CodeMonkey Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Probably making enough bank now that he can hire someone to drive him to the arena if he can't find it. Assuming he wants to go there.
The Real Buffalo Joe Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Probably making enough bank now that he can hire someone to drive him to the arena if he can't find it. Assuming he wants to go there. What does this even mean? Is this insulting?
TheFunPolice Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Where does he go to work in the morning? Also, does he change his tie based on which team he is overseeing at that moment? All kidding aside, that is a LOT of responsibility. But by all accounts he is a great executive so that's good news!
All I Need is Hope Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Throughout these 4 pages of posts, very little is provided regarding specific examples of Russ' accomplishments, good or bad. Plenty of opinion, but concrete examples of what he does that makes him really good or great aren't available. In the absence of examples, I keep coming back to the fact that he's fortunate to work with teams in a market where fans support crappy teams, year after year, no matter what. An exceptionally loyal fan base has to make it much easier for him to be successful. I think that his responsiveness to the "voice of the customer" and improving the Ralph and fan experience is good, but this would seem to be a basic expectation for someone in that role. Also, the league sets / mandates minimum stadium amenities / conditions, so I'm sure these played into the effort to upgrade. I'm guessing, but I think that he tightly controls the content / tone of the Bills website, through which he's expertly sold false hope for the last decade or so. For this reason, I'm skeptical regarding his real business acumen, versus being a really good salesman. Finally, It seems like he was the ultimate yes man to Ralph, protecting his place / power, by never advocating for a strong football man to come in and run the football ops side. Admittedly, my perception isn't based on a lot of facts; so, if someone can help with examples to support his greatness, please share.
The Real Buffalo Joe Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Where does he go to work in the morning? Also, does he change his tie based on which team he is overseeing at that moment? All kidding aside, that is a LOT of responsibility. But by all accounts he is a great executive so that's good news! It's all about the lapel pin. Maybe a lapel pin with that logo sold by all the bootleg Tshirt vendors with a charging Bills logo inside the Sabres logo.
HankBulloughMellencamp Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 I thought he tried to make himself available to the fans as much or more than any other exec in recent times. That's a plus in my book. What he was responsible for was those 3rd jerseys. I mean, that's a fireable offense!! I don't think any of this was arrogance. He gave as much as he got with the BN which is fine in my book. Fair points. I didn't know of Black's admirable availability, as some have now referenced. But his turd-burger 3rd jersey, and his subsequent coining of the term "jersey fatigue" went over with the Buffalo market like a fart in church. Let's be honest, we are still in the dark ages of "success on the field of play" in both franchises. Both had tough jobs selling hope with year after year of inferior results. Russ is just far better at it than Black proved to be. So they give Russ half (or whatever) of what Black made, and forge ahead with their OneBuffalo empire. Quite shrewd, actually.
stony Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 (edited) Throughout these 4 pages of posts, very little is provided regarding specific examples of Russ' accomplishments, good or bad. Plenty of opinion, but concrete examples of what he does that makes him really good or great aren't available. In the absence of examples, I keep coming back to the fact that he's fortunate to work with teams in a market where fans support crappy teams, year after year, no matter what. An exceptionally loyal fan base has to make it much easier for him to be successful. I think that his responsiveness to the "voice of the customer" and improving the Ralph and fan experience is good, but this would seem to be a basic expectation for someone in that role. Also, the league sets / mandates minimum stadium amenities / conditions, so I'm sure these played into the effort to upgrade. I'm guessing, but I think that he tightly controls the content / tone of the Bills website, through which he's expertly sold false hope for the last decade or so. For this reason, I'm skeptical regarding his real business acumen, versus being a really good salesman. Finally, It seems like he was the ultimate yes man to Ralph, protecting his place / power, by never advocating for a strong football man to come in and run the football ops side. Admittedly, my perception isn't based on a lot of facts; so, if someone can help with examples to support his greatness, please share. For someone pointing out the lack of facts in this thread, there's a lot of speculation in this post as well. FWIW, I remember some reports indicating Russ would be in demand if he was let loose during the ownership change. His stature has grown outside of Buffalo, most likely as a result of him representing the franchise in a positive manner during league meetings. Fair points. I didn't know of Black's admirable availability, as some have now referenced. But his turd-burger 3rd jersey, and his subsequent coining of the term "jersey fatigue" went over with the Buffalo market like a fart in church. Let's be honest, we are still in the dark ages of "success on the field of play" in both franchises. Both had tough jobs selling hope with year after year of inferior results. Russ is just far better at it than Black proved to be. So they give Russ half (or whatever) of what Black made, and forge ahead with their OneBuffalo empire. Quite shrewd, actually. Good points. I actually liked the Sabres' "handbooks" they sent out to season ticket holders. Literally little booklets of hope. Edited July 27, 2015 by stony
May Day 10 Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Fair points. I didn't know of Black's admirable availability, as some have now referenced. But his turd-burger 3rd jersey, and his subsequent coining of the term "jersey fatigue" went over with the Buffalo market like a fart in church. Let's be honest, we are still in the dark ages of "success on the field of play" in both franchises. Both had tough jobs selling hope with year after year of inferior results. Russ is just far better at it than Black proved to be. So they give Russ half (or whatever) of what Black made, and forge ahead with their OneBuffalo empire. Quite shrewd, actually.
seq004 Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Great at marketing. Really bad at player decisions so I don't know how to feel about this.
Jerry Jabber Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Brandon has done a great job of marketing the Bills as well as the business side of the team, but he was terrible when it came to hiring coaches, management, and players. Just as long as Brandon stays on the marketing/business side, then things will be good.
Heitz Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Congrats Russ - I'll polish up my resume for when the Bills are ready to refill the "marketing guy" coffers. My goal is to get a job with the Bills that gives me enough visibility that everyone on TBD hates the job I'm doing, regardless if they know or understand the job I'm doing!
26CornerBlitz Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 @BuffaloSabres Welcome @RussBrandon! #OneBuffalo
stony Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Congrats Russ - I'll polish up my resume for when the Bills are ready to refill the "marketing guy" coffers. My goal is to get a job with the Bills that gives me enough visibility that everyone on TBD hates the job I'm doing, regardless if they know or understand the job I'm doing! I'll drink to that!!
May Day 10 Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 I forgot about the prospects game too. Almost 18,000 for a scrimmage game in July for the worst team in the NHL... and you had to pay for tickets. I just hope the media's narrative doesnt continue to be that Black was screwing the pooch. It seems its just their grand One Buffalo structure coming into reality, and Brandon is the man they want for the job and there is no room for Black under the new structure.
Jerry Jabber Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 All I Need is Hope, A couple of examples I can think of with Brandon are: He moved training camp from Fredonia to Rochester which improved ticket sales from the Rochester area The Toronto series (as painful as it was) improved ticket sales from Southern Ontario Brandon was heavily involved in the 10 year iron-clad lease between Ralph Wilson Stadium and Erie County making it virtually impossible to move the Bills in case the team was sold to a bidder that wanted to move the team outside of WNY Brandon was heavily involved in the sale of the team and the strict stipulations involved in the sale
Formerly Allan in MD Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Brandon obviously knows where Terry's bank is. Perhaps Black's acumen, in this regard, was as problematic as his communication skills.
The Real Buffalo Joe Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 All I Need is Hope, A couple of examples I can think of with Brandon are: He moved training camp from Fredonia to Rochester which improved ticket sales from the Rochester area The Toronto series (as painful as it was) improved ticket sales from Southern Ontario Brandon was heavily involved in the 10 year iron-clad lease between Ralph Wilson Stadium and Erie County making it virtually impossible to move the Bills in case the team was sold to a bidder that wanted to move the team outside of WNY Brandon was heavily involved in the sale of the team and the strict stipulations involved in the sale But the Bills suck!! He's obvously terrible. Obviously.
Kirby Jackson Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 Throughout these 4 pages of posts, very little is provided regarding specific examples of Russ' accomplishments, good or bad. Plenty of opinion, but concrete examples of what he does that makes him really good or great aren't available. In the absence of examples, I keep coming back to the fact that he's fortunate to work with teams in a market where fans support crappy teams, year after year, no matter what. An exceptionally loyal fan base has to make it much easier for him to be successful. I think that his responsiveness to the "voice of the customer" and improving the Ralph and fan experience is good, but this would seem to be a basic expectation for someone in that role. Also, the league sets / mandates minimum stadium amenities / conditions, so I'm sure these played into the effort to upgrade. I'm guessing, but I think that he tightly controls the content / tone of the Bills website, through which he's expertly sold false hope for the last decade or so. For this reason, I'm skeptical regarding his real business acumen, versus being a really good salesman. Finally, It seems like he was the ultimate yes man to Ralph, protecting his place / power, by never advocating for a strong football man to come in and run the football ops side. Admittedly, my perception isn't based on a lot of facts; so, if someone can help with examples to support his greatness, please share. You hit on a few. If you look at the Bills sponsorship revenue and nonshared revenue compared to other markets (especially during Toronto series) it is quite impressive. The WNY market has many challenges when it comes to sponsorship (are there any fortune 500 companies)? In order to keep up with the rest of the league you need to be able to generate nonshared revenue in a stadium that doesn't lend itself to that. There aren't a lot of assets that they can slap a sponsors name on and collect a 6-7 figure check for. IMO, that is without question his greatest attribute. This is the result of regionalization and engraining himself in the business community. Great at marketing. Really bad at player decisions so I don't know how to feel about this. HE NEVER MADE ANY!!!!!
Jerry Jabber Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 But the Bills suck!! He's obvously terrible. Obviously.
stony Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 (edited) All I Need is Hope, A couple of examples I can think of with Brandon are: He moved training camp from Fredonia to Rochester which improved ticket sales from the Rochester area The Toronto series (as painful as it was) improved ticket sales from Southern Ontario Brandon was heavily involved in the 10 year iron-clad lease between Ralph Wilson Stadium and Erie County making it virtually impossible to move the Bills in case the team was sold to a bidder that wanted to move the team outside of WNY Brandon was heavily involved in the sale of the team and the strict stipulations involved in the sale Pegula also publicly applauded Russ's roll in the last head coaching search. He's well thought of (except by TBD)... Edited July 27, 2015 by stony
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