Attendance Issues in Cali and how it relates to us

[ALF]

Levi stadium for 49ers is in big trouble when the weather is hot . Bills stadium looks better then ever compared to that .

 

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

Edited September 14, 2017 by ALF

[DriveFor1Outta5]

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 September 14, 2017 by DriveFor1Outta5

[Gordio]

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.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

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 September 14, 2017 by Hapless Bills Fan

[Seasons1992]

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.

[May Day 10]

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.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

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.

[dave mcbride]

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.

[mabden]

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.

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

Hey to some of us older fans its still Rich Stadium

and we are Talking Proud :-)

[TheBrownBear]

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.

[uticaclub]

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

[CBD]

Greedy NFL owners getting what they deserve. Hope the trend continues when the new stadiums are built.

$1.29B in relocation fees

[VaMilBill]

 

 

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

[1st Ammendment NoMas]

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.

[PolishDave]

 

 

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)

[CWink07]

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.

[galept]

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 September 14, 2017 by galept

[ganesh]

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

[Fan boy '92]

 

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.