JohnnyCash Posted July 4 Posted July 4 1 minute ago, Kirby Jackson said: Maybe they still will but it won’t be until after they give the season ticket holders a chance to see it. It may even not be until next summer or the draft or something. The first crack was always going to be for their customers. Isn’t the entire fanbase their “customers”? 😉 1 Quote
Kirby Jackson Posted July 4 Posted July 4 8 minutes ago, JohnnyCash said: Isn’t the entire fanbase their “customers”? 😉 Kind of. This isn’t the perfect analogy but I equate it to the different tiers of flights that they sell now. Let’s pretend the Bills are Delta and they are releasing this new state of the art plane. Everyone wants to check it out. Delta will prioritize the order that people experience it. First class would be their corporate partners (many of whom have already been in the stadium). Business class will be your premium seat holders. They’ll get access to the scrimmage, probably a gift and free food. Next will be your highest paying customers outside of the premium areas. These may be people that paid for an exit row. They will get the best locations for the flight (or scrimmage in this case). Next will be the people that paid for their flights but maybe didn’t choose a seat. They still get access. Whatever is left is then opened up to the people that follow Delta on social media (or whatever). It’s not a great example but you get the point. Yes, all NY tax payers contributed some to the cost of this stadium. AI says that the average NY tax payer contributed roughly $30 & Erie County residents roughly $264 each. As a club seat holder, my contribution to the construction is literally 1000x other NY residents (and I actually check both the Erie County box and NY resident box too). I do feel entitled to more than others for that reason. When you can’t appease everyone, you prioritize those most important. I’m more important to the Bills than a random NY resident. Wegmans is more important to the Bills than I am. There is a hierarchy. All businesses operate that way. Quote
JohnnyCash Posted July 4 Posted July 4 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said: Kind of. This isn’t the perfect analogy but I equate it to the different tiers of flights that they sell now. Let’s pretend the Bills are Delta and they are releasing this new state of the art plane. Everyone wants to check it out. Delta will prioritize the order that people experience it. First class would be their corporate partners (many of whom have already been in the stadium). Business class will be your premium seat holders. They’ll get access to the scrimmage, probably a gift and free food. Next will be your highest paying customers outside of the premium areas. These may be people that paid for an exit row. They will get the best locations for the flight (or scrimmage in this case). Next will be the people that paid for their flights but maybe didn’t choose a seat. They still get access. Whatever is left is then opened up to the people that follow Delta on social media (or whatever). It’s not a great example but you get the point. Yes, all NY tax payers contributed some to the cost of this stadium. AI says that the average NY tax payer contributed roughly $30 & Erie County residents roughly $264 each. As a club seat holder, my contribution to the construction is literally 1000x other NY residents (and I actually check both the Erie County box and NY resident box too). I do feel entitled to more than others for that reason. When you can’t appease everyone, you prioritize those most important. I’m more important to the Bills than a random NY resident. Wegmans is more important to the Bills than I am. There is a hierarchy. All businesses operate that way. I understand the pecking order. I just feel that if the powers that be wanted to, the non PSL fanbase could have been given the opportunity to see the stadium this summer. [edited]Idea…have the “open house” when the Bills are playing in Cleveland, preseason game 2, and show the game on the scoreboard. Edited July 4 by JohnnyCash 1 Quote
Kirby Jackson Posted July 4 Posted July 4 2 minutes ago, JohnnyCash said: I understand the pecking order. I just feel that if the powers that be wanted to, the non PSL fanbase could have been given the opportunity to see the stadium this summer. I don’t disagree at all. They were never going to get the first crack but they certainly could have gotten a crack. It is an intentional decision. They are manufacturing value for the PSL holders. I’m not even saying it’s wrong but they could have done both. They could have (and I guess still can) handled this scrimmage as they have and your open house idea in late August (or whatever). They play at the Browns on a Saturday afternoon later in August. Maybe make that a watch party open to the public? Donate a few cans of food to gain entry? There are still things that they can do but I suspect the doors won’t open to everyone until 2027. Quote
Billsflyer12 Posted July 4 Posted July 4 Cutting train camp in half and making it almost impossible to get to that anymore is also a trend towards exclusivity. The Bills were always this small town team that was accessible to the whole region in many ways. Now they are just a country club to the few and wealthy like every other team in league. I'm lucky enough to be able to afford access if I want, but I worry that the overall feel and environment of the team has now permanently changed toward more corporate perspective. That’s not good IMHO. 1 1 Quote
Sierra Foothills Posted July 4 Posted July 4 (edited) The text from the email sent from the Bills to a season ticket holder who inquired about the scrimmage: Hi. Thank you for your email and your continued support over the years! Every season ticket member will receive their seats for the Blue & Red event on Saturday, August 8th. This is a season ticket member event only now, not a general admission event like it has been in the past. You will receive your (2) seats in (Section Row, Seats). We will announce more communication in the next (2) weeks regarding this event. As always, let me know if you have any questions. I hope you and your family have a great 4th of July weekend! Have a great day & Go Bills! 3 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said: I wouldn’t have excluded them. I would have started with them. Basically give them first right of refusal. If the Bills structured the scrimmage tickets to give season ticket holders the right of first refusal, I'd guess about 99.7% of them would claim their tickets even if they themselves chose not to attend... in order to hand them off to family or friends. I'm guessing in this scenario (I don't think this will happen BTW) you'd get maybe a few hundred season ticket holders relinquishing their tickets ... and the team would have to hold a lottery/raffle to see who receives them. Also, as others have suggested upthread it's not beyond the realm of possibility that some season ticket holders might think about selling the tickets although I think that too would be a small number of people and it would open those people up to scrutiny, criticism, and possibly a threat of action by the team. Edited July 4 by Sierra Foothills 1 Quote
Kirby Jackson Posted July 4 Posted July 4 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said: The text from the letter sent from the Bills to season ticket holders: Hi. Thank you for your email and your continued support over the years! Every season ticket member will receive their seats for the Blue & Red event on Saturday, August 8th. This is a season ticket member event only now, not a general admission event like it has been in the past. You will receive your (2) seats in (Section Row, Seats). We will announce more communication in the next (2) weeks regarding this event. As always, let me know if you have any questions. I hope you and your family have a great 4th of July weekend! Have a great day & Go Bills! If the Bills structured the scrimmage tickets to give season ticket holders the right of first refusal, I'd guess about 99.7% of them would claim their tickets even if they themselves choose not to attend... in order to hand them off to family or friends. I'm guessing in this scenario (I don't think this will happen BTW) you'd get maybe a few hundred season ticket holders relinquishing their tickets ... and the team would have to hold a lottery/raffle to see who receives them. Also, as others have suggested upthread it's not beyond the realm of possibility that some season ticket holders might think about selling the tickets although I think that too would be a small number of people and it would open those people up to scrutiny, criticism, and possibly a threat of action by the team. No doubt and I agree. I claim mine every year. I haven’t gone in a few years. They do a little party in the club where they have free food and non-alcoholic drinks. I just give them to family. I certainly wouldn’t hand them back to the Bills. There is no easy answer. It comes down to the demand. There are a few hundred thousand people (at least) that would love the opportunity to check out the new stadium. The Bills obviously cannot accommodate that so they have to prioritize. It’s easy for them to assign priority. “We pick the people that have the biggest commitment/investment.” All businesses do that. This isn’t some giant shift towards a more corporate crowd though. We don’t have that here. It is however a further division in the fanbase. Not all fans are equal or have equal access. That has always been the case but it is more pronounced now and will be moving forward. The Bills will prioritize, and cater to, the people that committed to buying tickets for the next 30 years. The overwhelming majority of those people look more like me than they do some finance bro and his girlfriend coming in from Toronto. We haven’t replaced the crowd that’s always been there. They are just differentiating them from the general population. Edited July 4 by Kirby Jackson 1 Quote
WotAGuy Posted July 4 Posted July 4 (edited) 7 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said: Maybe they still will but it won’t be until after they give the season ticket holders a chance to see it. It may even not be until next summer or the draft or something. The first crack was always going to be for their customers. I think the public option will be the tours the Bills announced a few weeks ago and are presently getting ready to go live with a couple different tour options. I imagine they will be pricey. https://www.thehighmarkstadium.com/tours Edited July 4 by WotAGuy 1 1 Quote
Casual fan Posted July 5 Posted July 5 Hi, I know I might be subjected to verbal abuse for this, but that's OK. I understand message board culture!🙂 The "Return of the Blue & Red" scrimmage" at the stadium just got switched to season ticket holders only. For those who don't know, it was to a be a scrimmage at the new stadium, with free admission and parking! Ok, there is some sense in it being for season ticket holders. They did pay big dollars for season tickets. But they get to go to games at the new stadium 10 times. And the state and county coughed up $850 million for it, and have to do all the upkeep, so well all chipped in. But even so, I wouldn't complain. EXCEPT that they didn't think of that ahead of time? Why not? Just 2-3 weeks ago the game was announced and I saw it. You were supposed to come back, right about now, and sign up for the Bills app. Then when tickets went on offer you could try and get a ticket! Even then I figured it as a gamble but I planned to be sitting there the minute it went live and take my shot. Because I wanted to see the new stadium! Like I say, I can understand why they would want to favor season ticket holders. I'm not complaining about that. I'm complaining because they gave me a letdown disappointed feeling for no reason other than that they couldn't think 3 weeks ahead of time and just announce it that way? Grrrr 2 1 Quote
Just Jack Posted July 5 Posted July 5 Red vs Blue Scrimmage Tickets ??? - The Stadium Wall - Two Bills Drive 1 1 Quote
behind a post WMS69 Posted July 5 Posted July 5 On 7/4/2026 at 6:15 AM, Kirby Jackson said: I wouldn’t have excluded them. I would have started with them. Basically give them first right of refusal. From an operational standpoint the Bills main objective of the scrimmage is introducing everyone to their new routine. It would be chaos in the preseason and into the regular season with no trial run. This will lessens those issues. If it takes you 45 minutes to enter the scrimmage, who cares. I’m not saying that’ll happen but that’s much better than 45 minutes to enter vs. the Lions. This is as much for the Bills as it is for the Season Ticket Holders. It just happens to benefit both. That’s why this was the obvious solution. I’m probably going to go even though it’s a boring event. I want to see the place. It’s the ideal opportunity to explore. I want to see all of it and won’t do that when the games are going on. They are definitely going to want to get their routine down. I remember when Rich opened it was chaos. Quote
Casual fan Posted July 5 Posted July 5 16 hours ago, Just Jack said: Red vs Blue Scrimmage Tickets ??? - The Stadium Wall - Two Bills Drive Thanks! Quote
Goin Breakdown Posted July 5 Posted July 5 Am I still allowed to watch games on TV? Oh pretty please Mr. NFL 1 2 Quote
PromoTheRobot Posted July 5 Posted July 5 17 hours ago, Casual fan said: Hi, I know I might be subjected to verbal abuse for this, but that's OK. I understand message board culture!🙂 The "Return of the Blue & Red" scrimmage" at the stadium just got switched to season ticket holders only. For those who don't know, it was to a be a scrimmage at the new stadium, with free admission and parking! Ok, there is some sense in it being for season ticket holders. They did pay big dollars for season tickets. But they get to go to games at the new stadium 10 times. And the state and county coughed up $850 million for it, and have to do all the upkeep, so well all chipped in. But even so, I wouldn't complain. EXCEPT that they didn't think of that ahead of time? Why not? Just 2-3 weeks ago the game was announced and I saw it. You were supposed to come back, right about now, and sign up for the Bills app. Then when tickets went on offer you could try and get a ticket! Even then I figured it as a gamble but I planned to be sitting there the minute it went live and take my shot. Because I wanted to see the new stadium! Like I say, I can understand why they would want to favor season ticket holders. I'm not complaining about that. I'm complaining because they gave me a letdown disappointed feeling for no reason other than that they couldn't think 3 weeks ahead of time and just announce it that way? Grrrr Find a season ticket holder who isn't going. 1 Quote
Casual fan Posted July 5 Posted July 5 17 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said: Find a season ticket holder who isn't going. Thanks I'll give it a try. But I bet a lot of te are going and then there will be a lot of people wanting to go who aren't season ticket holders. But it can't hurt to try! Quote
Augie Posted July 5 Posted July 5 12 minutes ago, Casual fan said: Thanks I'll give it a try. But I bet a lot of te are going and then there will be a lot of people wanting to go who aren't season ticket holders. But it can't hurt to try! As a Casual Fan, you may not know that almost everything they do is in the name of money. I’m not condemning that, just trying to point out the obvious to any newcomers. We decide how much of that we accept. 1 2 1 Quote
Steptide Posted July 5 Posted July 5 The bills/pegulas really should've planned some kind of free event to officially kick off the new stadium. Maybe some kind of concert with fireworks or something. Make the tickets free and let people see the new place. It would've been good promotion and would've solved issues like this with the the scrimmage practice. I also understand that they're getting ready for an NFL season in a brand new stadium, and I'm sure there is still alot happening behind the scenes, so us non season ticket holders just have to wait patiently 1 1 Quote
Kirby Jackson Posted July 5 Posted July 5 20 minutes ago, Steptide said: The bills/pegulas really should've planned some kind of free event to officially kick off the new stadium. Maybe some kind of concert with fireworks or something. Make the tickets free and let people see the new place. It would've been good promotion and would've solved issues like this with the the scrimmage practice. I also understand that they're getting ready for an NFL season in a brand new stadium, and I'm sure there is still alot happening behind the scenes, so us non season ticket holders just have to wait patiently I don’t disagree but that would have had to have come AFTER they gave the season ticket holders the first look. Maybe they still will. They can do a preseason watch party for the Cleveland game. They could do some kind of pep rally. The “first look” was always going to the season ticket holders. 1 Quote
DaVinci Posted July 5 Posted July 5 Maybe they can have a practice at the old stadium for non season ticket holders. They can also maximize the profit margins by selling pieces of old cement 1 3 Quote
Chandler#81 Posted July 5 Posted July 5 1 minute ago, DaVinci said: Maybe they can have a practice at the old stadium for non season ticket holders. They can also maximize the profit margins by selling pieces of old cement Do you mean the Rockpile? Have you seen ‘old Highmark stadium’ lately? It’s a dirt pit! Quote
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