hondo in seattle Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 (edited) Reading about Freddie's marketing deal with M&T Bank makes me wish that more Buffalo area businesses would step up and offer advertising contracts to players. If star players knew they would augment their Bills salary by, say, 20% when coming to Buffalo, we'd be a better FA destination - and lose fewer of our own players to the brighter lights of a bigger city. The big markets have this going for them. A star can make an Escalade full of cash - beyond their player salary - in places like New York and Dallas. Boosters providing pay and benefits to college players are breaking the law. Not so in the NFL, if done appropriately. Needless to say, celebrity pitchmen can be effective business drivers. Aside from that, it would be great if some of the bigger area companies supported the team and its players just out of civic pride. A consortium of WNY businesses could get together and agree to each 'draft' a star player so that our Top Twenty players all have lucrative marketing deals - thus giving the Bills a recruiting & retention advantage. http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2011/08/31/bills-jackson-in-mt-marketing-deal.html Edited August 31, 2011 by hondo in seattle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 That would be very welcome IF there were any big Corportations left in Buffalo. Maybe First Niagara might step up? Delaware North would be another possibility. JetBlue & Southwest are losing money, the Steel, Auto and Milling Industry are mostly gone. Beyond that all that's left are groups of Hospitals AND where there are Hospitals/Doctors, a larger group of Law Firms. We know the lawyers are too cheap while the Medicals are self sustaining and don't need to "sponsor" anyone. Maybe we could have the "official" Ambulance, Doctor or Hospital of the Buffalo Bills? We already have too many ambulance chasers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTW2012 Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Reading about Freddie's marketing deal with M&T Bank makes me wish that more Buffalo area businesses would step up and offer advertising contracts to players. If star players knew they would augment their Bills salary by, say, 20% when coming to Buffalo, we'd be a better FA destination - and lose fewer of our own players to the brighter lights of a bigger city. http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2011/08/31/bills-jackson-in-mt-marketing-deal.html 20%? Ridiculous. Even for a $5 million/year player (not huge FA money), 20% is $1 million. No one is going to make that coin in endorsements in Buffalo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 20%? Ridiculous. Even for a $5 million/year player (not huge FA money), 20% is $1 million. No one is going to make that coin in endorsements in Buffalo. I understand your point of view. Establishing a consortium that will sign marketing agreements with players where the money paid out exceeds the expected ROI is unprecedented in American professional sports. However, rich businessmen in other countries will financially help attract athletes to their favorite teams. And the concept does exist - albeit in a more economical form - in American collegiate sports. College boosters often risk legal problems in pay-for-play schemes that don't generate tangible returns on the investment. Often, they are motivated more by team loyalty than money. Imagine Twenty Buffalo businesses and/or businessmen each putting up a million per year (or maybe even$500,000) - that would swing the financial calculations of many FAs. The "Twenty Friends of the Bills" could help turn the Bills into a favored FA destination and thus winners! I suppose it's just a dream. The electric light bulb was just a dream once too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts