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New Era Coming up on its 50th In 3 Years !


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Almost 50 yrs ago now which really isn't that long ago R.W. & the Bills looked at getting a new home that is now known as New Era field. Named Rich stadium at the time of opening it was state of the art back then . I had a friend send this article to me a while back & i was going through my emails erasing a bunch of the old ones to get some space when i came across it .

 

Erie county broke ground on April 4th 1972 & they opened it on Aug. 17th 1973 at a construction cost of $22 million which now a days the cost is $1 Billion + what a difference in !! You could repave the parking lot for that today for what it cost to build the stadium then !

 

We all know when it opened it was Rich Stadium and held close to 80K fans if i think  ? you all can straighten me out on the true amount then and now but i know it was a pretty large stadium at the time and i believe still is pretty large as far as how many fans it holds .

 

https://buffalonews.com/2016/08/14/gallery6633/#image=40

 

No longer living in western NY i don't get to see many if any articles that come out of the Buffalo news so looking at this was definitely pretty cool,  a lot of you have probably already seen this and it may have been posted a while ago but i thought looking back might give us a break from all the other things that are in the news & other places that we get our reading material.

 

In the article it has one frame that show the seat prices and i was wondering how much change there has been in the prices since the opening of the stadium if any one knows what the new prices are please let us know it would be very interesting to see how much the increase has been since 1973 .

 

I hope you all enjoy it ! 

Edited by T master
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27 minutes ago, T master said:

Almost 50 yrs ago now which really isn't that long ago R.W. & the Bills looked at getting a new home that is now known as New Era field. Named Rich stadium at the time of opening it was state of the art back then . I had a friend send this article to me a while back & i was going through my emails erasing a bunch of the old ones to get some space when i came across it .

 

Erie county broke ground on April 4th 1972 & they opened it on Aug. 17th 1973 at a construction cost of $22 million which now a days the cost is $1 Billion + what a difference in !! You could repave the parking lot for that today for what it cost to build the stadium then !

 

We all know when it opened it was Rich Stadium and held close to 80K fans if i think  ? you all can straighten me out on the true amount then and now but i know it was a pretty large stadium at the time and i believe still is pretty large as far as how many fans it holds .

 

https://buffalonews.com/2016/08/14/gallery6633/#image=40

 

No longer living in western NY i don't get to see many if any articles that come out of the Buffalo news so looking at this was definitely pretty cool,  a lot of you have probably already seen this and it may have been posted a while ago but i thought looking back might give us a break from all the other things that are in the news & other places that we get our reading material.

 

In the article it has one frame that show the seat prices and i was wondering how much change there has been in the prices since the opening of the stadium if any one knows what the new prices are please let us know it would be very interesting to see how much the increase has been since 1973 .

 

I hope you all enjoy it ! 

The original capacity was 80, 020. They used to announce game day attendance, was always like 79, 983 or so on big games...and you would wonder...who did not use their ticket????

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2 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Have you ever been called “it” before?  

 

I am the original Cousin It, so yes I have, Shirley. My small screen days are behind me, sadly.......

 

 

.

Edited by Augie
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I was 11 when dad took me to the home opener at then Rich Stadium. Still have the commemorative coin they gave out to mark the historic occasion. The unforgettable part of that preseason game against the Redskins was the KR for Washington ran the opening kickoff back 98 yards for a TD. Not the most auspicious beginning but still an amazing experience just to be there. 

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9 hours ago, T master said:

Almost 50 yrs ago now which really isn't that long ago R.W. & the Bills looked at getting a new home that is now known as New Era field. Named Rich stadium at the time of opening it was state of the art back then . I had a friend send this article to me a while back & i was going through my emails erasing a bunch of the old ones to get some space when i came across it .

 

Erie county broke ground on April 4th 1972 & they opened it on Aug. 17th 1973 at a construction cost of $22 million which now a days the cost is $1 Billion + what a difference in !! You could repave the parking lot for that today for what it cost to build the stadium then !

 

We all know when it opened it was Rich Stadium and held close to 80K fans if i think  ? you all can straighten me out on the true amount then and now but i know it was a pretty large stadium at the time and i believe still is pretty large as far as how many fans it holds .

 

https://buffalonews.com/2016/08/14/gallery6633/#image=40

 

No longer living in western NY i don't get to see many if any articles that come out of the Buffalo news so looking at this was definitely pretty cool,  a lot of you have probably already seen this and it may have been posted a while ago but i thought looking back might give us a break from all the other things that are in the news & other places that we get our reading material.

 

In the article it has one frame that show the seat prices and i was wondering how much change there has been in the prices since the opening of the stadium if any one knows what the new prices are please let us know it would be very interesting to see how much the increase has been since 1973 .

 

I hope you all enjoy it ! 


T Master, thanks for the story and in three years we will hit 50 considering when they opened for business.  As far as the old Rich, I believe it 83,000 before they remodeled with more sky boxes.  We were the second largest pro stadium at the time.  

8 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

The original capacity was 80, 020. They used to announce game day attendance, was always like 79, 983 or so on big games...and you would wonder...who did not use their ticket????


whoops, I stand corrected, but could swear it was just a little more than that number.

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I was two.  
Growing up , I always heard about the Domed Stadium they were supposed to build by Lancaster High School and the law suit about said stadium.

My Mother always said she was happy it was never built because of the traffic and “ Mess” it would have brought.

Buffalo really does need a new stadium. At some point the Bills will move to greener pastures. Maybe not under Pegula( who we are lucky to have) but the next owner may not  be as hometown centric.

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2 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

Thanks Shane.  That was fun to watch.  Love those old football announcers.

Or I should say narrators

 

Check this video out for how football has changed in 50 years. Half of the highlights they show would have a penalty flag or two thrown. Some great clips of OJ and Robert James. 

 

Edited by John Gianelli
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