Bills to pull out of Toronto deal per Mark Gaughan

[mrags]

Everything you say is true, but given those facts, I think most Bills fans are guilty of overrating themselves. Let's face it - we're extremely hungry for wins now, but back then we were spoiled.

 

To me it's laughable that people didn't show up for a playoff game when their team was coming off two straight Super Bowls, regardless of what happened the week before or who was hurt. Those are weak excuses.

you won't hear an argument out of me about that. I was too young to go to games then by myself so itching I could do about it. But I can guarantee you this, I attend every single home Bills game now and always will baring hospitalization to myself or family.

 

 

So I grew up in Buffalo going to Rich stadium I moved out then I went to 50% of the NFL stadiums.

Two years ago I realized I hadn't been to Rich, now the Ralph in over a decade.

Looking at the Ralph as someone that doesn't live in Buffalo any more and has been around the league. Yeah it is chronologically old, but it is a great stadium.

 

I mean the Superdome doesn't have cup holders or a decent screen!! and that was after the remodel.

 

The Ralph is a really great stadium. the Concession area and bathrooms stink, sometimes literally, but thats an easy upgrade.

 

Its better than most stadiums. In terms of buildings 40 years isn't that old. In terms of NFL stadium that NFL owners extort of communities it is old but the Ralph building is more a great building and great place to see a game.

 

Unless they build a smaller stadium closer to a population center in Erie County, I don't know what a new stadium gets the Bills franchise.

100% correct about all of this.

[snamsnoops]

The Bills could build a stadium like the new Cowboys stadium http://stadium.dalla...wboys.com/ and it would be half empty every game. 80,000 seats

 

Winning cures everything! The Bills had no problems filling "Rich" stadiums 80,290 seats when they were winning games.

 

Its all that losing they do... is the reason why they don't sell out some of the cheapest NFL seats for a stadium that holds 73,079 seats now.

 

 

The Redskins play at Fedex field that holds 91,704, and you would need to have a whole bunch of people die in order to get good season seats, as they have a long waiting list to purchase season tickets. Same with the NY Giants.

Winning helps. RWS is still old and I feel there are better locations and building a new stadium in the next couple years makes me feel a little better about the long term future of this team. Ralph is kinda getting old. Edited March 8, 2014 by snamsnoops

[PromoTheRobot]

im not arguing with you just to argue with you Bandit. But people always bring up the Comeback game as a point of reference. It's not the best reference. Just a week before that game, the Bills lost in horrible fashion to the same team. They also were without Thurman Thomas AND Jim Kelly as he was injured the game before. This all coming off 2 Super Bowl losses and arguably a much weaker team than we had 2 seasons prior.

 

It's not apples to apples is all I'm saying.

So what your are saying is that Bills fans won't show up if you lose one game? They had a home playoff game for crying out loud! At that time they played in two straight Super Bowls! How can anyone argue fans would show up if we only were good when they couldn't be bothered to show up then??

 

PTR

[mrags]

 

So what your are saying is that Bills fans won't show up if you lose one game? They had a home playoff game for crying out loud! At that time they played in two straight Super Bowls! How can anyone argue fans would show up if we only were good when they couldn't be bothered to show up then??

 

PTR

are you arguing with me just to argue???

 

I don't disagree with your take. Fans should show up and support their team. Nobody questions my support EVER!!! I have never missed a single minute of any game I've ever attended. I don't leave when were down by 50 and I don't leave when were up by 50. I wait until the last Buffalo Bill is in that damn tunnel.

 

I was simply showing why that game may have been a blackout. Thanks for raising my blood pressure before I go to work. I enjoy being worked up an yelling at inmates for no reason.

[KGUNBILLS]

There is a god looking out for us. Go BUFFALO Bills, not Toronto.

[Bufcomments]

I couldn't possibly disagree more. You pay to see games, and for the privilege of having a local team, not for wins. The team owes you nothing more than putting on a game. If you do not like the quality of the product on the field, you have plenty of options to voice your displeasure including stopping financial support if you like. But the Buffalo Bills do not owe it's fans any more than they currently provide.

I disagree Code.

 

You buy a ticket in hopes of them winning the game. We don't know if they will win or not, we don't know how they will do it , heck ill even throw in how they will lose ,but we as fans buy the tickets in hope that our team wins.

 

That what being a fan is. Hoping you team wins all the time. Or in our case less than half the time.

 

True we are lucky to be able to call Buffalo an NFL city. Yes it might be playing their last years at the Ralph. But still fans dont buy tickets just to see an NFL game.

[RealityCheck]

A domed 65,000 seat stadium would be nice. Get a Super Bowl game in there within the first 5 years and you also have a more favorable venue for concerts. Buffalo's population has declined, perhaps a smaller domed stadium would better match the demand for tickets and help fans get over the elements and come out to the games in December. A more comfortable game day experience and a greatly reduced risk of blackouts would be pretty cool. A smaller stadium with a dome and nice aesthetics would cost less, be cheaper to maintain, attract more casual fans, be more likely to sell out, and artificially pump up demand by virtue of less available seats and a greater sense of exclusivity. The Bills need to adjust the complete game day experience to the modern NFL fan and their families, in particular, the Buffalo fan.

[CodeMonkey]

I disagree Code.

 

You buy a ticket in hopes of them winning the game. We don't know if they will win or not, we don't know how they will do it , heck ill even throw in how they will lose ,but we as fans buy the tickets in hope that our team wins.

 

That what being a fan is. Hoping you team wins all the time. Or in our case less than half the time.

 

True we are lucky to be able to call Buffalo an NFL city. Yes it might be playing their last years at the Ralph. But still fans dont buy tickets just to see an NFL game.

I don't disagree with you at all. Fans obviously want their team to win. But the original comment was that the Bills owed fans wins/playoffs.

[Dorkington]

As much as a dome might be logical... there's no way anyone is paying for a new stadium. We're stuck with RWS until the team moves, most likely.

[boyst]

As much as a dome might be logical... there's no way anyone is paying for a new stadium. We're stuck with RWS until the team moves, most likely.

even when you post something reasonable you sure seem to take a dump on the team. Adding that the team is moving did not need to be added - being your belief not fact.

[nucci]

A domed 65,000 seat stadium would be nice. Get a Super Bowl game in there within the first 5 years and you also have a more favorable venue for concerts. Buffalo's population has declined, perhaps a smaller domed stadium would better match the demand for tickets and help fans get over the elements and come out to the games in December. A more comfortable game day experience and a greatly reduced risk of blackouts would be pretty cool. A smaller stadium with a dome and nice aesthetics would cost less, be cheaper to maintain, attract more casual fans, be more likely to sell out, and artificially pump up demand by virtue of less available seats and a greater sense of exclusivity. The Bills need to adjust the complete game day experience to the modern NFL fan and their families, in particular, the Buffalo fan.

Hate to say never but a SuperBowl in Buffalo? Highly doubtful.

[bowery4]

So, this tread is pinned and all, just wondering has the team ever announced it as offical? I just skimmmed through it again and don't see it. If they did and it is in here somewhere sorry, I missed it.

[nucci]

So, this tread is pinned and all, just wondering has the team ever announced it as offical? I just skimmmed through it again and don't see it. If they did and it is in here somewhere sorry, I missed it.

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/Russ-Brandon-Well-have-a-full-slate-of-games-at-Ralph-Wilson-Stadium/8c206cae-634a-49c4-b354-a2617e2fd4e6

[bowery4]

thx nucci. man the double speak is.......well...pure bs reading that, even if itcwas good news made me kind of depressed.

[Dorkington]

even when you post something reasonable you sure seem to take a dump on the team. Adding that the team is moving did not need to be added - being your belief not fact.

 

How is the team moving dumping on them? It's just business. The team has floundered, and there's more money to be made elsewhere. I'd think a new owner would recognize that, unless they have deep connections to WNY.

[Mr. WEO]

thx nucci. man the double speak is.......well...pure bs reading that, even if itcwas good news made me kind of depressed.

 

It's because they haven't "pulled out the Toronto deal", as the OP suggests in his title. The Bills have "postponed" it for this year only.

 

A few other points;

 

For those banging the "Comeback game didn't sell out" drum (endlessly), there were 75,141 fans in the stands that day--2000 more than it would fit today.

 

Also, for those who make the strange argument that the Bills only owe its incredibly loyal fans its location in Buffalo--that attitude doesn't work in any ohter business. Obviously, fans are free to root for other NFL teams and do. Name any other company that doesn't care about qualitt of the product they are selling to their customers. Name another company that would treat their customer with the distain some here are suggesting they do.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Mr. WEO

[PromoTheRobot]

 

Hate to say never but a SuperBowl in Buffalo? Highly doubtful.

Not in Buffalo but maybe if a stadium is built in Niagara Falls. Lots of hotels and entertainment on the Canadian side plus a new stadium would bring done development to the US side.

[BillnutinHouston]

 

Also, for those who make the strange argument that the Bills only owe its incredibly loyal fans its location in Buffalo--that attitude doesn't work in any ohter business. Obviously, fans are free to root for other NFL teams and do. Name any other company that doesn't care about qualitt of the product they are selling to their customers. Name another company that would treat their customer with the distain some here are suggesting they do.

The Bills owe us exactly nothing. The franchise is private property and can be handled any way the owner sees fit.

 

If enough customers don't like the product and choose not to buy it in sufficient quantities, the owner can and should manage it in a way that better responds to the laws of supply and demand, i.e., move it to a more receptive/lucrative market. The fact that the Bills owner has chosen to stay put and not move his property to a market where he can improve profits is beneficent on his part, IMO.

 

As I recall, both the Bruce Smith and Mario Williams contracts were the richest defensive contracts given out at the time they were executed. Odd how those contracts + the owner staying in Buffalo are interpreted by some "loyal fans" as the owner not caring about the quality of the product. An odd display of loyalty that is.

Edited March 14, 2014 by BillnutinHouston

[Mr. WEO]

The Bills owe us exactly nothing. The franchise is private property and can be handled any way the owner sees fit.

 

If enough customers don't like the product and choose not to buy it in sufficient quantities, the owner can and should manage it in a way that better responds to the laws of supply and demand, i.e., move it to a more receptive/lucrative market. The fact that the Bills owner has chosen to stay put and not move his property to a market where he can improve profits is beneficent on his part, IMO.

 

As I recall, both the Bruce Smith and Mario Williams contracts were the richest defensive contracts given out at the time they were executed. Odd how those contracts + the owner staying in Buffalo are interpreted by some "loyal fans" as the owner not caring about the quality of the product. An odd display of loyalty that is.

 

Overpaying Mario Williams is a bizarre way to demonstrate "caring about the quality of the (perennially 6-10) product".

 

So, what you are confirming is that RW has no compulsion to reward his fans for being incredibly loyal for generations, making him a wildly wealthy man. He should be lauded for tossing the fans an inconsequential bone every few decades like Smith and Williams? Is this how guys like Steinbrenner, the Rooneys, the Maras, the Yorks, Mark Cuban, Kraft, heck--Jerry Jones feel about their fans? That they are simply a group of suckers whose loyalty can be exploited for revenue?

 

This is a unique perspective you have. I have never heard a team owner say "I owe the fans nothing; they should be glad that I haven't chosen to move this team".

 

I will respond to your mangled business metaphor with two questions:

 

Where, in the last 25 years, would RW have moved the Bills and made more money than he has in Buffalo--a town that has given him everything he has asked for every time he has asked? I want a real location, not "LA" or an expansion city where he no chance of moving to.

 

The NFL has granted Ralph (and others) a monopoly in his current NFL territory. Do you think if he moved the team as is to, say, Chicago or Dallas (or similar large market, assuming allowed by the NFL for the sake of argument) that he would get any of the local football fans to buy his product? Of course not. The Bills currently exist as an ongoing business because of a captive fan base. If Ralph's Bills in their current 15 year stretch of mediocrity had to compete locally for fans' dollars, he would be losing a ton of money.

[A Dog Named Kelso]

So what your are saying is that Bills fans won't show up if you lose one game? They had a home playoff game for crying out loud! At that time they played in two straight Super Bowls! How can anyone argue fans would show up if we only were good when they couldn't be bothered to show up then??

 

PTR

 

I don't disagree with you; however, at the time the Ralph(Rich back them) actually required about 7000 more fans to attend, then now, when they didn't sell out for the playoff game. The real question is if the Bills produce a winning team will the average of those tickets that fail to sell finally be purchased.