mrjsbu96 Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 i'm not going to pretend i even have an idea which is why I am asking. it seems like a lot has been made in various mediums about the attendance this past sunday. if the remaining games don't move i imagine even more will be made of it - in Buffalo, and especially outside of Buffalo (Los Angeles, San Antonio, Moosejaw, or wherever) so, that said, what is the current lease arrangement and/or what do you guys make of buffalo being put in spotlight more for attendance than winning 2 in a row? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pBills Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 I believe one of the reasons the attendance is a big deal is because that they were sold out for what 27 of 28 games... then a black out. When the team wins, the tickets sell. If they win this week, it will be hard to find tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerme1 Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 A Toronto perspective on the Bills eroding Loyal fan base. http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Football/...545560-sun.html Just a personal note, we had sold out 27 of the last 28 despite being pathetic. That wouldn't happen in a lot of places and see this whole thing getting blown out of proportion a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjsbu96 Posted November 29, 2006 Author Share Posted November 29, 2006 A Toronto perspective on the Bills eroding Loyal fan base. http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Football/...545560-sun.html Just a personal note, we had sold out 27 of the last 28 despite being pathetic. That wouldn't happen in a lot of places and see this whole thing getting blown out of proportion a little bit. 851412[/snapback] i don't think it is a erosion of fan base, rather is is the old argument whether or not WNY/Southern Ontario can economically support two professional franchise. perhaps we sold out the last 27 because nobody cared about the sabres and/or they were not playing. now they are playing well again and will it come at the expense of the bills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 i do my part Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 I believe one of the reasons the attendance is a big deal is because that they were sold out for what 27 of 28 games... then a black out. When the team wins, the tickets sell. If they win this week, it will be hard to find tickets. 851410[/snapback] i think the reason is that every nfl game has sold out this year except for one - buffalo v. jacksonville. this week, and the two subsequent home games, will probably make four. those four non-sellouts may be the only non-sellouts in the entire league this year. buffalonians have resorted to the "discriminating" argument, but that doesn't explain why cleveland, a metro area not much bigger than buffalo, and green bay, a significantly smaller metro area, don't have to work like the bills do to sell tickets. those games are automatic sellouts. the point is, buffalo's fan base is fairly weak in comparison to relatively similar cities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 i don't think it is a erosion of fan base, rather is is the old argument whether or not WNY/Southern Ontario can economically support two professional franchise. perhaps we sold out the last 27 because nobody cared about the sabres and/or they were not playing. now they are playing well again and will it come at the expense of the bills? 851414[/snapback] Not the case at all. The Sabres are winning and are selling out. The Bills have a losing record and still sell out most of the time. If the Bills were 6-4 or even 5-5, that game most likely sells out. Plus the fact that Jacksonville isn't exactly a big draw team. If it was Miami on a beautiful day and didn't sell out, I would be concerned. But J-ville, absolutely not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BILLS02138 Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 Personally, I think the Bills marketing department is lazy. I was home for ten days over the Thanksgiving Holiday and I saw ONE commercial on TV pushing ticket sales. ONE commercial on TV is not enough. There should be billboards, cooperative marketing with malls, restaurants, airlines (jetblue), and companies throughout WNY and Southern Ontario. Also, shouldn't the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and Enterprise being assisting with these ticket sales efforts? Without the Bills and Sabers; Buffalo is NOTHING. You've got to spend money to make money. Also, while at the game on Sunday, besides the fact that the score boards kept shorting out; I either missed it or didn't see the group sales listing like they normally present during a time out. It's time Ralph bring in some top notch people - both on the field - and in the administrative offices. There is NO reason not to sell out a Buffalo Bills game. If we continue to unsell; we simply provide ammunition to other markets looking for a team... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 A Toronto perspective on the Bills eroding Loyal fan base. http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Football/...545560-sun.html Just a personal note, we had sold out 27 of the last 28 despite being pathetic. That wouldn't happen in a lot of places and see this whole thing getting blown out of proportion a little bit. 851412[/snapback] I agree. Especially the teams like Arizona (which got a brand new stadium) and New Orleans (got Bush dropped in their lap, and Katrina) which perennially never sold out have sold out all their games this year due to some luck and favors...Unfortunately the Bills don't have such benefit...I guess everyone has even forgotten that Buffalo was hit by a 6 ft snow storm just 45 days ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 i think the reason is that every nfl game has sold out this year except for one - buffalo v. jacksonville. this week, and the two subsequent home games, will probably make four. those four non-sellouts may be the only non-sellouts in the entire league this year. buffalonians have resorted to the "discriminating" argument, but that doesn't explain why cleveland, a metro area not much bigger than buffalo, and green bay, a significantly smaller metro area, don't have to work like the bills do to sell tickets. those games are automatic sellouts. the point is, buffalo's fan base is fairly weak in comparison to relatively similar cities. 851476[/snapback] The green bay comparison is very unfair, as the fan base covers more of the entire state rather than the small town. Unfortunately for the bills, they have to fight for fans attention on the west (Cleveland), south (Pittsburgh) and East(Jets/Giants). Cleveland also enjoys good support from the entire state of Ohio considering that the bengals have been stinking for the entire 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 Personally, I think the Bills marketing department is lazy. I think that people in WNY know who the Bills are, how to get tix, and how many tix are left unsold. Someone's "lazy" and it's not the marketing department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullim4 Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 As much as I hate to say it, TD is the reason the seats are going unfilled. He excelled at getting people's hopes up, getting them to buy tickets, and then having the floor fall out underneath the team. Marv and Overdorf aren't giving the same false promises, so people aren't ponying up the money to buy tickets. As bad as TD was for this team, he did a good job at getting people in seats for some pretty terrible teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olaf Fub Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 I think this whole idea that the Bills might move because we didn't sell out a few home games is flat out silly. We still had a larger crowd at the stadium that 5 other cities last week. We've sold out 27 of the last 29. The reason for the non sellout is simple. The Bills have been a bad football team for the last 5-6 years. We've been watching bad football for the entire 21st century. The fact that we still drew 60,000+ in a rebuilding year is a testament to how great the WNY/SO market is for football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BILLS02138 Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 I think that people in WNY know who the Bills are, how to get tix, and how many tix are left unsold. Someone's "lazy" and it's not the marketing department. 851561[/snapback] Just curious, what market do you reside? (Inside WNY or elsewhere?) In a market like WNY - where the Bills have been KING for decades - and now hockey is picking up big time - people need to know before Tuesday before the Sunday that there are only 7500+ tickets left. Yeah, everyone knows the Bills - but the team MUST do a better job marketing itself and letting fans know which games are available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFLstyle Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 Just curious, what market do you reside? (Inside WNY or elsewhere?) In a market like WNY - where the Bills have been KING for decades - and now hockey is picking up big time - people need to know before Tuesday before the Sunday that there are only 7500+ tickets left. Yeah, everyone knows the Bills - but the team MUST do a better job marketing itself and letting fans know which games are available. 851675[/snapback] Agreed, they should also try to get something in the Toronto newspapers and advertise bus trips from Toronto for the games, Canada is a huge NFL market and I'm starting to notice that while the older generation in Canada is Bills dominant, new generation NFL fans cheer for other teams rather than the Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Also, while at the game on Sunday, besides the fact that the score boards kept shorting out; I either missed it or didn't see the group sales listing like they normally present during a time out. 851493[/snapback] You missed, I can't remember exactly when they showed it, but I do remember seeing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester43 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Personally, I think the Bills marketing department is lazy. I was home for ten days over the Thanksgiving Holiday and I saw ONE commercial on TV pushing ticket sales. ONE commercial on TV is not enough. There should be billboards, cooperative marketing with malls, restaurants, airlines (jetblue), and companies throughout WNY and Southern Ontario. Also, shouldn't the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and Enterprise being assisting with these ticket sales efforts? Without the Bills and Sabers; Buffalo is NOTHING. You've got to spend money to make money. Also, while at the game on Sunday, besides the fact that the score boards kept shorting out; I either missed it or didn't see the group sales listing like they normally present during a time out. It's time Ralph bring in some top notch people - both on the field - and in the administrative offices. There is NO reason not to sell out a Buffalo Bills game. If we continue to unsell; we simply provide ammunition to other markets looking for a team... 851493[/snapback] intersting take. and it sort of falls into line with my theory that the reason we've suffered so much over the years (more bad teams than good since the merger) is that RALPH WILSON has made more than his share of bad decisions. poor marketing might be another one. but i think the most important factor is that folks are under no illusions about how good this team is. they're just not that good. i live a 1000 miles from buffalo now and make over 20k less than i did a year ago. i am coming east for christmas and can afford to go to ONE game... this year i picked the sabres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boltuprite Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 said it before and I'll say it again. The NFL blackout policy is whacked. As stadium sizes vary how is it fair that in one market, 60,000 seats is a sellout (because that is the stadiums capacity), but in another market where they sell 70,000 seats it isn't (becuase their stadium capacity is 80,000 seats). Base the blackout rule on a concrete number like 55,000 or 60,000 seats sold then the game is televised. Would be much fairer to teams with larger stadiums like Buffalo. Now as to the decline in numbers in Buffalo. Several factors, play into it. Lousy schedule that was weighted with many home games at the end of the year in Nov, Dec when the weather is typically brutal. The Bills string of non-playoff years and sub-standard teams. The re-surgence of the Sabres. (more competition for the fans $$). Put a winning competitive team on the field that is a playoff contender and the fans will pack the Ralph. Personally I still think support for the Bills in Buffalo has been pretty amazing consdering the sub-standard football that has been played by them in recent seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pBills Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Now as to the decline in numbers in Buffalo. Several factors, play into it. Lousy schedule that was weighted with many home games at the end of the year in Nov, Dec when the weather is typically brutal. The Bills string of non-playoff years and sub-standard teams. The re-surgence of the Sabres. (more competition for the fans $$). 852482[/snapback] I agree with a lot of what you said. However the one thing I do agree with the late season home game reason. One thing Bills fans do not care about is the weather. As we all sang during the Miami snow storm game a few years ago... Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 I wouldn't be surprised if the networks start demanding that the NFL do this, or get rid of the blackout rule altogether, considering the major dollars the NFL makes off-of TV versus ticket sales. When LA gets a team, I can't see the networks allowing blackouts there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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