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 You keyed Rex's truck? So the Bills want home primetime games? I thought they didn't because of all the out-of-town fans? IIRC that was a Ralph request to the league years ago.
Augie Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 Awesome stuff. You deserve the Big Tree call you got for the Big Interview. Please tell me Rex is just a sloppy parker and not an NBA prima dona taking three spots so no one dings his doors! (kidding.... I hope)
NoSaint Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 So the Bills want home primetime games? I thought they didn't because of all the out-of-town fans? We of course don't know if that has changed as demand has grown, or if behind the scenes matches the public message
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted April 24, 2015 Author Posted April 24, 2015 Oh yeah - season ticket update: Currently over 55k with 96% renewal rate. They think they can get to 60k and some talks of capping the number have been had. And I think Rex is just a bad parker. It's not like he was straddling a line, he was just on top of one. It is a very big truck.
White Linen Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 Very interesting information - thanks for posting it.
Just Jack Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 Another enjoyable and productive get-together. John Murphy came up before his show to just chat a bit and share his enthusiasm for this season. After every meeting one member goes on his show - I'm gonna volunteer for that (and of course plug TBD). Some tidbits: Wi-Fi Update - vendor has been chosen. Plan is to have wi-fi available in-stadium by the opener. May need some tweaks early in the season to get it optimized for all areas and usage. Loyalty/Rewards program for Season Ticket Members (not holders - they call them Members) - In the works. Bills Bucks being replaced by a card on which they can load value. Will start with a percentage rebate of your season ticket price (2% I think). Working on a more robust system but will be starting simple. There will be much more discussion on the particulars of this program. Bills Bucks expiring - this was something Delaware North (who run the food concessions and the Bills Store) wanted for accounting purposes. If you have expired bucks, call your ticket rep or customer service and they can work with you. For out-of-towners they even said they could take your bucks and buy what you want and ship it to you. Gee, Wi-Fi has only taken three years since it was promised. They got rid of FanVision before having another solution in place. I don't like having Bills Bucks on a card, because when I'd let others use my seats, I'd give them some bucks also as a bonus. And I wonder if they'll take all the bucks I have left over, or just last years. He can be a bad parker.... if he beats the Pats.And the Jets, and the Dolphins....
plenzmd1 Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 Thanks Jay. In terms of getting to seats earlier...maybe if they gave a voucher for $3 off at concession stand or 10% off of merchandise at Bills store if in line by 12:15 or something like that. Or, maybe if they did some sort of exclusive interviews with Rex or a SoundFX thing from previous week that would only be shown at 12.30 on the jumbotron. Maybe everyone in by 12:30 could get a front of the line ticket like at amusement parks to be used once at the beer line and restroom! LOL that would be great.
CountryCletus Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 Good stuff bud!! I think they are going to struggle to find something that brings people into the stadium earlier... Like you said, they are competing with tailgates
YoloinOhio Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 Good stuff bud!! I think they are going to struggle to find something that brings people into the stadium earlier... Like you said, they are competing with tailgatesi was trying to think about college games because tailgating is so huge with those but the fans are usually in their seats fairly early. I think it's because of the band. Maybe a pre-game concert?
zonabb Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 There will NEVER be a reason I'll go into the stadium earlier. They want that because they want us to spend more money. Why on earth would I put down a great beer I paid $1.50 for an buy a $9.00 warm, flat buttwiper? Downtown stadium will be the end for me if the tailgating goes away. I enjoy the "community" of it and although I enjoy the games immensely, I'll invest in a huge TV and watch from the comfort of home and avoid what are sure to be major transportation problems. Honestly, it's this type of profit seeking attitude that drives me nuts. My taxes cover your stadium, my season tickets help pay the Bills, everyone in our group buys a least a beer and food every game and you want me to come early now. Nope.
BustaTimes Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 They are looking for ways to entice people to get into the stadium earlier. I basically said they'd have to come up with a compelling reason for people to leave their tailgates and come in. Any suggestions any of you have along those lines would be appreciated. Concerts with national artists - not anyone A-list, but if you had Eddie Money playing the hits I'd get there early to check it out
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted April 24, 2015 Author Posted April 24, 2015 There will NEVER be a reason I'll go into the stadium earlier. They want that because they want us to spend more money. Why on earth would I put down a great beer I paid $1.50 for an buy a $9.00 warm, flat buttwiper? Downtown stadium will be the end for me if the tailgating goes away. I enjoy the "community" of it and although I enjoy the games immensely, I'll invest in a huge TV and watch from the comfort of home and avoid what are sure to be major transportation problems. Honestly, it's this type of profit seeking attitude that drives me nuts. My taxes cover your stadium, my season tickets help pay the Bills, everyone in our group buys a least a beer and food every game and you want me to come early now. Nope. I choose to think they're trying to alleviate the crush just before kickoff in an effort to make it easier for everyone to get to their seats in time. They're actually talking about bringing in bands and having discounted food - hardly money making efforts to me. They can't serve alcohol before noon so that's out.
K D Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 thanks for the update. if they want to get people in the stadium early, some ideas i have are... - raffles or prizes given out to only those in the stadium - seat upgrades (have some kind of platform with some couches or something on the sideline) - free (fill in the blank) to the first 10,000 people in the stadium - express lanes for security up until 1 hour before game time or something like that - discount food and beer up until a certain time basically, give people free stuff and they will come!
PromoTheRobot Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 (edited) The idea of having a Sabres game the same weekend is valid for us out-of-towners. It often plays a big role in deciding what Bills games I drive in for. A perfect weekend is a Sabres/UB/Bills trifecta. Speaking of UB, if I knew this meeting was coming up, I would have asked you to bring this up: With the long Bills roadtrip in November, what about bringing the UB-UMASS football game to RWS on Black Friday? Two years ago they had 26K show up for Bowling Green. Edited April 24, 2015 by PromoTheRobot
CodeMonkey Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 (edited) Will the wifi be free or a hotspot kind of thing? And the wifi itself might get some people into the stadium earlier. Edited April 24, 2015 by CodeMonkey
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