If you build it, will they come?

[BADOLBILZ]

Bills fans continue to support the team because they are afraid the team will move.

 

I am not sure that many fans are actually getting that far down the line when prioritizing why they support the team.

 

The NFL has become an event and when you go to any NFL game you become part of it. ANY NFL game. People want to be part of something that popular. I think that has had a significant role in regionalizing the team.

 

And as often discussed.......there is the communtiy aspect of joining together for games to tailgate party. In 25 years of regularly attending games I can honestly say I have never heard anyone say they just come to games because if they don't they think that the team will leave. Not saying some don't feel that way, but it's overstated as a reason, IMO.

[Campy]

Littlelouie - a December game at the Ralph is something every Bill's fan should experience....the most fun I've had a Bills games have been December/January games....it's awesome. A dome would be simply awful.

 

Yes, yes, and yes.

[Thurmal34]

There has to be some sort of limit on the number of times one can repeatedly post the same thing.

 

He's not a guard.

 

I've heard this whine from fan ***ers like yourself about that playoff game before but first of all..... remember that Buffalo fans weren't intending AT ALL to be playing that Sunday.

 

The Bills shockingly were destroyed by Houston and Miami beat NE in the final week of the season......costing the Bills both homefield throughout the playoffs and the division title. The Bills then had 3 days to sell out a game nobody really anticipated. And this wasn't the age of convenient online ticket purchasing either.

 

But I will also add that the fanbase and popularity of the franchise was different then.

 

The fans who were filling those seats during the SB run were also largely the same fans of the teams from the 1980's.

 

THIS is much more important to reference than that aberration of a playoff game.

 

Why you ask?

 

Well, for instance..........did you know that in 1984 the home opener drew a whopping 48,000 fans..........just TWO SEASONS removed from a playoff berth.

 

And the last game of the season......December 2nd.........drew 20,000.

 

Mostly the same fans set the NFL single season attendance record in 1991.

 

Now let me ask you.............how do current Bills fans...........14 years removed from the playoffs........compare to those mid-80's thru 90's Bills fans?

 

I have a hard time respecting the Bills knowledge of any fool that doesn't realize the difference between the popularity of a Bills ticket now versus then.

 

I've got some advice for you.......listen to Promo less.........and start taking my word for it. You will look a lot better informed.

 

Success will sell out the stadium!

 

Er, ah, maybe not.

 

You just disproved your own point.

Edited December 20, 2013 by Thurmal34

[Mr. WEO]

What's yours?

 

It only seems like I repsond to your endless bashing of Bills fans each time you post this stuff. But I would estimate I only get to maybe 1 in 50.

 

Anyone could post a new thread entitled "Bills fans/Stadium sellout" once a week and you would repond to it in the same way (see above)...forever, I would imagine.

[Thurmal34]

It only seems like I repsond to your endless bashing of Bills fans each time you post this stuff. But I would estimate I only get to maybe 1 in 50.

 

Anyone could post a new thread entitled "Bills fans/Stadium sellout" once a week and you would repond to it in the same way (see above)...forever, I would imagine.

 

Dude you posted the same stuff over and over for months about the Bills' FO being incapable of fooling anyone vis a vis the draft. Glass houses, man.

Edited December 20, 2013 by Thurmal34

[PromoTheRobot]

It only seems like I repsond to your endless bashing of Bills fans each time you post this stuff. But I would estimate I only get to maybe 1 in 50.

 

Anyone could post a new thread entitled "Bills fans/Stadium sellout" once a week and you would repond to it in the same way (see above)...forever, I would imagine.

So are you jumping on me for what I do or what you imagine I would do? You do seem to have an unhealthy obsession with my posts, almost like a stalker.

 

You are on my ignore list. But when I see you post shortly after one of mine, morbid curiosity forces me to click the "view anyway" button. Sure enough you are riding my azz. What is it about my shiny metal azz that attracts you?

 

PTR

Edited December 20, 2013 by PromoTheRobot

[BADOLBILZ]

He's not a guard.

 

 

 

Success will sell out the stadium!

 

Er, ah, maybe not.

 

You just disproved your own point.

 

To clarify......I am not really responding directly to you but rather making certain it is clear that the point is conveyed.

 

There will be 55,000-65,000 people at the game Sunday........a meaningless game with a backup QB in support of a team that missed the playoffs for the last 14 years.

 

In 1984.......they drew 20,000 for a game like this on December 2.......only two years removed from a playoff berth. They used to have lots of attendances in the 40,000 range actually........a figure we laugh at when that's all that shows for the Toronto games.

 

You somehow think that reflects negatively on the current fanbase.........it doesn't. And that's not to say Bills fans were bad, go back and look at other teams attendances back then. The Bills weren't the only team not selling out games late in the season....MOST weren't.

 

A lot has changed in 30 years.

 

The Bills are at least twice the natural draw they were even going back to that 80's-90's era.

 

The numbers simply PROVE it.

 

The Bills have never been as futile on the field in their history as they are right now and yet the stadium will be mostly full 2 days before Christmas.

 

And none of that momentum was gained by winning, but rather by the growing popularity of the NFL as a whole.

 

If the Bills were even an average franchise on the field they would be at record season ticket levels and always sold out. And that is an understatement.

[vorpma]

I've been following the Bills since 1966. I can assure you that winning does not guarantee sell outs. Can you imagine a home playoff game being blacked out? Well no one in Buffalo saw the greatest comeback game on TV. Heck, Ralph Wilson had to buy the remaining tickets to a home AFC championship game against the Cheifs!

 

Sure, the first year or two of the SB run RWS was packed. But people's expectations keep going up. Whatever you did in one year was not enough the next. After losing two SB's Bills fans started to cool off.

 

PTR

 

Buffalo's economy and the weather can impact playoff games; the greatest comback game was played right after the holidays during a poor economy. In addition the Bills were spanked by the Oilers during the last game of the season and lost Jim Kelly to injury, it appeared the Bills were running out of gas from two Super Bowl losses. I have to agree that a winning - playoff team will fill 99 percent of your seats and sell merchandise - the best marketing strategy available!!

[PromoTheRobot]

Buffalo's economy and the weather can impact playoff games; the greatest comback game was played right after the holidays during a poor economy. In addition the Bills were spanked by the Oilers during the last game of the season and lost Jim Kelly to injury, it appeared the Bills were running out of gas from two Super Bowl losses. I have to agree that a winning - playoff team will fill 99 percent of your seats and sell merchandise - the best marketing strategy available!!

 

The NFL playoffs always come after Christmas. When hasn't the economy sucked in Buffalo?

[Thurmal34]

To clarify......I am not really responding directly to you but rather making certain it is clear that the point is conveyed.

 

There will be 55,000-65,000 people at the game Sunday........a meaningless game with a backup QB in support of a team that missed the playoffs for the last 14 years.

 

In 1984.......they drew 20,000 for a game like this on December 2.......only two years removed from a playoff berth. They used to have lots of attendances in the 40,000 range actually........a figure we laugh at when that's all that shows for the Toronto games.

 

You somehow think that reflects negatively on the current fanbase.........it doesn't. And that's not to say Bills fans were bad, go back and look at other teams attendances back then. The Bills weren't the only team not selling out games late in the season....MOST weren't.

 

A lot has changed in 30 years.

 

The Bills are at least twice the natural draw they were even going back to that 80's-90's era.

 

The numbers simply PROVE it.

 

The Bills have never been as futile on the field in their history as they are right now and yet the stadium will be mostly full 2 days before Christmas.

 

And none of that momentum was gained by winning, but rather by the growing popularity of the NFL as a whole.

 

If the Bills were even an average franchise on the field they would be at record season ticket levels and always sold out. And that is an understatement.

 

Look dude, you made a claim that was proven to be incorrect. Just move on. You are embarrassing yourself with all this rationalization.

[BillsClinton]

When hasn't the economy sucked in Buffalo?

 

1880-1947 or so.

Edited December 20, 2013 by BillsClinton

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

 

Was it 3?

 

I remember a Roughriders and a Rough Riders.

 

Ottawa maybe?

 

Ooops, you're right... I thought there was a third team in there early on!

 

 

 

Buffalo's economy and the weather can impact playoff games; the greatest comback game was played right after the holidays during a poor economy. In addition the Bills were spanked by the Oilers during the last game of the season and lost Jim Kelly to injury, it appeared the Bills were running out of gas from two Super Bowl losses. I have to agree that a winning - playoff team will fill 99 percent of your seats and sell merchandise - the best marketing strategy available!!

 

Then explain the Cubs... ;-P ;-P

 

 

[May Day 10]

 

 

Look dude, you made a claim that was proven to be incorrect. Just move on. You are embarrassing yourself with all this rationalization.

 

Still waiting for you or anyone to refute his points.

 

 

[Thurmal34]

 

 

Still waiting for you or anyone to refute his points.

 

It's lemon squeezy man, he refuted his own points.

[BADOLBILZ]

Still waiting for you or anyone to refute his points.

 

He's my pet stalker, his intention is only to dillute the thread so the discussion isn't furthered. He doesn't really have anything to say.

 

There is a misconception about Bills fans that is perpetuated by a small but vocal group and it really needs to be refuted.

 

Bills fans are much more supportive than they were decades ago and the numbers back that up, whether the haters want to admit it or not.

 

It's reminiscent of the narrative that the NFLPA wants to push that NFL players have shorter and lesser quality of life after their careers are over........not suggest, but actually act like every player is likley to die a miserable death before their 60th birthday.......only to find out by their own commissioned study that as a group they are healthier and live longer than the general population of men. Turns out the leading cause of death and suffering is life and suffering....the latter of which apparently isn't limited to high paid, well conditioned and trained athletes.