PromoTheRobot Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) There are a lot of things in there I disagree with and I think a lot of his/her numbers aren't well calculated... But as far as the UB stuff. You have to wonder what the future holds for that program. They would make a great Pitt-like tenant if they could get into a better conference. I do not think the American or Big10 would scoff at the WNY media market. I would also think this "One Buffalo" thing would love a higher profile NCAA Football program to have in the fold, especially if they play Penn State. The big question is will people support it and come out? Watch on TV? Its questionable. Certainly not with the existing stadium. That place makes football unwatchable. I like the MAC and cant stomach it. I also dont think the Bills having inaccessible pricing (if it happens to that degree) would trickle common fans to the Bulls. It would have to be a much bigger reason than just that, and Im not sure if Buffalo would support NCAA football... (I certainly would). The Leafs are really expensive... but you see the Marlies struggle with attendance as well as the OHL teams there (one just skipped town for North Bay). I wonder if they would do a dry run or 2 at a new facility. Like a neutral site game between Penn State and Syracuse or something of that sort to gauge how people would receive "real" NCAA football. I think you make good points. UB Stadium is the worst place to watch a game. Their own students don't come out in any significant numbers. But 27K came out to see UB at RWS two seasons ago. So I think there is a modest market for college ball in WNY. If TP build a new downtown stadium, why not add 6 more dates of use, even with a half-full stadium? Students who want to see games can get there by rail, just like Canisius kids do for hockey. More events, more reasons to go downtown and spend money. Edited January 21, 2015 by PromoTheRobot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I think you make good points. UB Stadium is the worst place to watch a game. Their own students don't come out in any significant numbers. But 27K came out to see UB at RWS two seasons ago. So I think there is a modest market for college ball in WNY. If TP build a new downtown stadium, why not add 6 more dates of use, even with a half-full stadium? Students who want to see games can get there by rail, just like Canisius kids do for hockey. More events, more reasons to go downtown and spend money. The UB campus is a hell of a lot farther out to the stadium site then Canisius is. I don't get UB students. They have a ton of kids there & for the most part they usually have a decent basketball team but my son & I will go up to Alumni Arena for a Saturday afternoon game in Feb & the place will be empty & the people that are there are older alums & not students. Is it they just have so many kids from NYC going there & these kids from there can give 2 sh*ts about anything from Buffalo as New Yorkers tend to snub there noises down at people that live in NYS west of the hudson river? You could put the football games down at the new stadium but my guess is you won't get much of a turnout. The kids don't even turnout when the event is right on campus. One more thing. my friend took me to a Sabres game about a month ago & he does a lot of work for the Sabres & he has gotten kind of close to Pegula with the work he has done for the team & he told me mark it down that it is going to be a dome stadium built on the Perry Projects. Says it is a done deal & it is what T Pags wants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 @TheBillsMafia: At @Artvoice, @akulykUSRT deconstructs some myths about a possible #Bills downtown stadium. #BillsMafia http://t.co/WR2WAKsPuJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HT02 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Wow. No niagara falls. Big surprise. Not at all I agree, I thought the NFL had been pushing for something closer to Toronto. @TheBillsMafia: At @Artvoice, @akulykUSRT deconstructs some myths about a possible #Bills downtown stadium. #BillsMafia http://t.co/WR2WAKsPuJ This article is a little polly-anna. I particularly love the dismissive treatment of the traffic issue. The Bills are a regional team adding an hour to get out of the parking lots and onto the freeways to an already 3 hour drive to Syracuse or 3 hours with the customs sop to Canada is a a big deal. This was clearly written from the prospective of someone who (admittedly) lives close to area. There are not enough people in that demographic to support an NFL team. It would be cool if they find a way to rip out that damn skyway when they start work on a new stadium. Pipe dream, I know. What's wrong with the Skyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billykaykay Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I agree, I thought the NFL had been pushing for something closer to Toronto. This article is a little polly-anna. I particularly love the dismissive treatment of the traffic issue. The Bills are a regional team adding an hour to get out of the parking lots and onto the freeways to an already 3 hour drive to Syracuse or 3 hours with the customs sop to Canada is a a big deal. This was clearly written from the prospective of someone who (admittedly) lives close to area. There are not enough people in that demographic to support an NFL team. What's wrong with the Skyway? I recently went to the Jets/Miami game in Miami. A bad stadium in lots of ways, especially with regard to parking. It took us 1 1/2 hours just to get us out of the parking lot. I think that this aspect of a downtown stadium will be much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 What's wrong with the Skyway? It's a friggin' eyesore, that's what. There's a video out there somewhere -- I'm sure somebody remembers it or has the link -- that shows how beautifully designed the city of Buffalo is. That skyway ruined it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir andrew Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 The UB campus is a hell of a lot farther out to the stadium site then Canisius is. I don't get UB students. They have a ton of kids there & for the most part they usually have a decent basketball team but my son & I will go up to Alumni Arena for a Saturday afternoon game in Feb & the place will be empty & the people that are there are older alums & not students. Is it they just have so many kids from NYC going there & these kids from there can give 2 sh*ts about anything from Buffalo as New Yorkers tend to snub there noises down at people that live in NYS west of the hudson river? You could put the football games down at the new stadium but my guess is you won't get much of a turnout. The kids don't even turnout when the event is right on campus. . As a UB alum, it is definitely true that most kids going to UB are not from/interested in the local area. It also always seemed that the school would try to keep its students on north campus for all events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerme1 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 One more thing. my friend took me to a Sabres game about a month ago & he does a lot of work for the Sabres & he has gotten kind of close to Pegula with the work he has done for the team & he told me mark it down that it is going to be a dome stadium built on the Perry Projects. Says it is a done deal & it is what T Pags wants. This pleases Nikita. But Nikita suggests the roof move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 One more thing. my friend took me to a Sabres game about a month ago & he does a lot of work for the Sabres & he has gotten kind of close to Pegula with the work he has done for the team & he told me mark it down that it is going to be a dome stadium built on the Perry Projects. Says it is a done deal & it is what T Pags wants. I could have sworn I read that it would be impossible to move the projects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 The UB campus is a hell of a lot farther out to the stadium site then Canisius is. I don't get UB students. They have a ton of kids there & for the most part they usually have a decent basketball team but my son & I will go up to Alumni Arena for a Saturday afternoon game in Feb & the place will be empty & the people that are there are older alums & not students. Is it they just have so many kids from NYC going there & these kids from there can give 2 sh*ts about anything from Buffalo as New Yorkers tend to snub there noises down at people that live in NYS west of the hudson river? You could put the football games down at the new stadium but my guess is you won't get much of a turnout. The kids don't even turnout when the event is right on campus. One more thing. my friend took me to a Sabres game about a month ago & he does a lot of work for the Sabres & he has gotten kind of close to Pegula with the work he has done for the team & he told me mark it down that it is going to be a dome stadium built on the Perry Projects. Says it is a done deal & it is what T Pags wants. Go when they play Bona - at least there will be local fans there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammered a Lot Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 that would be a complete waste of an opportunity to improve economic development in the city. There is close to zero economic development around the Ralph and that is after 40 years. Not moving the stadium to the city would just be a real bone headed decision. The economic development that will occur around the stadium will do more for the city and state then going cheap and keeping it in Orchard Park Having Ralph Wilson Stadium (cost $20 million to build)in Orchard Park has had a lot of economic impact on a lot of people. I'll give you one example parking. There is a lot of community parking, meaning home owners who park cars on there lawns. With a downtown stadium parking will benefit a few corporations who control the bulk of the parking lots. Also parking is cheap around the Ralph (lots of parking) How much do you think it will be in a downtown setting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
respk Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I think you make good points. UB Stadium is the worst place to watch a game. Their own students don't come out in any significant numbers. But 27K came out to see UB at RWS two seasons ago. So I think there is a modest market for college ball in WNY. If TP build a new downtown stadium, why not add 6 more dates of use, even with a half-full stadium? Students who want to see games can get there by rail, just like Canisius kids do for hockey. More events, more reasons to go downtown and spend money. What's wrong with the UB stadium? I've been there 3 times for games and didn't think it was all that bad. A good start for a new program that could be expanded on when the time comes. There was no crowd even though school was in session. I don't think it is the stadium that is keeping the students away though. I just don't think they are interested yet. I think it is partly that most of the students are from out of town and secondly the sports programs have no history. They're not "big time" programs yet. The administration may be more worried about making it New York University instead of actually marketing it to the students and making the program better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in Horseheads Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Having Ralph Wilson Stadium (cost $20 million to build)in Orchard Park has had a lot of economic impact on a lot of people. I'll give you one example parking. There is a lot of community parking, meaning home owners who park cars on there lawns. With a downtown stadium parking will benefit a few corporations who control the bulk of the parking lots. Also parking is cheap around the Ralph (lots of parking) How much do you think it will be in a downtown setting? I know we're a minority down here but The Ralph is the closest of all sites. Sure 20a is a PIA but if it goes downtown we most likely are using 20a, 400 blah blah. Longer drive, minimal parking and congestation city. Also I love the luxury suite reason, does anyone watch a game on TV. The red seats in the camera are always empty looking or everyone is wearing red. ...People who think a superbowl will ever come here are delisional. People who want a stadium "overlooking the falls" obviously have never been there when you consider it's NYS park land. Just do a major (KC style and that stadium is not to much younger than the Ralph) and leave the place where it belongs...in OP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malazan Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I think it should be built ABOVE Buffalo. Like the Helicarrier that S.H.I.E.L.D. uses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple haze Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) What's wrong with the UB stadium? I've been there 3 times for games and didn't think it was all that bad. A good start for a new program that could be expanded on when the time comes. There was no crowd even though school was in session. I don't think it is the stadium that is keeping the students away though. I just don't think they are interested yet. I think it is partly that most of the students are from out of town and secondly the sports programs have no history. They're not "big time" programs yet. The administration may be more worried about making it New York University instead of actually marketing it to the students and making the program better. I would say that the administration is trying to make the program better by framing the university as New York's State university. I'm not saying I like the idea of it, but this is what they're trying with that marketing scheme. It's not about their students. It's about students across the country, particularly athletes. Attract better athletes, teams get better, teams get better, students get interested, students get passionate about the programs, atmosphere gets created, Atmosphere gets created, locals who are not college age might think coming out is worth their time. It's all a trickle down. New York State U. sounds bigger and sexier. Of course that means nothing to people from WNY, but again, people of WNY probably aren't the intended audience. Outside WNY the name Buffalo might not immediately conjure up a positive image. People from WNY know better, and most people who visit come away with a different impression than those who just "hear" the weather or economic reportage of years past, but never step foot in the area. Personally, I think getting cutting edge facilities, and a move to a bigger conference with more recognizeable brand name programs with history would do the trick. That Baylor game had great attendance. I'm sure if most power conference schools showed up in Amherst those games would sell out. Academically, UB can be in any conference and fit in based on student volume and academic reputation. But we all know that's not what it's really about. Edited January 23, 2015 by purple haze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 @purple haze -- well said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 What's wrong with the UB stadium? I've been there 3 times for games and didn't think it was all that bad. A good start for a new program that could be expanded on when the time comes. There was no crowd even though school was in session. I don't think it is the stadium that is keeping the students away though. I just don't think they are interested yet. I think it is partly that most of the students are from out of town and secondly the sports programs have no history. They're not "big time" programs yet. The administration may be more worried about making it New York University instead of actually marketing it to the students and making the program better. UB stadium is fine on nice days but absolute murder on those Tuesday nights in November (ESPN games) when the wind is howling. There is no place to escape the cold but for a bathroom. Aluminum benches and concrete get mighty cold. I do agree the student body is apathetic. Many reasons why. Kids are all downstaters who don't care, UB has no strong athletic history. But I disagree 100% that the school is too focused on being NYSU and ignoring marketing. The rebranding of the school to give it more of a statewide identity is meant to market to kids from all over New York State. It's also meant to make UB more attractive to a larger conference by being "THE New York State University" ala Ohio State or Penn State. Why shouldn't New York State have a flagship public university? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) @purple haze -- well said. There is still talk of UB/NYSU to the Big Ten. While the school has a way to go athletically to catch up, there are actually several good reasons that make UB/NYSU a strong candidate. 1) They are a member of the American Association of Universities. That means they are a top research school. All Big Ten members are also AAU members. 2) UB/NYSU give the Big Ten a footprint in the nations 4th most populous state. Look at the current Big Ten footprint: New York State fills in very nicely. New York would be the most populous state among all Big Ten schools. 3) TV markets. Buffalo is #52, Rochester is #78, and New York City, where UB/NYSU has a large base of alums is #1. Reason #4 is purely speculative but if Terry Pegula has a brand new stadium and wants to put UB/NYSU games in it, he could use his influence at Penn State to lobby the Big Ten. After all a New York State/Penn State rivalry would be quite an attraction. BTW UB plays at Penn State in 2015. Edited January 23, 2015 by PromoTheRobot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkyMannn Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 What's wrong with the Skyway? It's a friggin' eyesore, that's what. There's a video out there somewhere -- I'm sure somebody remembers it or has the link -- that shows how beautifully designed the city of Buffalo is. That skyway ruined it. Plus it is a bigger barrier than the Berlin wall, all for what? The two ships a year that come up the Buffalo River. Transload them at the waterfront Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I want it in Hammers back yard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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