PromoTheRobot Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) I still dont understand what events are going to be held in a 63,000 seat indoor stadium between January and April that the FNC cant hold. I guess UB can play there, but they cant draw any fans. They might come if it wasn't freezing cold to watch. Remember UB drew 26K last year at RWS. Maybe a Final Four one time. We already host regionals on a regular basis. If we do a good job with the World Juniors hockey championship, why not a Final Four or a Frozen Four? Maybe a Wrestlemania one time? Why not once a year? Doubt they will start a low level bowl game because nobody local would show up. Nothing wrong with 20K coming to town for a bowl game. Still boosts the economy. I also don't understand how there is a need for high end amenities and seats here that would require an indoor stadium. There isn't that kind of clientele in WNY... at least not a whole lot. Actually the city is changing in that direction. Won't be like the Jerruh Dome, but it will have more amenities. There is a market for it here. Edited January 5, 2016 by PromoTheRobot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I've only seen football inside a couple domes, but they both lacked that "game day ambiance" you'd like. The new one going up in Atlanta looks pretty cool though. Crazy retractable top in multiple sections. Maybe the best of both worlds. Or the worst? I'm actually torn on this as I see both sides. http://mercedesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Falcons-stadium.jpg Cool. I gotta say, I attended the game last year @ Houston and it was everything The Fun Police is bitching about. Terrible, sterile atmosphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formerly Allan in MD Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Build a dome to make it easier and more attractive for an older, more upscale, classier clientele to attend the games. Get rid of the drunken idiots that make the city and the fanbase look foolish. I have no issue what drinking and tailgating but getting absolutely plastered and making and ass of yourself has to be stopped. A dome will make the drunken idiots who attend games more dignified? Or will they stay home because it's a dome? Don't think so. Actually, rowdy fans should liven things up at a dome in Buffalo. The baseball games I've attended at Toronto's dome almost made me feel like I was at a wake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Yeah, that game at RWS for UB had a decent amount. Probably more like 15K Id say (I was there) the weather was still poor... but it was as big a game as they could have... and was hyped all season. I would say optimistically if they built up... UB could draw 15-20K game in a decent stadium... and it doesnt need to be indoors. I would go to more games, but UB Stadium is the worst venue I have ever seen. Maybe if they advanced into a better conference, Joe and Jane sports fan may be more interested? I could see a conference be interested in our TV market and new stadium. Temple took off. I could see them maybe getting a Final Four... possibly a frozen four there but would a 63K seat stadium be applicable to that? Wrestlemania cant be there every year, it moves around like the Super Bowl. Ultimately, Im fine with whatever. Im grateful to be having this conversation. By then, Ill be 10 years older and probably in a different frame of mind. Right now I do think there is a gigantic aesthetic difference between, say the Lions home games and the Steelers, Broncos, Seahawks, Bills, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevWarRifleman Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Pittsburgh should be the model for any new Bills stadium, IMO. Good, basic, clean stadium that fits the identity of the team. Can you imagine a Steelers dome? MAYBE you could lure a Super Bowl here, but I doubt it. Other than that, you would be taking away a big part of what makes Bills football great (when the team is winning). We are about to start watching playoff games. There will be snow, crazy fans, wind. It adds to the ambiance of the games. A dark, sterile, ugly dome just cannot compete with a place like Gillette Stadium (I almost threw up when I typed that) in the snow. Imagine a dome over Lambeau Field. It would be freaking sacrilegious! I say the same thing is true for a dome in Buffalo. I do have ONE caveat. The Arizona dome is an AWESOME stadium. It is so bright with natural light due to its construction that it's almost like being outside. They even have a grass field that gets rolled outside into the sun between games (that wouldn't work here obviously). Arizona NEEDED a dome because it's like 100 degrees there half the time. But overall, pro football should be played OUTSIDE in the elements. It's part of what makes this game great. "Oh you must not be a season ticker holder! It's cold!" Boo hoo. It's cold in New England*. It's cold in Cleveland. It's cold in Chicago (the windy city) It's REALLY cold in Green Bay. Dangerously so half the time. It's cold in Pittsburgh. It's cold in New Jersey. It's cold in Philadelphia. It's cold in Denver. It's cold in Seattle. It's cold in Baltimore. It's cold in Cincinnati. It's cold in Kansas City. So are Bills fans softer than fans in those cities? Not at all. Just look at the Jets game! Bills fans sold out the stadium and went to watch the team go 8-8. Imagine a world where the Bills are actually GOOD again! January. Snow falling. Home playoff game in the divisional round! Now imagine a cold, sterile, dark, airplane hangar like half the NFL domes are. No comparison. Open air stadiums are cheaper and just plain better. The stadium sells out most years now as it is. Lower the capacity a bit, add some new cool features, and field a winning team. There ALREADY is demand for Bills tickets now. PLEASE NO DOME IN BUFFALO! (unless it's pretty much a copy of Arizona) Yeh, where else would you rather be..............? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) Cool. I gotta say, I attended the game last year @ Houston and it was everything The Fun Police is bitching about. Terrible, sterile atmosphere. We were at the Georgia Dome last week for the Peach Bowl and it's pretty sterile feeling. But not as bad as the old Metro Dome in Minneapolis where the Bills lost to the Skins in the SB. What a dump, and 9 degrees outside. Yippee! The new Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta seems to have a lot of glass and natural light even if the dome is closed, so maybe it will be better. Edited January 5, 2016 by Augie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santana Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Building a stadium that has a retractable roof is not "Buffalo like" but monetarily it's way more beneficiary. It's hard to compare Buffalo to cities because a lot of other cities have multiple arenas/stadiums to hold major events. Buffalo not so much. Having a new enclosed stadium could ultimately lead to hosting a Super Bowl one day, NCAA tournament. Plus if Buffalo did go to a dome/retractable roof stadium I have no doubt that it would be one of the best in the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Put an overhang over the fans and open top over the field and endzones (think female body part shaped or baked potato if you don't like that reference) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Hosting Super Bowls keeps getting mentioned. Do we even have the hotel rooms and all the other stuff needed? And, while it's very cool, it's a ONE time deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldstorage5 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 This past weekends game is why I became a Bills fan, ( 10 year old in NYC). Declining the ball, that caused a poor punt. Field position, Snow, Wind, Loud crowd, a big home field advantage. Thats Bills Football, I hope they never become like the Vikings, stale, indoor sterile football. NO DOME!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Hosting Super Bowls keeps getting mentioned. Do we even have the hotel rooms and all the other stuff needed? And, while it's very cool, it's a ONE time deal. We don't have the city for a SuperBowl. What would people do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Hosting Super Bowls keeps getting mentioned. Do we even have the hotel rooms and all the other stuff needed? And, while it's very cool, it's a ONE time deal. It seems like we're constantly building new hotels, so maybe by now or soon, we will. I vote for open air, though! I do think Pitt is the model. I turn on a game and it's a dome, esp. the Superdome and it immediately turns me off. I turn on Lambeau or Steelers, etc. and I'm sticking with that game just for the aesthetics for some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heitz Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 If they build a domed stadium, can they build a domed Hammer's Lot next door? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALF Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Survey what the players prefer. Would good players re-sign for less to play in good conditions? Would FAs be more willing to sign here with a indoor stadium. It could have natural grass if rolled out to a climate controlled structure with sun lamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 We don't have the city for a SuperBowl. What would people do? I drank in the hotel bar with a bunch of Germans with limited English skills (far exceeding my German skills) and went to Pizza Hut in Minneapolis. So, there's that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) I drank in the hotel bar with a bunch of Germans with limited English skills (far exceeding my German skills) and went to Pizza Hut in Minneapolis. So, there's that.... I had a great time in Minneapolis,too Edited January 5, 2016 by nucci Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFunPolice Posted January 6, 2016 Author Share Posted January 6, 2016 (edited) The point that I am making is that it has been an issue in Buffalo (regardless of whether or not it has been an issue in Pittsburgh). The potential for 1 outdoor hockey game a decade isn't going to drive a decision on the stadium. It is going to come down to how they can maximize nonshared revenue and what assets that they can create to do just this. It isn't even about the number of tickets sold as much as it is who has those tickets. If those tickets are $5,000 a season and 100 of them are included in Anchor Bar's $1.5M sponsorship package the Bills are thrilled. They would be even more thrilled if that money went right to marketing instead of tickets, but you get the point. I appreciate your response. In the end, I'm just glad that this is a conversation we can have! And if it is a retractable roof stadium or a glassy dome like Minnesota and it has to be closed for economic reasons I could get with it. Just say NO to Ford Field II. Or anything like the Superdome. Or the St. Louis dome (which along with Atlanta's current stadium has to be one of the worst looking venues in the league) Edited January 6, 2016 by TheFunPolice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedstrong Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 No dome...Please please please! Inside is sterile. Bills fans have a rep of being hearty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punching Bag Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 I agree with you. However, I've been to Arizona's dome plenty of times and it's nothing like being outside. Open stadium, please. Been to it and had a poor view - not as poor as from Maryland's but not a seat I'd like to sit again in. Can not think of one seat in the Ralph I would not want to sit in again except the ones in first two rows behind players and they have been tarped off. Let UB use it. Build it downtown. With a patriotplace type thing and a football version of harborcenter. Went to UB but not in current era but if they put it downtown when I was a student I'd tell them to pound sand. Most of students are on Amherst campus now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMan Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Just don't ever take away the tailgating like they did in Dallas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts