Tickets left for Bengals game

[mousetrap08]

 

 

Alright, I apologize, I should not of painted such a wide brush & lump everybody in the same group. For people like you that can not get to the game it does truly suck that the game is blacked out. MY apologies.

It's ok I was not offended I was just giving my view of how it is and yes it does suck not being able to go to the games because I was a season ticket holder for 10 years of the super bowl years.

[kasper13]

If the Bills were even halfway decent, there would not be any blackouts. Bills lead the league in attendance for more than one year in the early 90's. They had no trouble at all selling 80,000 tickets. If they had made the playoffs once in the last 13 years or finished over .500 more than once in the last 13 years, the last 7,000 or so tickets would be gone no problem. What you aren't getting is that the casual fan or the less than super die hard fan isn't buying what they are selling. People do not take families to the game, people can't smoke at the game, people do not want to wait in line for the bathroom, security is tighter, people have less disposable income in this economy and especially in WNY. Quite frankly, some people have decided to spend their money and/or do other things with their families on a Sunday afternoon than go watch the Bills lose again. I know a lot of people that their kids play hockey or football or dance or whatever and they have games or practice every Sunday. The weather is really nice and they would rather do something else outdoors. There are more options- internet, big screen HDTV's, Red Zone Channel, Sunday Ticket and so on. They don't care if the game is on TV or not anymore. There are other games on TV. They don't care if they can't see the Bills game on TV or in person. I know people that just watch the Red Zone Channel or another game and put the Bills game on the radio. It's just not must see it at all costs. Saying if you live in the area and don't buy a ticket if it isn't sold out is complete nonsense. People here just don't care enough anymore and don't want to spend their money on the Bills. That doesn't make them a non-fan.

Edited October 9, 2013 by kasper13

[mead107]

New stadium should be 53,000.

[BillnutinHouston]

If the Bills were even halfway decent, there would not be any blackouts. Bills lead the league in attendance for more than one year in the early 90's. They had no trouble at all selling 80,000 tickets. If they had made the playoffs once in the last 13 years or finished over .500 more than once in the last 13 years, the last 7,000 or so tickets would be gone no problem. What you aren't getting is that the casual fan or the less than super die hard fan isn't buying what they are selling. People do not take families to the game, people can't smoke at the game, people do not want to wait in line for the bathroom, security is tighter, people have less disposable income in this economy and especially in WNY. Quite frankly, some people have decided to spend their money and/or do other things with their families on a Sunday afternoon than go watch the Bills lose again. I know a lot of people that their kids play hockey or football or dance or whatever and they have games or practice every Sunday. The weather is really nice and they would rather do something else outdoors. There are more options- internet, big screen HDTV's, Red Zone Channel, Sunday Ticket and so on. They don't care if the game is on TV or not anymore. There are other games on TV. They don't care if they can't see the Bills game on TV or in person. I know people that just watch the Red Zone Channel or another game and put the Bills game on the radio. It's just not must see it at all costs. Saying if you live in the area and don't buy a ticket if it isn't sold out is complete nonsense. People here just don't care enough anymore and don't want to spend their money on the Bills. That doesn't make them a non-fan.

Sir, I think you may be replying to me. You may want to re-read my post - it's not as extreme as you make it out to be. I take no issue with casual followers, and I understand that the Bills themselves have created many of these. To each, his own. My point is simply, if you are within 3 hours, able-bodied and financially able, and if you choose not to attend even ONE game all year, you aren't exactly an "enthusiastic devotee" (dictionary.com definition of a sports fan).

Edited October 10, 2013 by BillnutinHouston

[thebandit27]

 

 

You're choosing to ignore the point. Hundreds of thousands (yes hundreds of thousands) of people are blacked out who either live more than 100 miles away (don't believe me? Google the populations of Syracuse, Utica, Rome, etc.) or have health issues, etc. You keep saying those who "choose" not to go, but for many it isn't a viable choice.

 

And I'll characterize your remarks as I believe your tone indicates. Dont like it? Welcome to the Internet.

 

Nice straw man you've built there.

 

There are one million people in the greater Buffalo area; that's more than enough able bodied folk to sell out the stadium. If your assertion is that there are hundreds of thousands of people that want to watch games but cannot due to physical limitations, then I'll ask you to provide some type of basis for that opinion, because to me that sounds astronomically overestimated.

 

And as for your characterization, I didn't realize that "it's the Internet" gave carte blanche to overtly misrepresent someone's character...I'm sure you're capable of acting more maturely than that.

[Nathan]

Why isn't there some kind of pay per view option when the game is blacked out? Both sides get what they want. The team gets revenue and the fan gets to see the game. I suppose that would undermine the threat of the blackout because people would say "well who cares we can just order it on TV".

 

Then maybe the question is, why are fans choosing not to go and how can they fix it? Maybe its the game day experience. Maybe parents with young kids don't feel that it's a good environment. Maybe its the losing. Maybe it's the traffic. This team faces this issue seemingly every year, and just like the performance on the field they can't get it right. If I was ownership or front office blacking out a game would be an embarrassment and it would be a top priority to do everything I could to stop it from happening.

[eme123]

Why isn't there some kind of pay per view option when the game is blacked out? Both sides get what they want. The team gets revenue and the fan gets to see the game. I suppose that would undermine the threat of the blackout because people would say "well who cares we can just order it on TV".

 

Then maybe the question is, why are fans choosing not to go and how can they fix it? Maybe its the game day experience. Maybe parents with young kids don't feel that it's a good environment. Maybe its the losing. Maybe it's the traffic. This team faces this issue seemingly every year, and just like the performance on the field they can't get it right. If I was ownership or front office blacking out a game would be an embarrassment and it would be a top priority to do everything I could to stop it from happening.

 

I'd actually rather pay full ticket price to see the game on tv rather than go to the stadium.

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

per ESPN schedule page Cincy vs Buffalo

 

867 available from $57

[BillsVet]

I'm sorry. If you can't sell out a game for like $40/ ticket (there's a $15 off promo too) in 70 degree weather, it doesn't deserve to be on tv. We'd all be laughing if this was Jacksonville. The Manuel injury sucks but there's plenty of players to go see.

 

This is on Bills fans.

 

95M in local and state money isn't enough from taxpayers?

 

The Bills can do what they want at the end of the day. But the hope and hype campaign is dying about where it always does (early to mid October) and fans aren't going. Why is it always the fans fault when games aren't sold out anyway? Don't the team executives who've presided over this ineptitude bear any responsibility, especially when they're reaping huge dollars to upgrade a place most people never go?

[thebug]

I was thinking of going...but no hotel rooms.....

[QCity]

95M in local and state money isn't enough from taxpayers?

 

Taxpayer money for stadium improvements has nothing to do with TV blackouts. Nothing has really changed regarding blackouts in the last 40 years.

 

 

There sure is a lot of whining and teeth-gnashing for such a "horrible product on the field" that you couldn't "pay me to watch."

[bbb]

Several reasons:

 

1) I don't enjoy watching the game in the stadium as I end up having to watch at least half on the scoreboard. My HD TV is far superior to the scoreboard and my family room far more comfortable than the seats at the Ralph.

 

2) I prefer watching with my family and spending several hundred dollars minimum per game is not something I prefer to do. Even if it wasn't a perennially sub-par product.

 

3) All the TV timeouts are excruciating. I record and automatically strip out commercials then watch during dinner with the family after spending the afternoon doing something other than watching a sporting event. A game in 75-ish minutes is far more reasonable.

 

Those are the main reasons.

 

The bolded part says it all for me..........Spending the afternoon watching a sporting event is what most of us want to be doing.

 

I can see why you wouldn't want to go the game...

 

Thank you...couldn't have said it better myself.

 

There's one fool-proof way to guarantee that you see the game. If you CHOOSE not to take advantage of it, then my opinion is that you lose your right to complain when you cannot see it.

 

This is what I always have said. This really just applies to able bodied people in the Buffalo area. If you have health issues, or live hundreds of miles away, I can see a point being made.

 

What used to drive me insane is they used to show on the news all the people going to bars in Canada - from Buffalo. I think the NFL may have closed that loophole, esp. with the Toronto series..............But, I used to be "Are you kidding me?? You won't go to the game, and support Buffalo as a city, but you'll probably spend more money hauling your ass up to Canada, and spending a whole bunch of money in a bar there.".........It made zero sense!

[Jetman]

How many people in their early-mid 20's are even Bills fans nowadays? While they were growing up, the Bills sucked every year. Other than the fact that they live here, what reason was there to even become a Bills fan and watch them lose game after game? I'd be willing to bet that they became fans of some winning team during their formative years and now have little or no interest in the Bills. That's why the Bills are having trouble selling tickets. The older fans are dying off or are unable to attend games and the younger people simply don't care for the Bills. That leaves a smaller fan base to purchase tickets. And I know even a lot of them are so disillusioned they don't bother either.

 

If the Bills had put together a few decent seasons in the last 13 years, ticket sales would be better. They only have themselves to blame.

[bbb]

How many people in their early-mid 20's are even Bills fans nowadays? While they were growing up, the Bills sucked every year. Other than the fact that they live here, what reason was there to even become a Bills fan and watch them lose game after game? I'd be willing to bet that they became fans of some winning team during their formative years and now have little or no interest in the Bills. That's why the Bills are having trouble selling tickets. The older fans are dying off or are unable to attend games and the younger people simply don't care for the Bills. That leaves a smaller fan base to purchase tickets. And I know even a lot of them are so disillusioned they don't bother either.

 

If the Bills had put together a few decent seasons in the last 13 years, ticket sales would be better. They only have themselves to blame.

 

Every one of the kids that I know who are late teens and in their 20s are huge Bills fans.

[Jetman]

Every one of the kids that I know who are late teens and in their 20s are huge Bills fans.

 

I'll bet that less than half of the people I know in that age group (mostly the kids of my friends, since I'm older) are Bills fans. Most of the rest are Packers, Steelers, or Patriot fans. If I ask them why they don't cheer for the Bills, the answer is invariably, "The Bills suck."

Edited October 10, 2013 by Jetman

[bbb]

You need to get new friends! (I actually thought it was going to be like you said. I don't have any kids, but my nephew and his friends, and all my friends' kids are really into the Bills. I am very pleasantly surprised).

 

My first memory of the Bills was in 1968, so really those first twelve years of '68-80 were not very good, but I still loved the Bills.

Edited October 10, 2013 by bbb

[Jetman]

You need to get new friends! (I actually thought it was going to be like you said. I don't have any kids, but my nephew and his friends, and all my friends' kids are really into the Bills. I am very pleasantly surprised).

 

My first memory of the Bills was in 1968, so really those first twelve years of '68-80 were not very good, but I still loved the Bills.

 

My friends are all Bills fans. They just need to disown their kids for their lack of loyalty.

 

You and I grew up at the same time. At least we had the OJ years (before he turned murderer); those were some good memories.

[bbb]

My friends are all Bills fans. They just need to disown their kids for their lack of loyalty.

 

You and I grew up at the same time. At least we had the OJ years (before he turned murderer); those were some good memories.

 

LOL - they should definitely disown them!................Yeah, OJ definitely made it fun. He's still the best I've ever seen..........But, all the talk now is of 13 years of no playoff games. Well, in that 12 year period, we had 1 playoff game. So, it's not like people our age grew up with a dynasty!

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

per ESPN schedule page Cincy vs Buffalo

 

867 available from $57

so much for believing what ESPN posts.

 

~7K remain per Buffalo news (October 9, 2013 - 11:44 PM)

About 7,000 tickets for Sunday’s game against Cincinnati still remained Wednesday.

 

 

There are about 7,500 tickets left for the home game against Kansas City on Nov. 3. There were more than 10,000 tickets left for the final two home games, the Bills reported last week. Those are Nov. 17 against the Jets and Dec. 22 against Miami.

[5 Wide]

Well that's just poor planning on your part. For future reference, to avoid this issue, conception should only be attempted between June through December. That should mean a birth sometime between March to August the following year.

 

HAHA..... hey what can I say, it was cold in January and I had to keep warm somehow. It is however duly noted for the next kid.