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Attendance Issues in Cali and how it relates to us


VaMilBill

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That area is not so bad. Not if one has some common sense, which is true of any city. The new MLS Soccer stadium in being built in that same neighborhood right now. USC football packs the Coliseum in games that last into the night. The issue is folks don't care about the Rams in the same way. Simple as that. LA sports goes like this:

1. Lakers

1a. Dodgers

2. USC Football

RAIDERS might be 1a actually.

 

10. The other teams in whatever order one chooses.

 

The Coliseum is a dump, but it's a dump that is easy to get to. If the Rams win folks will show up. If this season is like 2016 attendance will get even worse. There is an entire generation of LA people who are used to having no NFL team. That's a lot to overcome. And I've been in LA 15 years and I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen someone walking around with Chargers apparel. I bet they move back to Diego sooner than later.

I agree. This "bad neighborhood " stuff is not a legit excuse for the LA fans. If the neighborhood doesn't stop people from sending their kids to USC, we can't use it as an excuse to skip out on NFL games. Edited by DriveFor1Outta5
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I'm just curious as to how is that different from Orchard Park and Buffalo, relatively. Foxboro and Boston. Irving Texas. Even Meadowlands which is 45-60 minutes for everyone even if it's 4.5-6 miles

 

 

Orchard Park is literally a 10 minute drive from downtown Buffalo. That is a lot different then the SF/San Jose situation.

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LA just isn't a pro football town. Wait until we see the fiasco of the Raiders in Vegas. I guarantee that it will be a similar situation, except when the Raiders are playing teams from the Midwest.

 

If the Rams or Chargers were winning, the attendance would be higher.

 

If the Rams of Chargers had a history in the town to build fan loyalty, attendance would be higher.

Edited by Hapless Bills Fan
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LA just isn't a pro football town. Wait until we see the fiasco of the Raiders in Vegas. I guarantee that it will be a similar situation, except when the Raiders are playing teams from the Midwest.

 

I respectfully disagree on this. The Raiders will have lots of LA fans making the journey, and lots of opposing teams' fans taking a vacation to Vegas.

 

 

Orchard Park is literally a 10 minute drive from downtown Buffalo. That is a lot different then the SF/San Jose situation.

 

Truth.

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I've always loved The Ralph or The Cap or whatever people call it these days. I appreciate how it's a simple structure built purely for football enthusiasts that can experience the game in all types of weather. What amazes me is that it always seems like the Bills sell out a ton or have mostly filled stadiums even when we suck (which has been frequent these last 17 years).

 

When we went to Toronto for one game per year, that really pissed me off because we wasted home field advantage and kinda dissed the city of Buffalo at the same time by doing it. Then the NFL owner groups and Roger keep calling for the Bills to update our stadium and saying Buffalo is a small market and not pulling its weight.

 

But then I look at this article and see the mess in LA with the Rams and the Chargers. That city doesn't deserve one team, let alone two. San Fran has a new stadium that seems like it's always empty the past couple of years.

 

My point is, I'm proud of our fan base and the "lower-class" stadium we have. I'm proud that we fill it to support our mostly bad to mediocre teams in good weather and bad. I hope we are able to stay at The Ralph for a long time kind of like the Packers at Lambaeu.

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/the-nfl-is-seriously-concerned-with-empty-stadiums/ar-AArTqkb?li=BBnb7Kz

 

 

I like your thoughts, and I agree. We have a great fan experience here. I say it all the time, but I have friends from mass who come down in 3-4 car loads every single year to watch the Bills/Pats game. They love our game-day experience.

 

 

We are going to have to endure some sort of new stadium... probably ranging from a massive reno of Rich Stadium (that would alter the general layout), to a full retractable facility downtown. We are going to lose the fan experience to some degree. I hope that when they design the new facility, they are careful, and keep in mind our demographic, fan behavior, etc. Design a stadium that harnesses noise, great sight lines, seats close to the field, aesthetically unique to Buffalo, probably doesnt need nearly as much peripheral baggage as places like Atlanta and San Fran hold such as lounges that detract from watching the game.

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Bills Rams game last year was a terrible fan experience. The stadium is awful. There is no room anywhere around the stadium to move. I can't even begin to imagine what that place is like with 20K or more fans for a USC game.

 

I'm planning on going o USC vs. UCLA in November. So I guess I will find out. Then we are going to Bills at L.A. Chargers the next day. Should be a good football weekend. Scout two possible future QBs for the Bills and then watch the Bills play.

LA just isn't a pro football town. Wait until we see the fiasco of the Raiders in Vegas. I guarantee that it will be a similar situation, except when the Raiders are playing teams from the Midwest.

 

I actually think the Raiders in Vegas will be a hit. I think enough Raider fans from all around California will want to do a weekend trip to Vegas and see their Raiders too. I do expect it to see pretty high opposing fan attendance too just because of the draw of going to Vegas and seeing your favorite team play too. How many locals will support the Raiders? Don't know but the percentage will not need to be as high with the loyal California fans and opposing team fans filling seats as well.

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Yep. USC normally averages 75k a game. In a absolutely horrible stadium. Right in the middle of South Central LA. Last years attendance was down but there were reasons. 75k in that stadium is good.

The LA Kings are about 15th in attendance. Same amount (within 300 per game) as the Sabres, a hockey town.

The LA metro area is literally ten times the size as the Buffalo metro area.
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I'll believe it when I see it. LA fans are terrible (Christ, SC v. Stanford looked 40 percent empty). This will become more and more obvious over time. Also, the Chargers' presence in LA is the biggest joke in pro sports in a long time. I also think that pro football has more reputational problems in California than anywhere else in the country (CA culture and head injuries is a volatile mix). And let's not forget the flight of the Raiders. Just a bad NFL culture all around.

There was a reason the Rams moved to St Louis and the Raiders went back to Oakland; poor attendance and little support from the "fans." The NFL as an organization (i.e. short sighted, money hungry owners with deep pockets and big egos and mr placate goodell) think that people will continue watching regardless of whatever they do (similar to Kodak managements attitude towards photos vs pixels) are in for a rude awakening if they do not adjust their attitudes towards the real fans of these teams.

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Keep in mind that LA/Orange County has quite a few pro and high level college teams to support. Lakers/Clips, Dodgers/Angels, Kings/Ducks, UCLA/USC. So it was folly to assume that two crappy NFL teams playing in crappy stadiums would immediately succeed just because it's the NFL.

 

LA is a Lakers, Dodgers, Kings and USC football town. That's it. Hell, even UCLA basketball has a hard time filling Pauley Pavilion and they're the most decorated college team in history.

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Could the Chargers have been more successful by staying in SD with an LA game similar to our Toronto series?

Qualcomm is the biggest piece of **** going. Tube TVs, terrible sound system, 1980s scoreboard and replay screen. They didn't a new stadium that would bring a super bowl and other events. Government didn't want the additional revenue so they moved to a place that would increase the value of the team by location alone so they could sell

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I like your thoughts, and I agree. We have a great fan experience here. I say it all the time, but I have friends from mass who come down in 3-4 car loads every single year to watch the Bills/Pats game. They love our game-day experience.

 

 

We are going to have to endure some sort of new stadium... probably ranging from a massive reno of Rich Stadium (that would alter the general layout), to a full retractable facility downtown. We are going to lose the fan experience to some degree. I hope that when they design the new facility, they are careful, and keep in mind our demographic, fan behavior, etc. Design a stadium that harnesses noise, great sight lines, seats close to the field, aesthetically unique to Buffalo, probably doesnt need nearly as much peripheral baggage as places like Atlanta and San Fran hold such as lounges that detract from watching the game.

What worries me is once this new stadium is built, you'll lose a lot of the tailgating and the stadium will resemble more of a club you'd find in Boston or Baltimore than a simple, blue-collared stadium to match the blue-collared people of Buffalo. I agree with what you were saying.

 

But by moving the stadium, if you lose all, or a majority of the tailgating capacity, you're certainly going to lose fans coming to the stadium. I'd argue that the only reason The Ralph can get filled in late December is because of the tailgating and people having fun. As soon as you get rid of that, people will say screw it. I'll have fun at home.

 

Also, new stadium means probably higher ticket and concession costs which could prevent people from coming to games. Buffalo will never host a Super Bowl and we don't have problems with the current game day experience of filling the stadium so I don't understand why the NFL is pressuring us to get a new stadium

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Bills Rams game last year was a terrible fan experience. The stadium is awful. There is no room anywhere around the stadium to move. I can't even begin to imagine what that place is like with 20K or more fans for a USC game.

I can attest to that. The stadium felt really crowded. I did, however, have a blast and loved seeing the Bills in LA.

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I like your thoughts, and I agree. We have a great fan experience here. I say it all the time, but I have friends from mass who come down in 3-4 car loads every single year to watch the Bills/Pats game. They love our game-day experience.

 

 

We are going to have to endure some sort of new stadium... probably ranging from a massive reno of Rich Stadium (that would alter the general layout), to a full retractable facility downtown. We are going to lose the fan experience to some degree. I hope that when they design the new facility, they are careful, and keep in mind our demographic, fan behavior, etc. Design a stadium that harnesses noise, great sight lines, seats close to the field, aesthetically unique to Buffalo, probably doesnt need nearly as much peripheral baggage as places like Atlanta and San Fran hold such as lounges that detract from watching the game.

 

When you walk around those stadium parking lots prior to games and see thousands of groups of tight-nit people having a beer and a burger together - then you go sit through a game in our stadium - it truly is a wonder how the NFL isn't trying to make other stadiums and game day experiences more like Buffalo. I've been to a lot of other cities/stadiums and I'll take Buffalo's gameday experience over any of them. (never been to Green Bay)

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I just think building a new stadium jacks prices of tickets and concessions up, forcing out the faithful and bringing in the upper class that are really only there for leisure, not passion. Almost like gentrifying the NFL.

 

It just strikes me that Buffalo seems to be the NFL problem child for lack of profit but the city is so consistent with its support. LA is so volatile and the fans have so many other options that NFL plays second fiddle to nearly all the franchises of other sports out there. I don't even think a new stadium will help the Rams much less the Chargers

Actually the Bills are very profitable. That's one of the things we have going for us. If and when a new stadium is built, much less so.

Edited by galept
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Hey to some of us older fans its still Rich Stadium

It is the Ralph Wilson Stadium always !

Could the absence of a team for the past 2 decades have just led to residents becoming fans of other teams? Now there more fans of the other 30 teams than the 2 in town.

I guess it is more of a Basketball and Baseball town

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When you walk around those stadium parking lots prior to games and see thousands of groups of tight-nit people having a beer and a burger together - then you go sit through a game in our stadium - it truly is a wonder how the NFL isn't trying to make other stadiums and game day experiences more like Buffalo. I've been to a lot of other cities/stadiums and I'll take Buffalo's gameday experience over any of them. (never been to Green Bay)

I think/hope ownership gets this and is why we haven't heard much about it since the location committee went away.

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I didn't really appreciate this until I moved here, but San Francisco doesn't have a team anymore. San Jose does. That new stadium is an hour away from the city...without traffic.

 

Like most great cities, San Francisco is all about being in the city. The 49ers played in the middle of Golden Gate Park for 25 years and then another 40+ across town at Candlestick. Now they expect people to drive 40+ miles down the peninsula to sit in a 100 degree stadium, just as they drove their successful head coach out of town and the team collapsed? LOL....good luck with that! San Fran is a case study in what not to do when building a new stadium. And p.s., the Raiders will also be a disaster in Vegas.

 

Here's a good article about the 49ers disaster:

 

https://ninernoise.com/2017/09/13/49ers-levis-stadium-niners/

The writer of this article is a buffoon, and is completely out of touch with how the NFL is run these days.

 

The city officials of San Francisco have nobody to blame but themselves for losing the 49'ers to Santa Clara/San Jose. They had many opportunities to build a new stadium in San Francisco, and they could never get anything done about it.

 

As for the traffic, yes I'm sure it's a hassle, but if everyone is taking US-101 to and from Levi's Stadium, then that shows me that you know nothing about the freeways around here. Instead of taking US-101, you should be taking I-280. It may not be as direct, but it's a lot faster, not to mention more scenic. Also, I went to my share of games at Candlestick Park, and the traffic was no better. If you ever went to Candlestick Park for a game, you know what I am talking about. I also tend to wonder how many "real fans" travel from San Francisco to Levi's Stadium to watch the team that they love so much. I'm sure it's a very very low number. Aside from Banjo Man, I cannot imagine many fans from up there making the journey. Which is not surprising since a great majority of 49'ers fans live in San Jose and the surrounding south bay.

 

The writer talks about how much cheaper the tickets were at Candlestick Park, and they were cheaper. My dad has been a 49'ers season ticket holder for over 30 years, and tickets were cheaper. However, this is where the writer is not grounded in reality. As time has gone by, and the popularity of the NFL has grown, ticket prices have skyrocketed. This has affected every NFL fan. Even Candlestick Park's ticket prices were becoming more outrageous towards the end of it's days.

 

Now there is the heat issue at Levi's Stadium, and this is a lame point. Yes, it's hotter in San Jose, but let's be real about this. It'll be hot for a little while in September, and after that the weather will be spectacular. It's not going to be 90-100 degrees at every game. Yes, it sucks that the Sun is constantly on one side of the stadium, and it would be great if they could do something about it. Again, it's not roasting weather all of the time.

 

I'm not saying that there can't be improvements made to Levi's Stadium for the fan experience, but the notion that the stadium and where it's located is the problem, and not the fact that the 49'ers suck is the problem, is ridiculous.

Edited by Mark Vader
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Reality Check:

 

I am an out-of-town season ticket holder. I have seats in the lower bowl close to the 50 yard line. I usually have no issue selling tickets to regular season games (as opposed to pre-season games) that I am unable to attend . . . until this past game.

 

About five days before the Jets game (and Hurricane Irma) I lowered the price of the tickets to the lowest price that you can list the tickets for on the NFL Ticket Exchange.

 

Guess what? No one bought the tickets for the freaking home opener. I noticed that there were many other tickets that also went unsold in the sections closer to mid field.

 

I had NEVER had a problem selling tickets to the home opener (and never had to lower the price of the tickets to the home opener to the lowest price possible on the NFL Ticket Exchange in an attempt to sell the tickets).

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The writer of this article is a buffoon, and is completely out of touch with how the NFL is run these days.

 

The city officials of San Francisco have nobody to blame but themselves for losing the 49'ers to Santa Clara/San Jose. They had many opportunities to build a new stadium in San Francisco, and they could never get anything done about it.

 

As for the traffic, yes I'm sure it's a hassle, but if everyone is taking US-101 to and from Levi's Stadium, then that shows me that you know nothing about the freeways around here. Instead of taking US-101, you should be taking I-280. It may not be as direct, but it's a lot faster, not to mention more scenic. Also, I went to my share of games at Candlestick Park, and the traffic was no better. If you ever went to Candlestick Park for a game, you know what I am talking about. I also tend to wonder how many "real fans" travel from San Francisco to Levi's Stadium to watch the team that they love so much. I'm sure it's a very very low number. Aside from Banjo Man, I cannot imagine many fans from up there making the journey. Which is not surprising since a great majority of 49'ers fans live in San Jose and the surrounding south bay.

 

The writer talks about how much cheaper the tickets were at Candlestick Park, and they were cheaper. My dad has been a 49'ers season ticket holder for over 30 years, and tickets were cheaper. However, this is where the writer is not grounded in reality. As time has gone by, and the popularity of the NFL has grown, ticket prices have skyrocketed. This has affected every NFL fan. Even Candlestick Park's ticket prices were becoming more outrageous towards the end of it's days.

 

Now there is the heat issue at Levi's Stadium, and this is a lame point. Yes, it's hotter in San Jose, but let's be real about this. It'll be hot for a little while in September, and after that the weather will be spectacular. It's not going to be 90-100 degrees at every game. Yes, it sucks that the Sun is constantly on one side of the stadium, and it would be great if they could do something about it. Again, it's not roasting weather all of the time.

 

I'm not saying that there can't be improvements made to Levi's Stadium for the fan experience, but the notion that the stadium and where it's located is the problem, and not the fact that the 49'ers suck is the problem, is ridiculous.

Isn't the issue that they're basically no longer a SF team? If so, does anyone really expect San Jose residents to invest much emotion in a team that was never identified with them? It is literally 42 miles from a random SF neighborhood I selected - Noe Valley - to the stadium. That is really freaking far to drive for a football game. Granted, most fans live in the burbs, but it's never really about the getting there - it's about the getting home on a Sunday night, and driving back into SF at 5 pm on a Sunday totally sucks. Unless Silicon Valley adopts the team - very doubtful, in my opinion, given the demographics (East Asians and South Asians constitute the largest demographic bloc in SV now) - the stadium is going to have a lot of empty seats any time they're merely decent or worse.

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The LAC and then the LA annoy me when im scrolling through stats. It plays tricks on my simple mind!

 

I kept calling the Raiders "the Oakland Raiders" up until about '94. My brain finally caught up and I started calling them "the LA Raiders."..................Then, they immediately moved back to Oakland.

 

I also still go to Ch. 2 (NBC) first to turn a Bills game on. It's only been 20 years or more that the AFC is on CBS!

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Then you know nothing about the area. USC is its own oasis. It's left alone.

The USC campus isn't that far from the stadium. I may "know nothing", but what I do know is that people aren't randomly being attacked attending LA or USC games because the neighborhood is bad. There's sketchiness all over LA imo. Not a good place to live if you're ultra paranoid.

 

If the Rams or Chargers were winning, the attendance would be higher.

 

If the Rams of Chargers had a history in the town to build fan loyalty, attendance would be higher.

The Rams do have a history in town. The problem is that no one cared about their first chapter of history either. Edited by DriveFor1Outta5
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There was a reason the Rams moved to St Louis and the Raiders went back to Oakland; poor attendance and little support from the "fans." The NFL as an organization (i.e. short sighted, money hungry owners with deep pockets and big egos and mr placate goodell) think that people will continue watching regardless of whatever they do (similar to Kodak managements attitude towards photos vs pixels) are in for a rude awakening if they do not adjust their attitudes towards the real fans of these teams.

Good post. The NFL is trying to sell everyone a line of bull. From reading this post, I see that some have bought into it. Some posters might be too young to remember the days of the Raiders and Rams in LA as well. I have nothing against LA, In fact I enjoy the city. I simply will never believe that the city was worthy of two football teams. I will also never believe that they were more worthy than the cities they were taken from.
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Have many thoughts on this.

 

  • Except for winning Super Bowls, the NFL should hold the Bills right up there with the Packers. Same type of 100% dedicated blue collar fans.
  • Chargers and Rams are smart. Build 1 stadium for 2 teams in case 1 fails. Would not be surprised to see Chargers go back to new stadium in SD.
  • St Louis will get a new team and stadium. More moolah for greedy NFL
  • I would like to see a new Bills stadium. Downtown will wipe out tail gating. Not sure that is a bad thing due to the really bad drunks.
  • Don't like current location...coming from Roch. It's an all day affair. Lancaster would be great. Maybe with train to the door of the stadium.

Go Bills. Go Bonas.

Edited by Badthingsman
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Have many thoughts on this.

 

  • Except for winning Super Bowls, the NFL should hold the Bills right up there with the Packers. Same type of 100% dedicated blue collar fans.
  • Chargers and Rams are smart. Build 1 stadium for 2 teams in case 1 fails. Would not be surprised to see Chargers go back to new stadium in SD.
  • St Louis will get a new team and stadium. More moolah for greedy NFL
  • I would like to see a new Bills stadium. Downtown will wipe out tail gating. Not sure that is a bad thing due to the really bad drunks.
  • Don't like current location...coming from Roch. It's an all day affair. Lancaster would be great. Maybe with train to the door of the stadium.

Go Bills. Go Bonas.

 

Yes!

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Isn't the issue that they're basically no longer a SF team? If so, does anyone really expect San Jose residents to invest much emotion in a team that was never identified with them? It is literally 42 miles from a random SF neighborhood I selected - Noe Valley - to the stadium. That is really freaking far to drive for a football game. Granted, most fans live in the burbs, but it's never really about the getting there - it's about the getting home on a Sunday night, and driving back into SF at 5 pm on a Sunday totally sucks. Unless Silicon Valley adopts the team - very doubtful, in my opinion, given the demographics (East Asians and South Asians constitute the largest demographic bloc in SV now) - the stadium is going to have a lot of empty seats any time they're merely decent or worse.

Hogwash.

 

San Jose residents have identified with the 49'ers a lot more than the residents of San Francisco. At least from what I have seen. I always saw more people in San Jose wearing 49'ers gear a lot more than I saw in San Francisco.

 

Lots of people from the San Jose/South Bay Area always drove the 42 miles to Candlestick Park many times on a Sunday and had to deal with driving all the way back Sunday evening, and that wasn't easy. Especially for my mom and dad who always left very early in the morning, so they could tailgate.

 

If the fans who live in San Francisco can't make that trek, that says everything about them.

 

As far as the Asian communities in the Silicon Valley, plenty of the are 49'ers fans.

 

The 49'ers suck right now, and the fans are having a hard time dealing with that, because they were used to the team constantly being a playoff contender. The team is the issue, not the location.

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In a small city like Buffalo, on Sundays the Bills are what to do. Doesnt matter if they are losing or winning. In big cities like LA there are so many more distractions. So if the team isnt doing well, people find other stuff to do. Im sure once the Rams improve the attendance will go up.

 

Ive had so many arguements with fans out here in Cali, that LA doesnt deserve another team after losing the Raiders and Rams. The NFL just cant resist putting a team there.

Edited by Herc11
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In a small city like Buffalo, on Sundays the Bills are what to do. Doesnt matter if they are losing or winning. In big cities like LA there are so many more distractions. So if the team isnt doing well, people find other stuff to do. Im sure once the Rams improve the attendance will go up.

 

Ive had so many arguements with fans out here in Cali, that LA doesnt deserve another team after losing the Raiders and Rams. The NFL just cant resist putting a team there.

They waited twenty years. There really wasn't much call for it.
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Yes!

Go Bonnies!

Have many thoughts on this.

 

  • Except for winning Super Bowls, the NFL should hold the Bills right up there with the Packers. Same type of 100% dedicated blue collar fans.
  • Chargers and Rams are smart. Build 1 stadium for 2 teams in case 1 fails. Would not be surprised to see Chargers go back to new stadium in SD.
  • St Louis will get a new team and stadium. More moolah for greedy NFL
  • I would like to see a new Bills stadium. Downtown will wipe out tail gating. Not sure that is a bad thing due to the really bad drunks.
  • Don't like current location...coming from Roch. It's an all day affair. Lancaster would be great. Maybe with train to the door of the stadium.

Go Bills. Go Bonas.

 

Go Bonnies!

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But what still amazes me is that you have a massive market in LA and they can't fill a stadium (I know it's crappy but who cares). Then you have a tiny market team like Buffalo that manages to bring the faithful out every week and fill the stadium. Last I checked, the Bills don't have a nice and fancy stadium to attract people.

 

So Buffalo is doing more than it's fair share with less because it still targets the loyal fan base where it seems like all California teams are just throwing out a net and pulling in money from anywhere they can.

 

And why should The Ralph be updated when it really won't effect attendance all that much.

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