JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 IMPORTANT NEWS I posted about this a few months back, that the Bills were looking at the possibility of putting all tobacco products (and accessories) on the officially prohibited list. Well it's happening. Smoking itself has been prohibited for years, but with the number of smoking-related ejections on the rise, they have decided to officially prohibit bringing this stuff into the stadium. Starting with the next game (Kansas City after the bye) you can no longer bring cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco, lighters, matches into the stadium. If caught at the gate you will not be allowed in with them and will have to dispose of them there or return to your car. Moving forward, if caught with them in the stadium it's grounds for immediate ejection rather than just a warning to "put it out". I advised them that a media blast will be necessary so that people are informed and not caught off guard, to stave off the majority of the inevitable at-gate confrontations. The website has already been updated: http://www.buffalobills.com/stadium/permitted-prohibited-items.html Some other items of note: * Water fountains were thought to be unsanitary, mostly used for garbage and other unintended purposes. With the renovations they were completely removed. Well, they definitely heard about how much they are actually used, especially at the hotter preseason games. They have made water available at all guest services booths, and now have arranged with concessions to provide tap water on request while they work on better ways to reinstall fountains. * Ticket Security - I brought up the fact that when tickets are printed from their Account Manager site, the season ticket holder's name and account number are displayed on the ticket. This does not occur when selling on TicketExchange or forwarding ticket via Email. But it could become an issue if you print with the intent to sell an extra ticket at the game. They were going to pursue this with Ticketmaster, but did say that the original 4-digit PIN password scheme is no longer in effect and passwords should be changed to increase account security. * Sound System - They are still tweaking various volume levels in and around the stadium. Especially tough at the gates where there is a peak period of about 1/2 hour where it needs to be much higher. They are looking at ways to try to direct traffic to gates with the shortest wait times. * In-Stadium Wi-Fi/cellular - No schedule for getting Wi-Fi, as they want to do it once and do it right. They will be working with the 49ers to see how they did their new stadium as that seems to be the best implementation in the league right now. As for cellular, improved for all carriers except for Verizon. * Mis-timed crowd noise - Here's a note from Andy Major we just got: Chris and I have already shared this with our scoreboard operations team and our marketing department. I have spoken to our guys that work there as well regarding the issue, and they are very aware of this and are making sure they are careful/time things right with their content...it is sometimes a difficult task with all of the content they have to show and provide, and they are still learning how to make best use of the new systems that were put in place this season. They really do a very good job, but are continually looking to improve and adjust, so this kind of information is always helpful. I did share how other teams have on-scoreboard videos featuring players which seek to educate fans on this issue. I would have hoped Bills fans were already pretty smart on this but I guess not. Obviously we're not the only team having this problem, as Peyton Manning was pissed off about this at last night's game in Denver too. They did say that if it became an issue on the field, Coach Marrone would make some requests as well. * Ownership Transition - The Pegula's history with the Sabres shows they have a much higher involvement with fan experience at the ownership level than Ralph ever did and they expect this to start becoming apparent once they get comfortable with everything. * Food options - Said that the local vendors are still shaking out how to best provide the quantity of food required at the quality people expect. I did give my printed summary of all of your feedback from yesterday's thread to the Assistant Director of Customer Service, for which he was grateful. He also said that despite the sales organization's hesitancy, our proof-of-concept for the opener tickets went perfectly and they may expand the availability of that option to some other groups on a per-group basis. Oh one other thing - you might have noticed that they flipped which of the new scoreboards was used for replays vs Fantasy updates and out-of-town results. This was at the request of the coaching staff, so that from the coaches booth they could see the replays on that big screen better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infernus Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 I was ejected from the Chargers game for using an e-cigarette. no warning, but at least didnt miss much (start of the 4th quarter) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 I was ejected from the Chargers game for using an e-cigarette. no warning, but at least didnt miss much (start of the 4th quarter) Yeah I think they were already on the banned list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Nice update; thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyWarriorMan Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Attended the game last weekend. I noticed that they didn't show any stats from the Bills game on any of the scoreboards. None. I understand the need to show fantasy, etc., but it would be nice to see some stats from the game being played right in front of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lv-Bills Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 So, the upgrade was all about the fans, and the most used feature by each fan stated above, since it doesn't cost any more to buy anything once in there, is cell phone service and wi-fi availability. And this is the feature that still isn't fixed. And the biggest cell carrier isn't fixed. Although texting works much better., Way to go Bills!!! Of course, this is the feature of the upgrade (for the fans of course) that doesn't make the Bills any money. Nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Banning e-cigs is ridiculous IMO. Fascism lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyWarriorMan Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 (edited) Sorry to be a whiner, but I also found it frustrating that there were no TVs in sight while I stood in the beer line. There's plenty of space to throw up some flat panels so fans can watch the game while they wait in line to drop cash on concessions. And don't tell me that fans would hang out in the concourse and watch the game on TVs instead of sitting in their seats, I don't buy that for a second. This is a basic stadium amenity in 2014. Edited October 24, 2014 by DirtyWarriorMan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cereal Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Jay, do you have a public link regarding the "other items of note"? I was particularly interested about the water fountain fiasco. Thanks! Oh, also, what is "mis-timed crowd noise"? I think I missed something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 Jay, do you have a public link regarding the "other items of note"? I was particularly interested about the water fountain fiasco. Thanks! Oh, also, what is "mis-timed crowd noise"? I think I missed something. No, the other items of note was more stuff that I and other members of the board brought to the attention of the front office, or that they wanted us to know about. So the water fountains was something I noticed at the opener - I typically buy 1 water then refill it at a fountain but that option was gone so I brought it up to find out what the long term plan was. The mis-timed crowd noise was something brought up here and by many others about how fans are supposed to quiet down when we have the ball, but it wasn't happening so what can we do about it? Attended the game last weekend. I noticed that they didn't show any stats from the Bills game on any of the scoreboards. None. I understand the need to show fantasy, etc., but it would be nice to see some stats from the game being played right in front of me. Bills game stats are on the main board, next to the endless Jani-King ads Sorry to be a whiner, but I also found it frustrating that there were no TVs in sight while I stood in the beer line. There's plenty of space to throw up some flat panels so fans can watch the game while they wait in line to drop cash on concessions. And don't tell me that fans would hang out in the concourse and watch the game on TVs instead of sitting in their seats, I don't buy that for a second. This is a basic stadium amenity in 2014. If there's a specific location in question, let me know and we can ask that a screen be put up there. There are 2-3 screens per concession stand from what I've seen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infernus Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Sorry to be a whiner, but I also found it frustrating that there were no TVs in sight while I stood in the beer line. There's plenty of space to throw up some flat panels so fans can watch the game while they wait in line to drop cash on concessions. And don't tell me that fans would hang out in the concourse and watch the game on TVs instead of sitting in their seats, I don't buy that for a second. This is a basic stadium amenity in 2014. What section is that? There are several of TVS by our seats, even one in the bathroom line (sec 332) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Thank you Jay! WRT tickets for our group it sure seemed like it worked out great foe those who bought in time and then a bunch of others were left later asking for tickets that didn't opt in. Perhaps this year we push the tickets harder The seats were good. The cost was great. The tailgate isthe best. I couldn't believe so few bought tickets but can only guess interest grew to attend the game after Beerball backed out! Anyway, I'd be in favor of higher cost tickets and closer but won't complain at all with anything we can get! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 (edited) Thanks Jay. I did not get in the thread in time, but I thought one of the screens was going to show the RedZone during TV timeouts. Does anyone ever ask about that? I have been to the dolphins and pats game.....thought everything ran great But I pretty happy guy at a Bills game, can't really remember last time I bitched about anything other than the cut off of beer sales...B word about that one every game .....haha Edited October 24, 2014 by plenzmd1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhg Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 (edited) No, the other items of note was more stuff that I and other members of the board brought to the attention of the front office, or that they wanted us to know about. So the water fountains was something I noticed at the opener - I typically buy 1 water then refill it at a fountain but that option was gone so I brought it up to find out what the long term plan was. The mis-timed crowd noise was something brought up here and by many others about how fans are supposed to quiet down when we have the ball, but it wasn't happening so what can we do about it? Bills game stats are on the main board, next to the endless Jani-King ads If there's a specific location in question, let me know and we can ask that a screen be put up there. There are 2-3 screens per concession stand from what I've seen What a waste of scoreboard real estate that is. Edited October 24, 2014 by dhg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 What a waste of scoreboard real estate that is. For all those folks (not saying that it includes you, dhg) who have been calling for cheap Ralph to monetize the stadium by selling naming rights and ads, this is what you get..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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