BobDVA Posted May 8, 2009 Posted May 8, 2009 We are currently tied for first place in the division! I will continue hope until such time hope is gone.
shrader Posted May 8, 2009 Posted May 8, 2009 Sales are going so well for the same reason that they're projecting a huge year for movies. This stuff is entertainment and people use it as an escape.
Lurker Posted May 8, 2009 Posted May 8, 2009 4) Going to games is still a blast. Bingo. A whole day's fun for $50-$60 bucks?...no problem selling that product.
Peter Posted May 8, 2009 Posted May 8, 2009 I will agree - the fan base is more akin to that of an English Premier League Soccer team than an NFL franchise. Part of what make's the Bills unique I guess.... Very true.
Armchair GM Posted May 8, 2009 Posted May 8, 2009 Wow - You got me figured out...Buffalo is a football town? Really? Loyal fanbase you say? Wow, I guess I had better spend some time in WNY to better understand this culture you speak of... Look jack-ss, it's plain to see the best part of you ran down your mothers leg when your dad tried to pull out too late, so let me try to clarify - if you bore witness to the carnage and rage on this site circa weeks 14-17 last year, you would have thought ticket sales would have been halved this year. As a reminder - EVERY offseason, fans of the Bills refill with optimism...Also - now that we have done well? What has gone great - some good picks in theory, but they need to pan out as they transiiton to new systems and positions. this run on tickets is exceptional by any standard.... Look, I am realistic about the steps taken, but again, the ticket rush is an unqualified success for the team. Hey Sunshine, your insults are extremely original, no doubt posted to get a chuckle out of the readers, but considering I heard that one in the 80's...FAIL. "Carnage and rage" during weeks 14-17...sorry, missed that, wasn't a member then, but hey who's still on hear displaying the same renewed optimism? (proves my point about loyalty, ehh?) I love how you try to talk in circles with a witty retort, but swing and a miss buddy... By the way, what is your point? You say that ticket sales are an "unqualified success." Is this an economic debate on whether or not people should be spending their money on football tickets? You may lick windows and bite elbows, but keep your head up there kiddo, you're friggin special!
Kipers Hair Posted May 8, 2009 Author Posted May 8, 2009 1) The Bills have been 7-9, not 0-16. That makes them a tease. 2) Bills tickets are still affordable and you can easily resell any games you don't make. 3) Hope always builds in the off-season 4) Going to games is still a blast. PTR Agreed on all 4...(except 4 when the weather is horrible...)
Kipers Hair Posted May 8, 2009 Author Posted May 8, 2009 Hey Sunshine, your insults are extremely original, no doubt posted to get a chuckle out of the readers, but considering I heard that one in the 80's...FAIL. "Carnage and rage" during weeks 14-17...sorry, missed that, wasn't a member then, but hey who's still on hear displaying the same renewed optimism? (proves my point about loyalty, ehh?) I love how you try to talk in circles with a witty retort, but swing and a miss buddy... By the way, what is your point? You say that ticket sales are an "unqualified success." Is this an economic debate on whether or not people should be spending their money on football tickets? You may lick windows and bite elbows, but keep your head up there kiddo, you're friggin special! I am special aren't I? Most seem to understand my point - (I guess those are the one's who saw the suicidal responses at seasons end) - How does a team change so little in the offseason for the better, and yet, somehow generate the excitement this team does? Fens in Ontario? Signing TO? Brandon is amazing. As your whitty retorte and my unabashed sarchasm, all in good fun. Again - Fans were on the verge of a complete walkout of the last game and swearing off this team...we go from that to crawling up to record sales again in a scant 3 months??? All in the face of a suspended star RB, losing your best O-Linemen, keeping a milk-toast head coach, brining in a locker room cancer and talking about adding games in Toronto? Unqualified success for the marketing team at One Bills Drive. (And if I have to go over the economy...never mind).
Armchair GM Posted May 8, 2009 Posted May 8, 2009 I am special aren't I? Most seem to understand my point - (I guess those are the one's who saw the suicidal responses at seasons end) - How does a team change so little in the offseason for the better, and yet, somehow generate the excitement this team does? Fens in Ontario? Signing TO? Brandon is amazing. As your whitty retorte and my unabashed sarchasm, all in good fun. Again - Fans were on the verge of a complete walkout of the last game and swearing off this team...we go from that to crawling up to record sales again in a scant 3 months??? All in the face of a suspended star RB, losing your best O-Linemen, keeping a milk-toast head coach, brining in a locker room cancer and talking about adding games in Toronto? Unqualified success for the marketing team at One Bills Drive. (And if I have to go over the economy...never mind). Touchette... & truce? Anyway, it's the nature of this city...change, no matter how minimal (or risky, for that matter) is welcomed with open arms and renewed feelings of the beginning of an economic turnaround resurface...
Williams+Williams+Williams Posted May 8, 2009 Posted May 8, 2009 I am special aren't I? Most seem to understand my point - (I guess those are the one's who saw the suicidal responses at seasons end) - How does a team change so little in the offseason for the better, and yet, somehow generate the excitement this team does? Fens in Ontario? Signing TO? Brandon is amazing. As your whitty retorte and my unabashed sarchasm, all in good fun. Again - Fans were on the verge of a complete walkout of the last game and swearing off this team...we go from that to crawling up to record sales again in a scant 3 months??? All in the face of a suspended star RB, losing your best O-Linemen, keeping a milk-toast head coach, brining in a locker room cancer and talking about adding games in Toronto? Unqualified success for the marketing team at One Bills Drive. (And if I have to go over the economy...never mind). You're giving way too much credit to Russ Brandon. We are the most loyal fans in the NFL. I would argue that Bills fans are most loyal fans in sports. No fan base has ever had to put up with so much disappoint caused by let down after let down. 4 consecutive Super Bowl losses, the Music City Miracle, 10 years no playoffs, and so forth Yet, we always get excited about the Bills and come back for more. Don't give Russ Brandon credit for loyal fan base that was here before he took over an will be there after he's gone.
OrangeJuiceSimpson Posted May 8, 2009 Posted May 8, 2009 I am special aren't I? Most seem to understand my point - (I guess those are the one's who saw the suicidal responses at seasons end) - How does a team change so little in the offseason for the better, and yet, somehow generate the excitement this team does? Fens in Ontario? Signing TO? Brandon is amazing. As your whitty retorte and my unabashed sarchasm, all in good fun. Again - Fans were on the verge of a complete walkout of the last game and swearing off this team...we go from that to crawling up to record sales again in a scant 3 months??? All in the face of a suspended star RB, losing your best O-Linemen, keeping a milk-toast head coach, brining in a locker room cancer and talking about adding games in Toronto? Unqualified success for the marketing team at One Bills Drive. (And if I have to go over the economy...never mind). I understand where your coming from. More than half of us said we were done when Jauron was retained. And I think we all envisioned a better season. But unfortunately this city has very little to offer outside of football. No matter what, most of us have renewed season tickets. The problem is we are telling Raplh and whoever else who may own this team in the future that no matter what they do we will put up with their sh-- because we'll be back no matter what next year.
PromoTheRobot Posted May 8, 2009 Posted May 8, 2009 Agreed on all 4...(except 4 when the weather is horrible...) A late season pounding by the Pats* in a sideways sleet storm comes to mind. PTR
spartacus Posted May 9, 2009 Posted May 9, 2009 I have said this before, but I guess I will say it again, the notion from out of town folks that the good people of WNY have no disposal income & that we live like a third world nation is complete bogus. People make money around here & live pretty well. Take a drive thru some of the suburbs & there are new sub divisions all over the place. These developements would be considered nice in any city. I am not trying to argue that WNY has the corporate presence like some other cities, but the notion that people are barely surving around is just not true imo. for the people that can find good paying jobs in their field of expertise- you are correct. unfortunately, that corporate presence you mention to be lacking is generally what provides good jobs. Unfortunately, the Buffalo economy is built on the county being its main employer- which since it does not build or produce anything is not a viable economic engine. However, the fans will buy any trype that the Bills put up for sale - so all is well in Bills nation
spartacus Posted May 9, 2009 Posted May 9, 2009 I am special aren't I? Most seem to understand my point - (I guess those are the one's who saw the suicidal responses at seasons end) - How does a team change so little in the offseason for the better, and yet, somehow generate the excitement this team does? Fens in Ontario? Signing TO? Brandon is amazing. As your whitty retorte and my unabashed sarchasm, all in good fun. Again - Fans were on the verge of a complete walkout of the last game and swearing off this team...we go from that to crawling up to record sales again in a scant 3 months??? All in the face of a suspended star RB, losing your best O-Linemen, keeping a milk-toast head coach, brining in a locker room cancer and talking about adding games in Toronto? Unqualified success for the marketing team at One Bills Drive. (And if I have to go over the economy...never mind). there is a method to the madness of why the Bills spent big bucks to hire a new VP of Sales - but kept the inept coaching staff and traded away their best player and still came out smelling like a rose with increased ticket sales. Brandon is a marketing genius
zonabb Posted May 9, 2009 Posted May 9, 2009 People seem to be missing arguably the most important fact regarding the explosive growth in season tickets over the last couple years: NYS's new pro-scalping law. When the state passed a law basically making scalping legal, and the advent of sites like Stubhub, it made for easy re-sale of tickets and I would bet and would love the Bills to reveal how many of the new season ticket holders are from zip codes outside WNY and what the average number of tickets per account. I would bet the percent of non-WNY accounts is up, as are the average number of tickets per account, both indicates that the secondary ticket market is driving season ticket sales high. Also as a result, I would bet that more people who buy a few games per year have gone to season tickets to ensure they get seats as the people who buy seasons also gobble up prime games like the home opener and MNF, leaving the non-season ticket holders no seats. I'm a perfect example, I had seats the previous 3 season because of the inability to get 2 or 3 games a year (I averages about 3 games a season). So I went to seasons. But I don't have them anymore for one simple reason: losing and cheapness. My entertainment dollars should go for entertainment, which I can get for $25 in the parking lot before the game and skip the game entirely! What irks me about the scalping market is that if a lot of people are buying seats well above face value for single games, does it not indicate that this region can absorb a higher priced ticket and allow the team to make and spend more money on a quality product? And further more, RWS was in favor, stupidly, the new scalping law which essentailly has allowed brokers and scalpers to profit from the Bills. If anyone should profit from high ticket prices, it should be the Bills, not some guy in LA with the time to sell tickets on Stubhub or Craigslist.
El Presidente Posted May 9, 2009 Posted May 9, 2009 Considering how bad the team was last year, the economy and limited disposable income, how on earth is this team nearing record sales of season tickets? Does the fact that perhaps the net of spending less due to the one game in Toronto make a difference? The T.O. signing generating enough exitement to spark this run on tickets??? This team crumbled like termite ridden lumber and people are running to the ticket office to drink this up? Even the most fire hardened Bills optimist knows there are a lot of "if comes" at play here to make this team a winner....I don't know if I should be impressed by the following or amazed at the short term memory loss and near upheavel Bill's nation went through during the seond half of last year. From a business perspective - I take my hat off to Ralph for putting Russ Brandon in charge - he has undoubtedly done a masterful job of marketing a questionable product to an audience of limited financial means in a horrible economy. Absolute genius. If I were Brandon - I would put the cherry on it and up the ticket prices by at least 20% - nothing seems to stop this run away train of Bills nation.... Wait a minute...if you have another place to go tailgate why don't you tell everyone already...we will see you there!
mike6683 Posted May 9, 2009 Posted May 9, 2009 A late season pounding by the Pats* in a sideways sleet storm comes to mind. PTR My first game in buffalo was the giants game 2 years ago probobly would have left if it wasnt the first Dec 23 wind rain snow. It was still enough fun to make me buy season tix the next year
BillsWatch Posted May 9, 2009 Posted May 9, 2009 What irks me about the scalping market is that if a lot of people are buying seats well above face value for single games, does it not indicate that this region can absorb a higher priced ticket and allow the team to make and spend more money on a quality product? And further more, RWS was in favor, stupidly, the new scalping law which essentailly has allowed brokers and scalpers to profit from the Bills. If anyone should profit from high ticket prices, it should be the Bills, not some guy in LA with the time to sell tickets on Stubhub or Craigslist. Just because SOME are willing to spend more does not mean ALL will nor is enough to fill the stadium especially when many of the SOME are either people going to small number of games a year. Many of these scalpers are selling jacked up prices to fan of opposing teams. Brokers and scalpers (and fans who buy extra seats to sell) have been doing this and getting away with for some time and those only allows the honest ones in on the deal.
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