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WGR's big mistake

jwillcox

By jwillcox
in The Stadium Wall Archives

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jwillcox Probation

jwillcox

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So im checking out the wgr website today while im at work and i notice that the lead story is that the Bills surpased 50,000 season tickets. Then I noticed the picture that they had with the article. If I am not mistaken, it is a picture of Willis McGahee.

 

Now I know that WGR is big on the Sabres and not so much on the Bills but come on now, you just cant make that mistake.

 

Here is the link www.wgr550.com

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Buftex Hall of Famer

Buftex

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Posted
So im checking out the wgr website today while im at work and i notice that the lead story is that the Bills surpased 50,000 season tickets. Then I noticed the picture that they had with the article. If I am not mistaken, it is a picture of Willis McGahee.

 

Now I know that WGR is big on the Sabres and not so much on the Bills but come on now, you just cant make that mistake.

 

Here is the link www.wgr550.com

 

 

What a monumental blunder!!! I will never listen to GR again!!! :D

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Buftex Hall of Famer

Buftex

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More proof that this site is being read: http://wgr550.com/Bills-Surpass-50-000-Sea...Holders/2236315

 

But c'mon, seriously. Now we're bitching about a picture?

 

 

I think the picture of McGahee doing the "The Ralp-Leap" into the stands, was an attempt at capturing the excitement of going to a Bills game, which coincided with the article about season ticket sales...some people are way too sensitive!

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Lori All Pro

Lori

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I think the picture of McGahee doing the "The Ralp-Leap" into the stands, was an attempt at capturing the excitement of going to a Bills game, which coincided with the article about season ticket sales...some people are way too sensitive!

No doubt.

 

Memo to WGR: no more pictures of ex-Bills, unless they're players we still like. We'll be sure to let you know.

:D

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ET1062 RFA

ET1062

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:D

 

50,000 season tickets, they aint goin anywhere!!

 

 

Not so fast, the Bills ticket office told me two weeks ago that Canadians are buying lots of season tickets to secure themselves tickets to the games in Toronto.

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Turk UDFA

Turk

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Not so fast, the Bills ticket office told me two weeks ago that Canadians are buying lots of season tickets to secure themselves tickets to the games in Toronto.

Thats the whole idea behind the Toronto games.

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Pyrite Gal Veteran

Pyrite Gal

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To build up a Canadian season ticket base for the team moving?

To lay down a substantive claim to the Canadian market so that when/if a team buys a Toronto franchise they will have to pay a substantial fee to the Bills for invading their territory.

 

Again the fundamental which some continue to ignore is that given the concept of having an NFL franchise in Buffalo or an NFL franchise in Toronto, the NFL will try to have both if they can.

 

Yes, the Bills cash stream would be larger in a Toronto than in Buffalo. However, interest (at least initially) in Tor seems large enough that this huge city should be able to maintain a franchise without any US fans.

 

Meanwhile though clearly the Canadian fans are a substantial part of the Bills regional marketing strategy, they are by far a minority add on and if the Bills were winning at all as this team is bound too do at some point in the NFL cycle they are more than likely to fill a stadium which is smaller than in the old days.

 

Even a rag-tag effort like the NHL is easily able to maintain teams in these two cities (I am not arguing here the two products are the same but simply that the notion can be accomplished for those who for some reason want to poo-poo the notion). I think the NFL should be able to do this also.

 

In fact, not only are their clear circumstances where the Bills would not be a turned into a non-starter as a business by a TOR franchise actually due to proximity, habit and cheaper ticket prices, the Bills actually would retain a significant number of S Ontario fans even with a TOR franchise around.

 

Those who want to argue that the Bills would simply leave behind 50,000 season ticket holder dollars (or even 40,000 if you somehow want to claim that would be the cost of a TOR franchise to the Buffalo season ticket base) because of the likely but POTENTIAL of Toronto money are simply ignoring the hundreds of millions of $ being walked away from.

 

Add to this sacrifice of assets already cultivated the:

 

1. Bad press and sad publicity engendered by the abandonment.

2. The fear and cautionary tales engendered in other smaller market franchises.

3. The cautionary tale this would give to new cities the NFL seeks to expand into as clearly the league will leave a town for potentially greener pastures.

4. The resulting attack on the NFL's modified anti-trust exemption as they no longer would have a team playing in NYS. Even if the NFL were to win this fight, for several years the uncertainty of legal action would hang over the NFL at the same time they are trying to expand.

 

The bottomline it appears to me is that while there is certainly an argument that the Bills will leave, there is actually much greater likelihood that the team either simply stays (a legally doable proposition even with the estate tax if Ralph sets up this asset as going to a not-for-profit which would be controlled much as the Packers are controlled) or if Ralph sales the team to Buffalo or Erie County (an effort the NFL would likely oppose but one that actually appears easier to legally defend than many set tos the Wilson estate might have with the NFL or we end up with franchises in both Buffalo and Tor.

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