pBills Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Alright Ralphie Boy — Frankly as one Bills fan, I am getting tired of always hearing the banter about the revenue, the team leaving, etc. Ralphie... your latest quote. "The high-revenue clubs are not going to give teams like Buffalo any revenue sharing. They haven't done it. They stalled it for years, and I'm sick and tired of hearing about it. I've run myself ragged trying to help Buffalo stay alive."' Do us favor then Ralph. Sell the team to someone who will keep the team in Buffalo, who will make themselves heard by the bigger market owners and who will market the team correctly to make it fiscally secure. Either that or sell the stadium naming rights, hell the stadium and land in general and build a smaller (50,000 - 60,000) seat stadium downtown with other teams money just as the Giants and Jets are doing. All in all stop freakin' complaining and do something. Have of these problems were created by you and your organization by not having a product worth marketing for 10 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDH Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 All in all stop freakin' complaining and do something. Have of these problems were created by you and your organization by not having a product worth marketing for 10 years. 871035[/snapback] His complaining IS doing something. It's bringing attention to an issue that the other NFL clubs keep trying to ignore. That being said I'm with you on the stadium naming rights. He should be milking every avenue possible for cash instead of naming the stadium after himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Alright Ralphie Boy — Frankly as one Bills fan, I am getting tired of always hearing the banter about the revenue, the team leaving, etc. Ralphie... your latest quote. "The high-revenue clubs are not going to give teams like Buffalo any revenue sharing. They haven't done it. They stalled it for years, and I'm sick and tired of hearing about it. I've run myself ragged trying to help Buffalo stay alive."' Do us favor then Ralph. Sell the team to someone who will keep the team in Buffalo, who will make themselves heard by the bigger market owners and who will market the team correctly to make it fiscally secure. Either that or sell the stadium naming rights, hell the stadium and land in general and build a smaller (50,000 - 60,000) seat stadium downtown with other teams money just as the Giants and Jets are doing. All in all stop freakin' complaining and do something. Have of these problems were created by you and your organization by not having a product worth marketing for 10 years. 871035[/snapback] Ok, a couple comments, Ralphs Bantering and complaining is making himself heard to the media and other owners. What else is he supposed to do? I for one am proud to have an owner who is actually looking out for the little guy (small markets) and doing something about it before its too late. Who is going to buy the BIlls and fight to keep them in Buffalo without revenue sharing? Its easier said then done Selling the naming rights may get him a million or 2, its not like that is the difference between Ralph being able to sign big name free agents or cheaper alternatives. He can't Sell the Stadium or the land and build a smaller one because he does not own it, Erie county does, he leases it from them. So Buffalo being a small market and not having a booming economy is all Ralph's fault now because the team hasn't been successful? Ralph is doing something by complaining and letting it be known to everyone that a small market team cannot last under these new regulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 His complaining IS doing something. It's bringing attention to an issue that the other NFL clubs keep trying to ignore. That being said I'm with you on the stadium naming rights. He should be milking every avenue possible for cash instead of naming the stadium after himself. 871040[/snapback] He didn't name the team after himself, I believe Erie County decided to name it after him as a tribute to the guy who brought the team to Buffalo. Why does everyone think selling the naming rights is going to make such a huge difference in the financial state of the Bills? He might get 1-3 million a year for it, barely enough to cover most players signing bonuses. Plus you would have to find a compsny willing to purchase these naming rights, and its not like Buffalo is the most attractive place for a huge company to drop some money for advertising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDH Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Why does everyone think selling the naming rights is going to make such a huge difference in the financial state of the Bills? He might get 1-3 million a year for it, barely enough to cover most players signing bonuses. Plus you would have to find a compsny willing to purchase these naming rights, and its not like Buffalo is the most attractive place for a huge company to drop some money for advertising. 871053[/snapback] I didn't say it was going to make a "huge" difference, but if the man is going to complain about his lack of revenue then he should be getting every penny he can out of the avenues he currently has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obie_wan Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Alright Ralphie Boy — Frankly as one Bills fan, I am getting tired of always hearing the banter about the revenue, the team leaving, etc. Ralphie... your latest quote. "The high-revenue clubs are not going to give teams like Buffalo any revenue sharing. They haven't done it. They stalled it for years, and I'm sick and tired of hearing about it. I've run myself ragged trying to help Buffalo stay alive."' Do us favor then Ralph. Sell the team to someone who will keep the team in Buffalo, who will make themselves heard by the bigger market owners and who will market the team correctly to make it fiscally secure. Either that or sell the stadium naming rights, hell the stadium and land in general and build a smaller (50,000 - 60,000) seat stadium downtown with other teams money just as the Giants and Jets are doing. All in all stop freakin' complaining and do something. Have of these problems were created by you and your organization by not having a product worth marketing for 10 years. 871035[/snapback] you seriously need to get your head out of your $ss. Without a comprehensive revenue sharing plan, NOBODY who buys the Bills can afford to keep them in Buffalo and compete for the best players. The Bills do not have multiple sources of revenue like luxury boxes and TV deals that are availabe to large market clubs. There is not a large enough corporate presence to buy the luxury boxes needed to compete. On top of the current operating expenses, any new buyer will also have to allocate cash to cover the debt service on the $500 + million debt needed to buy the team. The Bills will have even less cash to fund signing bonuses for free agents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 That being said I'm with you on the stadium naming rights. He should be milking every avenue possible for cash instead of naming the stadium after himself. 871040[/snapback] Remember when Rich Products originally wanted to call the stadium "Coffee Rich Park"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pBills Posted December 18, 2006 Author Share Posted December 18, 2006 Alright to respond. Yes, I know his complaining is getting noticed. The problem is that people are noticing and are ignoring it. Basically taking for the ramblings of an old man. Other teams, sports writers, etc. They will all continue to ignore him. About the naming rights... milk it. If the team is strapped for money, sell the naming rights the stadium, raise ticket prices, put a better product on the field, etc., etc. There are things that can be done. Revenue Sharing will happen... however, someone can buy the team and make it more marketable so that the revenue sharing helps but is not a do or die check from the league. Partly this is his fault... how many people here complained when he didn't go after some big name players in free agency? There are things that he can control that would help this team dramatically. If the team improves and forces itself to be noticed via great play. Money will come in. Money will come in via ticket sales, via apparel, advertising, etc., etc. Who wants to back a team that for years didn't know how to improve itself. Thank god, we're finally starting to see a chance in the right direction now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Bingo. Appreciate your owner and your team, because they likely won't be around too much longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pBills Posted December 18, 2006 Author Share Posted December 18, 2006 you seriously need to get your head out of your $ss. Without a comprehensive revenue sharing plan, NOBODY who buys the Bills can afford to keep them in Buffalo and compete for the best players. The Bills do not have multiple sources of revenue like luxury boxes and TV deals that are availabe to large market clubs. There is not a large enough corporate presence to buy the luxury boxes needed to compete. On top of the current operating expenses, any new buyer will also have to allocate cash to cover the debt service on the $500 + million debt needed to buy the team. The Bills will have even less cash to fund signing bonuses for free agents. 871090[/snapback] There is an old saying "Spend money to make money". The Bills win, get noticed brings in money. There are so many avenues in which the Bills can bring in money. Most of which are not available because they haven't done anything in years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Yes, I know his complaining is getting noticed. The problem is that people are noticing and are ignoring it. Basically taking for the ramblings of an old man. Other teams, sports writers, etc. They will all continue to ignore him.871100[/snapback] If everyone is ignorning him, why are there so many articles out there? Here's the article at ESPN. Here's the article at Sports Illustrated. This doesn't include the other smaller papers who ran his story, and I have not seen a single word written by anyone that suggests these are the "ramblings of an old man." You're complaining about something that doesn't exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pBills Posted December 18, 2006 Author Share Posted December 18, 2006 If everyone is ignorning him, why are there so many articles out there? Here's the article at ESPN. Here's the article at Sports Illustrated. This doesn't include the other smaller papers who ran his story, and I have not seen a single word written by anyone that suggests these are the "ramblings of an old man." You're complaining about something that doesn't exist. 871117[/snapback] Ok. sorry, the people that matter are ignoring him. Better? Ramblings of an old man is how people are taking him. Ever listen to Colin Cowherd? Many times through his show and others any move the Bills made had something about age thrown in and then laughed at. Make sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepthefaith Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 So many people here are uninformed. What Ralph is fighting for is revenue parity or at least getting small market teams in the ballpark of big revenue teams. Redskins have over $300 million a year in revenue based on '05 numbers. The Bills revenue was reported at $176 million, 25th in the league. The salary cap is over $100 million, but we all know that payrolls due to signing bonuses are higher. Every new stadium that is built raises the salary cap as the higher stadium revenues are counted toward the salary cap. When New York and Dallas build a new stadium, the salary cap rises. And by the way, the owners have agreed to sharing a pool of revenue to lower revenue clubs and Ralph has cited their lack of attention to that. Now if Ralph didn't care about Buffalo, he wouldn't fight so hard. He or his estate could sell the team to a buyer in a larger market and potentially get greater value. Instead, he's fighting tooth and nail for a leveler playing field for Buffalo. He has never said that the team doesn't make a profit. Put yourself in his shoes, the league dictates what you can spend for players, your competition spends all of that and more with creative contract structures, and you have $100 miilion a year less to work with. On top of that, you express this to your peer owners at a time they are voting to raise players pay (new CBA) and they tell you not to worry we'll work something out. Then when the time comes to work something out, you get little or no response from them. Quite frankly, I'm shocked that more of the smaller markert teams aren't screaming. Maybe they are but not publically as Ralph is. All the while the Bills maintain lower ticket prices and don't ask the fans to foot all the bill. Ralph is acting in the best interests of the team and the local community. Get a clue and get on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pBills Posted December 18, 2006 Author Share Posted December 18, 2006 So many people here are uninformed. What Ralph is fighting for is revenue parity or at least getting small market teams in the ballpark of big revenue teams. Redskins have over $300 million a year in revenue based on '05 numbers. The Bills revenue was reported at $176 million, 25th in the league. The salary cap is over $100 million, but we all know that payrolls due to signing bonuses are higher. Every new stadium that is built raises the salary cap as the higher stadium revenues are counted toward the salary cap. When New York and Dallas build a new stadium, the salary cap rises. And by the way, the owners have agreed to sharing a pool of revenue to lower revenue clubs and Ralph has cited their lack of attention to that. Now if Ralph didn't care about Buffalo, he wouldn't fight so hard. He or his estate could sell the team to a buyer in a larger market and potentially get greater value. Instead, he's fighting tooth and nail for a leveler playing field for Buffalo. He has never said that the team doesn't make a profit. Put yourself in his shoes, the league dictates what you can spend for players, your competition spends all of that and more with creative contract structures, and you have $100 miilion a year less to work with. On top of that, you express this to your peer owners at a time they are voting to raise players pay (new CBA) and they tell you not to worry we'll work something out. Then when the time comes to work something out, you get little or no response from them. Quite frankly, I'm shocked that more of the smaller markert teams aren't screaming. Maybe they are but not publically as Ralph is. All the while the Bills maintain lower ticket prices and don't ask the fans to foot all the bill. Ralph is acting in the best interests of the team and the local community. Get a clue and get on board. 871141[/snapback] No one ever said Ralph didn't fight for this team or care about Buffalo. At least I didn't. I have been simply saying, it's not working. The other owners from Ralph's words are clearly not listening. It might be time to sell the team to someone that may have more energy, moxy whatever to get what the team deserves. So for you to say get a clue, believe me I have clue. Again, what he is doing is not working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Remember when Rich Products originally wanted to call the stadium "Coffee Rich Park"? 871095[/snapback] And I believe the deal back in 1973 with Rich was $1 million for twenty-five years! Which back then, was the norm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDH Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Ok. sorry, the people that matter are ignoring him. Better? Ramblings of an old man is how people are taking him. Ever listen to Colin Cowherd? Many times through his show and others any move the Bills made had something about age thrown in and then laughed at. Make sense? 871123[/snapback] Who exactly DON'T talk radio show hosts make fun of? That's their M.O. and what they're paid to do. If you're getting you perspective from talk radio you're in trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Frankly as one Bills fan, I am getting tired of... 871035[/snapback] posters who feel compelled to start new threads about this issue... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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