C.Biscuit97 Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 Thought it was interesting that the first few posts were from people from Virginia, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and San Fransico. Just a bit interesting I thought. I also hate the idea of the Bills begging for charity. However, I'm realistic about the situation. The schedule the Bills were given last year was horrible. All 1 pm games and 4 games after Thanksgiving. This may have be cool if the Bills started off as well as they finished; however, the team struggled in the beginning. Additionally most NFL games are gonna sell out in the beginning of the season. This is especially true in Buffalo. This is a poor economy and a lot of folks don't have the money to just walk and by tickets at the spur of the moment (especially near the holidays and when it gets very cold). And while I hate the Sabres excuse, it is hard for people to justify spending even more money. The funny thing is the team still finished like 19th or so in attendence. This follows like 5 or so years being in the top 10. The team isn't doing the Jax thing (a bigger city, one that just hosted a super bowl and has warmer weather) and blocking out seats. They are just asking for a better schedule and to myself, that is more that reasonable. And if people wanna rip a guy who is trying to help keep a team that we all love here, I'm sorry but you're a moron plain and simple.
VABills Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 I disagree with you. There would still be 60,000 or more for every game, televised or not.Our seat capacity will be going up this year with moving the press box also. At least I think they're doing that this off season along with the scoreboard. The press box is supposed to be replaced with more club seats. I don't know how many but would think the number to be between 500 and 1000 or so. I'm surprised I don't see anyone else mentioning this. Except part of the teams revenue and actually a large part is local advertisers. There are specific commercial slots that are for the local commercials that the team profits off and override the national commercials. If the team loses those millions you cannot not be viable in Buffalo. I know if blackouts are allowed then the revenue is there but then the millions are lost in seats. I think either way the Bills have got to sell out or they will not stay in Buffalo.
Ray Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 And then they'll lose 500-1000 seats to the area where there is already luxury seating. The Choice One club area may be the new press box. So it's a wash.
beerme1 Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 And then they'll lose 500-1000 seats to the area where there is already luxury seating. The Choice One club area may be the new press box. So it's a wash. Too stupid to have thought of it that way I guess. I may be an alarmist.
keepthefaith Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 No, the main problem is that the people of Upstate NY keep voting for the corrupt politicians that keep their economy in a shambles. True and both Schumer and Hillary voted for social security benefits for illegal aliens and against making English the official language of the U.S.
MattyT Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 making English the official language of the U.S. And everyone knows that this is the root of NY state problems.
BADOLBILZ Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 The whole Schumer involvement is a negotiation tactic by Ralph with the rest of the league. Ralph is old and increasingly insignificant as the 60's era owners are dropping dead. Youth will be served, even if youth in this case is 50 or 60 instead of 87. The Bills have zero clout as a franchise, but they are the only team in NY, and NY is high profile politically, so it's worth a shot. The large market owners are hard against sharing with the small markets, so you start with lofty demands and work backward toward what you actually want/need. The NFL is NOT going to lift the blackout rule. This is all part of keeping the wheel squeaky without losing the audience by repeating the same message(revenue sharing) over and over. I mean, seriously, we sound like we want welfare from the NFL. I don't mind Schumer trying to get rid of blackouts. The NFL makes a ton of money and doens't need to still be blacking games out across areas, IMO. But, Schumer's whole premise is making excuses for Bills fans on why they didn't come to games late in the year. It's sounds pathetic. Long drive. Snowy drive. Teams we were playing weren't all that good. Blah blah blah. We have tremendously low ticket prices, and the weather was great this season for our improving team. There should be no excuses. It makes us sound pathetic. He should have been saying, that despite the Bills not selling out, they still outdrew most of the league every weekend, and don't cover up seats in order to prevent blackouts like some markets. I mean, Schumer means well, but his arguments could seem better prepared in different directions than the path he is currently taking. Quit whining, state relevant facts, and move on. Quit asking for handouts, making us look even more like a welfare, begging for money type of team.
ThreeBillsDrive Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 Who made him a politician....The guy doesn't even know to put two words together. The question is who put him up to this. Somebody usually has to speak with a Senator's staff to get the Senator to act on an issue like this. Was it from within the Bills organization? Was it a citizen's "group" from Rochester?
ThreeBillsDrive Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 Thought it was interesting that the first few posts were from people from Virginia, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and San Fransico. Just a bit interesting I thought. I also hate the idea of the Bills begging for charity. However, I'm realistic about the situation. The schedule the Bills were given last year was horrible. All 1 pm games and 4 games after Thanksgiving. This may have be cool if the Bills started off as well as they finished; however, the team struggled in the beginning. Additionally most NFL games are gonna sell out in the beginning of the season. This is especially true in Buffalo. This is a poor economy and a lot of folks don't have the money to just walk and by tickets at the spur of the moment (especially near the holidays and when it gets very cold). And while I hate the Sabres excuse, it is hard for people to justify spending even more money. The funny thing is the team still finished like 19th or so in attendence. This follows like 5 or so years being in the top 10. The team isn't doing the Jax thing (a bigger city, one that just hosted a super bowl and has warmer weather) and blocking out seats. They are just asking for a better schedule and to myself, that is more that reasonable. And if people wanna rip a guy who is trying to help keep a team that we all love here, I'm sorry but you're a moron plain and simple. The timing of Schumer's intervention was likely carefully selected. I imagine the scheduling brain trust in the league's offices are working on the schedule as we speak.
Sketch Soland Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 On the list of things to complain about, a United States Senator working on behalf of the Bills doesn't even register a notch imo.
ThreeBillsDrive Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 On the list of things to complain about, a United States Senator working on behalf of the Bills doesn't even register a notch imo. My guess: Some 23yo recent college grad in Schumer's Washington office fielded a call from some people in Rochester or perhaps someone within the Bills organization. She typed up a press statement that quoted Schumer throughout. Schumer's exec assistant had a look at it, OKed it, and wham, out it went. Schumer probably didn't even read or see it.
Lv-Bills Posted February 16, 2007 Author Posted February 16, 2007 Thought it was interesting that the first few posts were from people from Virginia, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and San Fransico. Just a bit interesting I thought. I also hate the idea of the Bills begging for charity. However, I'm realistic about the situation. The schedule the Bills were given last year was horrible. All 1 pm games and 4 games after Thanksgiving. This may have be cool if the Bills started off as well as they finished; however, the team struggled in the beginning. Additionally most NFL games are gonna sell out in the beginning of the season. This is especially true in Buffalo. This is a poor economy and a lot of folks don't have the money to just walk and by tickets at the spur of the moment (especially near the holidays and when it gets very cold). And while I hate the Sabres excuse, it is hard for people to justify spending even more money. The funny thing is the team still finished like 19th or so in attendence. This follows like 5 or so years being in the top 10. The team isn't doing the Jax thing (a bigger city, one that just hosted a super bowl and has warmer weather) and blocking out seats. They are just asking for a better schedule and to myself, that is more that reasonable. And if people wanna rip a guy who is trying to help keep a team that we all love here, I'm sorry but you're a moron plain and simple. Para 1 - OK, let's see here. Good thing for those "Virginians" who actually have season tickets. And even more good for us "Virgianians" who were at all but one of the blacked out games. You're welcome. Para 2 - The schedule is the schedule. The team was improving. The ticket prices were low. The weather was good. The value of the Bills ticket was still well worth going. A miserable seven seasons of football contributed the most to the non-sellouts, not the damn schedule. The Colts never used to sell out. Same with the Cards, Raiders, Jax, Falcons and half of the other teams in the league, before they've since turned competitive or got new stadiums. Para 3 - The poor economy thing is old already. The area is poor, no doubt. But when 108,000 people can attend a Penn State game where there is no economy period means that the Bills can easily draw a sellout. The teams success has alot to do with this. Para 4 - Well hey, thanks for re-stating what I actually said in the first place. The fact that the Bills failed to sellout a few games at the end isn't all that big of a deal. Three of four were close to sellouts anyway. Hell, when the Falcons, Colts or whoever sucked, and not all that long ago, they had gobs of tickets available. The Bills barely missed sellouts. It's a great football town period. However, Schumer is off on his arguments on why the Bills blackout rule is unfair. When you fail to sellout, but you are still outdrawing most of the league on those Sundays, your games should be on TV. Period. Hopefully you'll be at most of the games next year.....maybe I'll buy you a beer. That is, even if you go to the games. And if you are in Buffalo, grab a few friends, and remind them that the Bills have the best prices in the league, and that you only live a stone's throw away from one of only a handful of NFL teams in America. Maybe then, the rest of us morons can hope the Bills remain in Buffalo for a long time, and won't need to stay there because of some welfare program sponsored by the other NFL teams.
keepthefaith Posted February 16, 2007 Posted February 16, 2007 And everyone knows that this is the root of NY state problems. It's bigger than that actually. At the root of a big problem nationwide and a problem supported by NYS.
Oneonta Buffalo Fan Posted February 16, 2007 Posted February 16, 2007 the guys fighting for us - quit b****ing. Who gives a crap what the rest of the country thinks.
MattyT Posted February 16, 2007 Posted February 16, 2007 It's bigger than that actually. At the root of a big problem nationwide and a problem supported by NYS. You're kidding right? I think you have misidentified the problem. I agree that illegal immigration is a huge problem that impacts NYS and the US, but English as the official language of the US is purely symbolic. It's already the de facto language. If it was made the official language tomorrow, what do you think it would change? The ATMs and IVRs are still going to ask you to press a button for English, and that kid at the Burger King drive through with the Spanish accent that bothers you so much is still going to be incomprehensible.
sweetbaboo Posted February 16, 2007 Posted February 16, 2007 ..Imagine all of the p i s s i n g,and moaning we'd hear on this board if politicians didn't even attempt to do anything on behalf of the Bills...... I don't expect politicians to involve themselves with professional sports at all. The wasting time on congressional hearings for MLB steroid problems appall me also.
pBills Posted February 16, 2007 Posted February 16, 2007 I mean, seriously, we sound like we want welfare from the NFL. I don't mind Schumer trying to get rid of blackouts. The NFL makes a ton of money and doens't need to still be blacking games out across areas, IMO. But, Schumer's whole premise is making excuses for Bills fans on why they didn't come to games late in the year. It's sounds pathetic. Long drive. Snowy drive. Teams we were playing weren't all that good. Blah blah blah. We have tremendously low ticket prices, and the weather was great this season for our improving team. There should be no excuses. It makes us sound pathetic. He should have been saying, that despite the Bills not selling out, they still outdrew most of the league every weekend, and don't cover up seats in order to prevent blackouts like some markets. I mean, Schumer means well, but his arguments could seem better prepared in different directions than the path he is currently taking. Quit whining, state relevant facts, and move on. Quit asking for handouts, making us look even more like a welfare, begging for money type of team. Your are right he should state the fact that the Bills still have larger crowds than most NFL teams. However, having the Blackout range covering Rochester and most of the surrounding areas does not help the Bills either. That region is a large part of the Bills fan base, to have it blacked out does not make sense to me for many reasons, but the one that stands out the most is drive and accessibility to the stadium. It is dramatically different from the fall to the winter months. Driving can be very dangerous and seeing a game is not worth the risk to many. Where I live - if Baltimore didn't have a team and the Redskins didn't sell out, a black out would cover the Baltimore region. Huge area and does not make sense. Let the people outside of the greater metro areas receive the games, if anything that would help improve the size of the fan base and the almighty dollar.
Sketch Soland Posted February 16, 2007 Posted February 16, 2007 My guess: Some 23yo recent college grad in Schumer's Washington office fielded a call from some people in Rochester or perhaps someone within the Bills organization. She typed up a press statement that quoted Schumer throughout. Schumer's exec assistant had a look at it, OKed it, and wham, out it went. Schumer probably didn't even read or see it. Either way, whether he has a lot of personal involvement in it or not, its still his office and status behind the lobbying and that's not a bad thing for the Bills. People scream "The Bills are leaving WNY" and then when a New York Senator lobbies on their behalf they b*tch at him? People just need something to b*tch about, i.e. Marv's press conference and the doom and gloom mongering that we're taking a step back because Marv didn't say [insert oft repeated fan maxim here]. This kind of limited, narrow minded thinking is pretty much the definition of Irrationality.
generaLee83 Posted February 16, 2007 Posted February 16, 2007 Unfortunately, Upstate New York State as a whole already has this reputation. ???? NYC has far more welfare cases than upstate.
Boatdrinks Posted February 17, 2007 Posted February 17, 2007 No, the main problem is that the people of Upstate NY keep voting for the corrupt politicians that keep their economy in a shambles. The trouble really is ... there are no "non-corrupt" politicians.
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