JESSEFEFFER Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 A larger stadium in a smaller market has always meant that fans had some buying options. There was no pressure to buy season ticket to have access to games and no real reason to buy season tickets that included preseason and cold weather games that they would rather not view in person. I do not think the existence of this buyers' market is the same thing as having "Bandwagon" fans. Contrast this to markets where there are season ticket waiting lists and fans do not give theirs up because they know that they will go to the end of the line and will be waiting for a generation to get them back. The fluctuationsin the levels of interstest, enthsusiasm and passion from year to year would be a more accurate definition of "bandwagon fans" but what is the best measure. TV ratings, merchandise sales, out-of-market fan clubs, maybe? The Bills Backers at the Tavern on the Tracks in Charlotte did not strike me as the bandwagon type.
jumbalaya Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 Jax doesn't have any fair weather fans. They have no fans fair, bad, good or midlin...
Kirby Jackson Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 (edited) The report using "brand equity" and "fan" interchangeably is its fatal flaw. They are different things. This survey doesn't factor in the level of fandom. Is the Dallas Cowboys "brand" more valuable than the Buffalo Bills "brand"? Yes, but that doesn't measure the level to which a segment supports a brand. As an example, people who do yoga swear by it. It is a lifestyle. More people jog than do yoga. Does that mean that jogging has better fans than yoga? I jog sometimes & don't enjoy it. I know that it's kind of a weird example but I was trying to think of something that correlated. Edited July 18, 2015 by Kirby Jackson
BUFFALOKIE Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 On the flip side, we are number two on the ****ty Weather Fan scale!
Rocky Landing Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 (edited) A lot of hay has been made from from this Emory study. This is the second article to get its own thread tolling our sensibilities. And, we're rightly offended. The problem with this study, and the terms coined by its authors ("fan equity," is the most insidious), is that it is mixing disciplines for which I'm not sure they are qualified. These guys, Manish Tripathi, and Mike Lewis, are not sociologists, psychologists, or sports analysts. They are both Emory University professors with Ph.Ds in marketing, and that is the perspective to which they are contributing. Among other things, they are taking the term "fair weather fan," which has connotative, and denotative meanings, and using it as a marketing term, which applies to neither. And, as such, they are offensive to the fan bases they are callously, if inadvertently, denigrating. Buffalo fans can be forgiven if, in the years we don't have many stand-out performances, and have been eliminated from playoff contention in the first half of the season, we skip a game, or two, and don't buy as many jerseys. And, that is the only metric by which these authors are judging fandom-- by how reliably profitable we are. At any rate, if you really want to let these guys know how you feel about this study, and its implications for us, as fans, you can email them directly at: manish.tripathi@emory.edu mike.lewis@emory.edu Edited July 18, 2015 by Rocky Landing
Saxum Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 Did anyone check Emery University to see if that Kraft and Jones are donors? This school has been producing papers which appear to be sponsored and in Universities getting companies to pay for research is considered good.
Pete Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 fair weather Bills fan is an oxymoron. After we start dominating next season there might be some bandwagon fans. But any Bills fan the past 40 years is the real deal
SouthernMan Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 In a related topic, I recently saw The NFL networks list of the 10 toughest home stadiums for visiting teams. Can you believe the Bills didn't even make the top 10?!? I put no value in these lists. They're right up there with pre-season speculation on teams records. It's all somebody's opinion - no more important or having any more merit than any of ours.
Rocky Landing Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 In a related topic, I recently saw The NFL networks list of the 10 toughest home stadiums for visiting teams. Can you believe the Bills didn't even make the top 10?!? I put no value in these lists. They're right up there with pre-season speculation on teams records. It's all somebody's opinion - no more important or having any more merit than any of ours. Was Denver #1?
Steve Billieve Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 The methodology applied is not mostly based on ticket prices. Actually they attempt to control for ticket prices. For example if the Bills doubled ticket prices and sales dropped as a result, they would not count those fans dropping out from the price increase as "bandwagon" fans. After controlling for the other variables, they then try to measure attendance vs. win loss records. If you count the Toronto games as home games and actually look at attendance in the 4-12 seasons vs the 8-8 or 9-7 seasons, there actually is a pretty big swing in fan attendance for Bills games. Its all relative. If Jacksonville goes 4-12 and sells 10,000 tickets that season and then goes 12-4 and sells 10,000 tickets that season. They have zero bandwagon fans. If the Bills sell go 4-12 and sell 60k tickets that year , and then goes 12-4 and sells 70k tickets that year, they have 10,000 bandwagon fans. Clearly the Bills have better fans in that example, but mathematically they have more bandwagon fans. Its nothing to get bent out of shape over. Teams like the Giants, Packers and Steelers who have long waiting lists for season tickets don't really have the room for any bandwagon fans. I don't know if they did the work correctly, but the methodology they laid out makes some sense. Lets not muddy the waters with reason . . . everyone knows there are no fair weather Bills fans
eball Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 It's a good thing they don't allow comments...I can only imagine. Their results are laughable. Find me another NFL franchise that would set ST sales records coming off a 15-year playoff drought. Fair weather indeed.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 This is a stupid article as PTR stated it is based on money. That has no bearing on fan base. It just means these markets can over charge for tickets, and because Buffalo has a working class community the tickets are some of the lowest in the NFL. You listen to NFL Radio and many of the old time announcers constantly state how nuts Bills fans are about thier team. Howard David always talks about Buffalo, Kansas City, and Green Bay are the three best tailgaiting locations in the NFL. yep
BillsFan-4-Ever Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 YEAH we're #3 oh wait are they talking fans going to games or posters here?
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