Bob in STL Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 (edited) No offense to hockey but the fan bases when compared to the NFL just don't even compare in volume. That's not to say that they couldn't steal some dollars out of the bills pockets, but I don't think it's a huge concern about overtaking the bills in popularity given the state of the sports. Though an extended lockout might sway things some. We are talking about the Buffalo fan base which includes Southern Ontario, not the US national fan base. When the Sabres came into the NHL in 1970 they were the hot ticket. They quickly rose to a top team, made the playoff in three years and the finals in five. They had some of the best players in the NHL and they were exciting to watch. You could not get a ticket. The Sabres sold out all home games for about ten years, maybe more. In the 70's the Sabres were more popular than the Bills, even during the OJ years. I was there in my prime high School and College years and attended games of both teams. You needed connections to get a Sabres ticket. Bills games ... well, most of the time you could buy tickets at the gate on game day. Chuck Knox's teams put the Bills back on the map. Of course the Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith years made the Bills a nationally known and followed franchise. In summary, I think that the newly restored Sabres can and will overtake the Bills in popularity. This is not a concern, it is a good thing. The Bills front office needs a wake up call. Edited April 10, 2011 by Bob in STL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malazan Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 (edited) In summary, I think that the newly restored Sabres can and will overtake the Bills in popularity. This is not a concern, it is a good thing. The Bills front office needs a wake up call. The Sabres may have been 'more liked' due to their success on the ice, but they have not been more popular. The Ralph can set 70k and I find it unlikely that you'd be able to get that many fans to a Hockey game in Buffalo more than once every couple years. The popularity of even losing NFL franchises dwarfs NHL franchises except for maybe, Toronto. Edited April 10, 2011 by jeremy2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Biscuit97 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I love everything the Sabres are doing. TG is doing everything in his power to make this team a first class organization. it should be a great spring & upcoming future. But the Sabres have a few big advantages over the Bills. 1) More teams make the playoffs in hockey. 2) the Sabres play in an easier conference. If the Sabres played in the west, they won't even quality for the playoffs. The Bills play in arguably the hardest division in the NFL, that contains arguably the beat team of the last decade. If the Bills played in the NFC West, they won't be looking at a decade long drought. 3) one guy can carrying a hockey team. Miller is obviously capable of this & Enroth has played out of his mind. Now a good qb could make a huge difference but football is still the sport most dependent on the entire team. 4) with all of the crappy NHL teams, the Sabres are probably one of the wealthier teams in the league. The Bills, while very profitable, are one of the nfl's poorer teams. The Bills could do a lot to improve their product. I just don't think a Bills-Sabres comparison is necessarily an apples to apples one. The Sabres may have been 'more liked' due to their success on the ice, but they have not been more popular. The Ralph can set 70k and I find it unlikely that you'd be able to get that many fans to a Hockey game in Buffalo more than once every couple years. The popularity of even losing NFL franchises dwarfs NHL franchises except for maybe, Toronto. Which is hilarious because the Leafs are the Bills of the NHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 How exactly has Ralph treated the fans bad? I'm not defending the guy, and there are a lot of valid criticisms to be leveled in his direction, mainly in his handling of the team management. But i have never gotten the feeling that Ralph has ever treated the fans bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 How exactly has Ralph treated the fans bad? I'm not defending the guy, and there are a lot of valid criticisms to be leveled in his direction, mainly in his handling of the team management. But i have never gotten the feeling that Ralph has ever treated the fans bad. Serial incompetence count? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullim4 Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 How exactly has Ralph treated the fans bad? I'm not defending the guy, and there are a lot of valid criticisms to be leveled in his direction, mainly in his handling of the team management. But i have never gotten the feeling that Ralph has ever treated the fans bad. I think the better question is what has Ralph done FOR the fans. Pegula's group has made it clear that they want to please the fans - from the alumni night, to the chats on the website, to having a "slug" appreciation day where they'll destroy all signs of the old logo, to the very clear mission statement of winning a Stanley Cup with no financial mandates. They've done things like fix hot water in the bathrooms and correct season-long issues with the scoreboards in a matter of days after finding out about them. When has Ralph done ONE of those things, let alone all of them in a period of six weeks? Combine this with losing a regular season game to Toronto, the fact that he was so embarassed about the team's performance that he called off his HoF ring ceremony in the middle of a game, and the constant threat of the team moving. It's clear to me through these latest PR moves that the Sabres are trying to demonstrate that they want to earn their fans' money, while the Bills ownership isn't doing very much to show that they care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typical TBD Guy Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 How exactly has Ralph treated the fans bad? I'm not defending the guy, and there are a lot of valid criticisms to be leveled in his direction, mainly in his handling of the team management. But i have never gotten the feeling that Ralph has ever treated the fans bad. One might consider his refusal to secure the franchise's future in Buffalo as treating us badly ("us" being fans who have paid taxes in WNY that have gone directly to the stadium and who also buy tickets and merchandise because of the BUFFALO name association). One might also consider giving away one home game a year to Toronto as a slap in the face to all Bills fans who expect their team to at least try and compete. I don't see Pegula selling Sabres games to Hamilton for a tawdry money grab. Pegula knows that the fans will travel to Buffalo and will continue to sell out the games so long as the effort to field a competitive team is there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 The Sabres may have been 'more liked' due to their success on the ice, but they have not been more popular. The Ralph can set 70k and I find it unlikely that you'd be able to get that many fans to a Hockey game in Buffalo more than once every couple years. The popularity of even losing NFL franchises dwarfs NHL franchises except for maybe, Toronto. 'More liked' means more popular. Hockey is not a sport for 70k to watch at one time ... it is not a TV friendly game like football either. Hockey os better in a close intimate setting. Football plays one game a week and will get huge crowds for it. TV coverage for football is awesome, actually better than live except you miss the awesome stadium experience. They are totally different games so judging popularity by attendance for one game is not a good way to go. All I am saying is thet the Sabre were more popular in Buffalo than the Bills in the 70's. Sabrees tickets were hard to get and highly disired, Bills ticket were not. I was there and I saw it. I will not speak for the 80's but obviously the Super Bowl era Bills changed things in the late 80's. Losing NFL franchise's have failed in Los Angeles (several times), yet the Kings and the Ducks are still there. How exactly has Ralph treated the fans bad? I'm not defending the guy, and there are a lot of valid criticisms to be leveled in his direction, mainly in his handling of the team management. But i have never gotten the feeling that Ralph has ever treated the fans bad. I think Ralph has tried to take care of the fans. Like Pegula is doing now, Ralph has done a lot to maintain a bridge to the past as well (other than his personal feud with Lou Saban). Yes, he has bungled many decisons related to how the team is managed, he has put an inferior product on the field quite often since 1960, but has never purposely put the hurt on the fans. He tries to do the right thing and he does it his way ...like it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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