Trader Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Lets say we scrap the Toronto Games and substitute a lottery for people who commute more than 50 miles to games at the Ralph. Those season ticket holders or game package holders would be placed into a lottery so they would receive concierge treatment for one game. The winner will receive a plane or train ticket, limo pick up and hotel plus discount coupons for the Mall and dining. I have seen this done very successfully for charity events in other cities. I think you could get a lot of local businesses to get on board for this. . There could be permutations of this. A Toronto day - charter a whole plane of winners. Rochester Day or Syracuse day. You could have a lot of fun with it. I would invite anyone else who has an idea to post it here as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvanvol Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Nothing. If they wanna see the bills they can drive here. It isnt very far. I would wager to say more Canadians come to games at the Ralph during the season than go to that abomination in Toronto. Why would anyone want to go to that, just because it is close? Maybe, but people like NFL games for the gameday experience which they will never get there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 How about the Bills win games. If they started being good, you'd see more fans. It's not exactly a mystery why the Patriots and Steelers have so many fans right now, both teams have been good for a decade+. Dallas has a huge fanbase too, and they are usually pretty good (and absolutely dominant during certain eras). Winning sells tickets. Winning sells jerseys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 Boston household income is over 70k per year. Dallas is 56k per year. Both areas have many more residents that WNY, I will let you look up Buffalo metro income on your own. There are 20k unsold Miami Tickets. If there is no regionalization there is no NFL in Buffalo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Nothing. If they wanna see the bills they can drive here. It isnt very far. Way to think like a marketer! Boston household income is over 70k per year. Dallas is 56k per year. Both areas have many more residents that WNY, I will let you look up Buffalo metro income on your own. There are 20k unsold Miami Tickets. If there is no regionalization there is no NFL in Buffalo ^^ This 100 times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Boston household income is over 70k per year. Dallas is 56k per year. Both areas have many more residents that WNY, I will let you look up Buffalo metro income on your own. There are 20k unsold Miami Tickets. If there is no regionalization there is no NFL in Buffalo Left out Pittsburgh and surrounding areas? What about Green Bay? Buffalo is a smaller market, and yes income is tight. But I stand by my opinion that a winning football team would put fans in the stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NFL95MelGrayDomination Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Boston household income is over 70k per year. Dallas is 56k per year. Both areas have many more residents that WNY, I will let you look up Buffalo metro income on your own. There are 20k unsold Miami Tickets. If there is no regionalization there is no NFL in Buffalo There is plenty of money, what there is not enough excitement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PearlHowardman Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 ...Rochester Day or Syracuse day. The Buffalo Bills playing one pre-season game in the Carrier Dome here in Syracuse is a no-brainer. It would solidify the Bills fan base here in Syracuse (after the SU Orange college football team, of course) as well as solidifying their fan base with Binghamton and Utica fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djp14150 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Boston household income is over 70k per year. Dallas is 56k per year. Both areas have many more residents that WNY, I will let you look up Buffalo metro income on your own. There are 20k unsold Miami Tickets. If there is no regionalization there is no NFL in Buffalo They put a playoff team out there people will come. Buffalo has enough people to support the team. There is what---about 4M people in NY from syracuse on west + the candaian population of southern ontario and Toronto (10M ???). Southern Ontario gets all the Bills games through CTV and through them picking up the US affiliates. The team doesnt need to play in toronto, but I understand what they are trying to do. By them playing an annual game there, if another team or expansion were to relocate to toronto they would get a lot more of the expansion fee than other teams....if a team relocates, they will get some fees from the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 The Buffalo Bills playing one pre-season game in the Carrier Dome here in Syracuse is a no-brainer. It would solidify the Bills fan base here in Syracuse (after the SU Orange college football team, of course) as well as solidifying their fan base with Binghamton and Utica fans. I definitely see this happening soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvanvol Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 The Buffalo Bills playing one pre-season game in the Carrier Dome here in Syracuse is a no-brainer. It would solidify the Bills fan base here in Syracuse (after the SU Orange college football team, of course) as well as solidifying their fan base with Binghamton and Utica fans. I am all for giving up the Preseason games all over the region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsox Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Left out Pittsburgh and surrounding areas? What about Green Bay? Buffalo is a smaller market, and yes income is tight. But I stand by my opinion that a winning football team would put fans in the stadium. Agreed. Bring a winning culture in here ala Pittsburgh and we will not have problems selling out football games in Buffalo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PearlHowardman Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Having the Buffalo Bills play a pre-season game at the Carrier Dome is a no-brainer! It would be a homecoming for Bills President/CEO Russ Brandon. It would be a homecoming for all of the former SU Orange coaches now with the Bills. It would be a pre-season game not far from the Bills training camp in Pittsford, NY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 Having the Buffalo Bills play a pre-season game at the Carrier Dome is a no-brainer! It would be a homecoming for Bills President/CEO Russ Brandon. It would be a homecoming for all of the former SU Orange coaches now with the Bills. It would be a pre-season game not far from the Bills training camp in Pittsford, NY. Excellent idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Boston household income is over 70k per year. Dallas is 56k per year. Both areas have many more residents that WNY, I will let you look up Buffalo metro income on your own. There are 20k unsold Miami Tickets. If there is no regionalization there is no NFL in Buffalo Agree and maybe it is my 8 years working in pro sports but I am so sick of the "if they win they will come argument." The Bills are obviously an extreme example because they have been bad for 15 years. I cut them a little slack. I guess that I tend to look at it from the other side but I do feel fortunate to have been raised in 1 of the 32 NFL markets. If we only care when the team wins than maybe we are not as good a fan base as we think we are? The Cubs have been awful for 100 years and people still passionately follow them. Same goes for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Golden State Warriors (although they look good now) and the Kansas City Chiefs. If people think that boycotting or whatever is sending a message to any front office you are sorely mistaken. In fact, it has the absolute reverse effect. It shows an unstable market and makes them as a target for people looking to move the franchise. The owners age makes then a target already but don't think for a second if this team received the support of Pittsburgh that people would consider moving then (regardless of the lease situation). I am saying that whether or not any of us support the franchise it has no impact on decisions that they are going to make. Every decision is made with the intention of building a winner. The unfortunate part is that they have been really bad at that. If you choose to no longer support the franchise because of the heartache that they cause by all means feel free to walk away. If you choose to stop supporting the team because you are trying to "send you a message" it's not going to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 this thread is about boycott? Im not seeing it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 this thread is about boycott? Im not seeing it No, it has been in a few different places and this is just where I responded. I combined it with the "winning sells tickets" argument. They are sort of the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) look at the league attendance this season. There is a direct correlation to winning (or at least recent winning). Winning absolutely sells tickets and it is the oldest principle in the book. http://espn.go.com/nfl/attendance fan bleed off for losing (especially for 14+ years worth) is totally expected and not a version of boycott. Apathy is a better word for it. And I agree boycotting in sports is a complete waste of time. You need close to 100% participation to prove a point and display the strength of a fan base. Never will happen. Best you can get would be 10% and that is generous. I remember Schopp organized a Sabres walk-out back in like 2002. It had legs/buzz and a lot of attention. Felt like it was going to be huge. We were out at Headlines at the time and there were about 250 people there. Impressive, but not a dent. Then Miro Satan scored and everyone started flocking back to the seats. Boycott and not showing is our worst enemy at this point of relocation. The NFL does not want the PR stain of moving a crummy team where great fans continue to support. This is why I believe we see in the press "Bills in danger of being first black out" everywhere. It doesnt mention that is only because the Bills didnt opt out of the blackout rule, while most other teams did. People like to point out that in the 90s they didnt always sell out in December, so its a moot point. I disagree. First, internet ticket sales. Second, lower seating capacity. Third, they havent even made the playoffs (or really been competitive post Thanksgiving) since the "Regionalization" efforts to both ROchester and Ontario. If these are going as well as Mr. brandon says, selling out should be no problem. Give us a relevant team. Edited December 5, 2013 by May Day 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Agree and maybe it is my 8 years working in pro sports but I am so sick of the "if they win they will come argument." The Bills are obviously an extreme example because they have been bad for 15 years. I cut them a little slack. I guess that I tend to look at it from the other side but I do feel fortunate to have been raised in 1 of the 32 NFL markets. If we only care when the team wins than maybe we are not as good a fan base as we think we are? The Cubs have been awful for 100 years and people still passionately follow them. Same goes for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Golden State Warriors (although they look good now) and the Kansas City Chiefs. I doubt it has anything to do with the passion of the fans. Bills fans are as passionate, or more, than anyone. It likely has more to do with availability of disposable income. Plenty of folks in Chicago willing and able to plunk down the $$$ for Cubs tickets no matter how bad they are. Not quite the same in Buffalo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) I am so sick of the "if they win they will come argument." The Bills are obviously an extreme example because they have been bad for 15 years. I cut them a little slack. I guess that I tend to look at it from the other side but I do feel fortunate to have been raised in 1 of the 32 NFL markets. If we only care when the team wins than maybe we are not as good a fan base as we think we are? The Cubs have been awful for 100 years and people still passionately follow them. Same goes for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Golden State Warriors (although they look good now) and the Kansas City Chiefs. the Chiefs last season had poor attendance and worse than Buffalo has this season http://espn.go.com/n...12/sort/homePct this season they have high attendance at 98% capacity. what changed? Edited December 5, 2013 by May Day 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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