May Day 10

I'm normally anti brandon. But I agree that he has operated very well through this. Great statement, timing if the committee (was a pleasant surprise to see schumer), and very cool he showed up at the tailgate.

I was going to say, but you touched on it at the end.... the NFL would never desire for a large and public legal proceeding. If/when they relocate a team they are going to want it as clean as possible. It would only be if no owners can pony up enough, new stadium stalls out, and Toronto will be framed as "practically Buffalo"... and the team would leave compliantly in 2020 or 2023. The NFL is very protective of its image, especially as it gets eroded by so many directions.

I hope not. this team has had a sad existence for a long time. the sooner they are sold the better, for both on field and staying here. the closer this stretches to 2020, the more the team will sell for because it will be appealing to outside bidders. i wouldnt be overly surprised if the 7 year thing was in attempt to give toronto/mlse/rogers a chance to get their ducks in a row.

love it. Good for Thurman and his wife for being there. Thats a legit smile from JK

the best is the NHL numbers that include the Winter Classic http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance chicago is at 118%

2012 16 Kansas City 8 548,070 68,508 89.3 2013 30 Pittsburgh 8 458,489 57,311 88.2 Green Bay and Tennessee are one thing. I am certain that once things get "primed" here and the Bills have a solid and capable team without inept management, we will see tickets fly... and tickets will sustain through some bad stretches too as we see with the Sabres. There would likely be a waiting list as any home playoff games would be huge. Some people will HAVE to be there, others will see an opportunity to profit. Travelling fans would be paying more to get in too once RWS is packed. Think of the Bills base in the mid 80s. What was there like 20K a game? Then that translated into some pretty good attendance. Now we would be rising from 60-70K. Tickets are sold and resold on the internet as commodities. We also havent seen the Bills win a playoff game in 17 years or since they have regionalized so well in Rochester and Ontario, which they claim so much more support from. I would have never believed the Sabres could be where they are at now, but it is largely because they were underpriced and the tickets came into huge demand. The same thing would happen with the Bills. As a STH who is normally a guy to go to when friends look for tickets for things, EVERYONE seems to come out of the woodwork when the Bills had the 2 recent hot starts. EVERYONE I go with magically is using their tickets for once... so I look at stubhub and the cheapest tickets are like 3x-5x face value. it is a completely different world in sports, WNY, and ticketing as it was 20-25 years ago. I would never have imagined the Sabres selling tickets like they do at the pricing. Brand new arena they sold out for like a week. Playoff games with some electric 90s teams wouldnt sell out until the walk-up and big regular season games would see 13K people.

I wonder what the new stadium progress will/would do to the value.

A heck of a run.

Jim Kelly

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That isnt quite true anymore. They figured out that they can make good bucks by scheduling tough games out of the gate. The tomato can games are spread out a lot more. There are good games on every week. If one game is a blowout, there are 25 others to choose from. With the NFL Sunday, we are stuck with the Giants, Cowboys, Jets, and Patriots and whatever they are doing (other than the Bills).

MLB has been ruined by Tony LaRussa and the introduction of over-managing and over-managing pitchers. Way too long. NFL is getting ruined by too many/too much commercialization and breaks. NHL has gotten way too choppy and way too structured/systematic as well. NBA I dont pay much attention to. I think the first major sport to figure out that they can score more viewers by reducing the games down to 2-2.5 hours will get a huge boost. Olympic hockey was great in that regard. The World Cup this summer will be further proof. People are too busy to invest that much time and the action/intensity is better when compacted. So many people just DVR completely or leave a lag and fast forward through commercials anyways. Might as well just have major sponsors shell out for some in-game visibility.

Im at the point where I am checked out a bit. I would perhaps make a difference if the Bills were in the running... but who knows. As it is, the games are too long, too many breaks, too many rules/interpretations, etc. Even fantasy seems to have grown a bit stale. There are only 2 networks carrying games on Sunday and only 1 slot there are 2 at once, so when you have a commercial, you are "stuck". NCAA I love. The game is more exciting (mainly because you have a bigger variety of talent levels amongst players), atmosphere is amazing compared to 95% of the NFL, if there is a commercial, there are 20 other games on you can flip to, its on from like noon to 2 AM if Hawaii is home, it is much more fun and interesting to gamble on (spreads, huge o/u, etc)... Since I discovered the awesomeness of NCAA, my Sundays have been spent often doing other things (unless Im at a Bills game).

Unfortunately I believe another one will be to rip the game from "real fans" by way of uprooting a few teams with deep roots like the Bills, chasing around false gold in Toronto, London, etc.

The bubble will burst on the NFL at some point I believe. Hoping the Bills are still here when that happens because the NFL will have to kiss their real fans' butts.

I had to move away. Entry level wages out of college were too low. Couldnt get ahead. Got some experience and lived elsewhere... and was able to move back for a decent job after 8 years. The prices here are laughable, even including taxes. I have friends who recently moved back as well and brought spouses who never lived here. Unanimously they are in love with the area and in shock at the cost of, say going out for dinner/lunch. Even after a year or 2 living here. Coming from a place like the Mid Atlantic area, and being able to easily afford a decent sized house on the water with a dock... especially since you are still in civilization... is great.

I have mentioned it a lot, and it usually sees minimal to no response from the "Comeback game shouters"... but the way tickets are sold nowadays (instant and electronic) along with the ease of the resale market would nearly ensure 100% sellouts if/when the Bills ever get good... Just looking at the secondary market for tickets in (2009?) and (2011?) when they had good starts (for friends who "suddenly" wanted to go), the cheapest tickets were very expensive (like 200-400% more than face). Along with variable pricing, they would have to cap STH just like the Sabres IMO. The perceived demand continues to drive demand (and price increases), even through some bad seasons. Look at the Sabres. Couldnt sell out the Aud in 1992-1993 with the most exciting team in franchise history. Now look. Even with 2 playoff appearances in like 7 years. They also claim they have added 15% from Rochester and 15% from Southern Ontario since then. And the stadium is smaller.

I agree and this should have been done years ago. People trip over themselves usually for early games... especially if they start hot.

they came close to winning one more game than they came close to winning in 2012. Definitely worth the increase

Some Bills fans are actually upset about this and still clinging onto this idea? Its really amazing and interesting from a psychological standpoint

People at TBD arent the problem. We arent the fans that have been alienated long ago and/or bandwagoners. Generally, most of us buy tickets (and those who arent STH would probably buy more if/when December games mean something).

Why keep it alive at all?

isnt that just your speculation?

OK. so the Bills are only heading toward a decade and a half of failure because of Tom Brady. No wonder Buffalo as a region cant get out of its own way.

I think a large part of that, especially since the 2007 season is a weak Division. A ton of the Patriots' success in the playoffs has been based on them securing home playoff games (by the 5 or 6 cake-walks per season). They still definitely deserve credit, but it doesn't excuse the Bills from not making the playoffs in forever IMO. They still only finished 2nd one time and 6 straight last place finishes. These are the Jets and Dolphins too, who really haven't been too good either. Anyways, I do think the Patriots are ripe for the picking (and have been). Im hoping this is the year the Bills do it. I think they are close, but it is predicated on Byrd, Manuel improving, and having another good draft to go with the 2013 draft.