May Day 10

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/22/dolphins-struggling-to-keep-season-ticket-base-at-30000/ NFL and its teams do like to lie/stretch the truth to make things look a lot better than they are. This is what drives ticket sales and attendance these days. With no easy resale, the Sabres wouldnt have a waiting list. Teams know its important which is why they help facilitate transactions or team up with stubhub. This is also the biggest reason attendance in the early 90s is not applicable to today.

wasnt/isnt Miami under 30K a couple years ago?

thats where I am. There is a cap of what people will/are capable of paying. Sabres like to throw out that they are in the bottom 3rd of the NHL in pricing, but if you look at comparisons, the 'common' seats now are actually very competitive. Its the premium seats/seats on the glass that dont cost a ton that drag the average down. Bills can do the same thing once they are competitive. Cap season tickets, create the perception of perpetual demand, and creep the ticket prices up. People dont cancel with the threat of a waiting list. A new stadium with all the frills, expensive seats, PSLs, etc cant be sustained here. At least cold turkey after/during a nearly generation-long failure.

why cant they just say: "Game will not be blacked out, but seats are still available at Buffalobills.com?" why deceive?

sounds like it may be an aneurysm.

I dont think its bad at all. Each one of us 46K should be given medals of loyalty as they havent made the playoffs in the 2000s, havent won a playoff game in like 20 years and are going for a 7-peat of last place finishes. 46K too isnt bad. NFL average attendance is like 64K. About 10 teams have waiting lists. I have little doubt the Bills will need one when/if they become an actual competitive member of the NFL.

so, anything happen?

what drives me nuts is baseball blackouts. WNY is in like 20% of MLB's territory, including Cleveland. If the Indians are on ESPN, MLB Network, etc I cannot watch it. The only way is to get Directv, subscribe to the extra sports tier so I can get Sports Time Ohio.

I would go, but I believe MLS prefers soccer dedicated stadiums now

when people count statistics on Buffalo, including market size most of the time, usually only city limits are considered which seriously skews the numbers.

Yeah, its Bruce Smith. Reed, Kelly, Thomas, etc were all great players, but dependent on others to some degree. Bruce Smith was just a freak and top 1 or 2 all time at his position.

lets see how it shakes out first

I think there are 2 opinions here, and those opinions are interpreting the question in different ways, but really agree. I interpret it as "is the Toronto group planning on owning and running a team in Buffalo and do we believe Jaws and Bon Jovi's letter, etc"? Others read it as "do you think the Toronto Group will ever own the Bills and move them out of Buffalo"? the question reads: Do you believe the Toronto group when they say they will keep the team in Buffalo? The answer is no. Nobody believes them and their bid was rejected because Morgan Stanley doesnt believe them

If Bon Jovi drops the act now, I will be willing to let bygones be bygones well, if for some reason Pegula goes under or doesnt pass NFL vote... they will need another bid. I really think Trump's talk will ratchet down once the 'non-binding' part is over.

I dont get how not submitting a non-binding bid and not getting a shot at meeting with the seller and going over the financials this week is appealing in any way or provides an advantage.

the team has also been pretty irrelevant for 15-20 years. Turn that around and people will go nuts for them. break into primetime with a good team and they may see a wider fanbase who arent necessarily connected to WNY. People dig small markets who are good (GB Packers). People here will go insane and buy anything and everything when the team is good again. The Sabres of 2006-07 proved that ground. Buffalo News Sabres Medallions anyone?

per kryk, Morgan Stanley is supposed to meet in person with each bidder this week and next to go more in-depth into the financials. After that, we should see the poop start to hit the fan with some actual bids and the best and final offers. I would think that if nobody else enters the fray, we should/could see that step wrap up rather quickly.

That was fine. Ray guy was a bore though. What really annoyed me was the garbage way they did the hof intros and Kelly in the beginning

Then he needs to not be in the middle of the war room with notebooks and a laptop, not seen at preseason games deep in concentration with a laptop... and he shouldn't be giving direct answers on the makeup of the team via interviews. It's a bad look and gives an impression he is way more than a rubber stamp for nix then whaley. After he "stepped away" from football after gm (only because the fan base was revolting). Especially if you consider what nix mentioned about others executing the Lee Evans trade and also the rumblings this year that things at field level vs management are disjointed. If this streak of last place finishes continues this season, I see no reason to desire the status quo. Organization needs major change, not the cosmetic recycled one we have been getting fed since Donahoe left

Maybe he did a good job economically... but with pegula I don't see Brandon overseeing football ops as well. No more front and center in the draft room. No more evaluating players in preseason games. If he wants to be business only, that's fine. If not, he had a decent run here and was a part of keeping the team afloat during lean years. Business management and marketing types are a dime a dozen. Pegula isn't going to want a guy with no football credentials sitting on top of the squad. With the sabres there is a much more defined line between black and murray. I would expect the same here. Golisano on the other hand I could see basically desiring an all encompassing mgr like brandon.... The same philosophy that stuck us with Larry Quinn.

I thought her column was good until the last handful of paragraphs there where she completely misses the mark and removes herself from reality.

I loved his fumble recovery. Really attacked that ball.

I could see the reflection in his eyes and he was watching Youtube videos of the "You Give Love a Bad Name Tour"

7 people should be people qualified to evaluate talent and gameplan. Let's stop pretending this guy doesn't carry a huge influence. I would. I don't blame him. This is exactly what a new owner needs to put a stop to. Since Brandon has as ended to and above football ops nothing but last place finishes.