Rich Stadium Original Posted July 2 Posted July 2 Just check in with Ryan Fitzpatrick. He was on the Rich Eisen show, and said he bought the PSL and 4 seats in the New Highmark. He then said except for the home opener, he's not sure what games he will be able to make. He then joked he would give them away to some deserving Bills fan. When Eisen asked him for his AFC prediction, of course he picked the Bills..now for the 4th consecutive year. 2
WotAGuy Posted July 2 Posted July 2 Fitzy is the all-time greatest Bills quarterback, nay - greatest Bills’ PLAYER EVER!! Message me for my info, Fitz!! 1 1 1 1
eball Posted July 3 Posted July 3 29 minutes ago, BeyondTheProcess said: the new digs have locked out entire legions of mafia members.. for example, to shrink stadium capacity was done for many reasons, but serving the fan base wasn't one of them Sorry you get the brunt of this, but enough with the whining about fans being “locked out.” Bills fans enjoyed the best bargain in professional sports for decades and could appreciate what they had rather than crying about their decision not to pay for seats in the new stadium. Change is a part of life, and it was long past overdue for the Bills to have a modern stadium with modern fan amenities. The place will be sold out for years with a lot of very happy Bills fans enjoying their team. It’s not the job of Terry Pegula or the NFL to make tickets cheap for Bills fans. 4 3
Augie Posted July 3 Posted July 3 24 minutes ago, BeyondTheProcess said: the new digs have locked out entire legions of mafia members.. for example, to shrink stadium capacity was done for many reasons, but serving the fan base wasn't one of them IDK, if I can tell the difference between the sinks and the urinals, that would be a nice way to serve the fans. Yes, the stadium got a little smaller and also more expensive. The old stadium had seen a reduced number of seats since opening in 1973. It’s not like college football anymore, where stadiums hold 100k or more in places. As much as it sucks to price people out of attending at an “affordable” cost, increased prices was just inevitable. Nobody is “locked out”, but the pain threshold went up a bit, beyond where it’s comfortable for some. The old stadium was beyond its useful life, and something had to be done. The finances driving profit have changed, and we have to accept that they (the NFL and owners) will do things for their own reasons, just like we do. We can vote with our $$$ and our feet. I’ll go check out the new stadium before having a firm opinion on it. I look forward to seeing what it’s all about. It won’t be the same as The Ralph, and you won’t be able to roll your own keg in like the Rockpile. Hopefully it’s a lot more positive than negative. If I had season tickets for the Bills, it would be pretty damn cool to be sitting with Fitzy!!! 1
Augie Posted July 3 Posted July 3 7 minutes ago, BeyondTheProcess said: Then the NFL should mandate that tickets cannot be resold for greater than face value. Bills are in a fairly unique situation that a significant majority of their fan base does not live in WNY. That would be the solution. Wipes out the brokers and brings sanity back to the value proposition. I get your frustration, but I have to side with free market activities here. These are willing buyers and sellers. Nobody is forced to participate. Something is worth what someone will pay. 1
BeyondTheProcess Posted July 3 Posted July 3 19 minutes ago, eball said: Sorry you get the brunt of this, but enough with the whining about fans being “locked out.” Bills fans enjoyed the best bargain in professional sports for decades and could appreciate what they had rather than crying about their decision not to pay for seats in the new stadium. Change is a part of life, and it was long past overdue for the Bills to have a modern stadium with modern fan amenities. The place will be sold out for years with a lot of very happy Bills fans enjoying their team. It’s not the job of Terry Pegula or the NFL to make tickets cheap for Bills fans. I need to stop posting before my third cup of coffee. I think that's it. 2
Mc1320 Posted July 3 Posted July 3 5 minutes ago, BeyondTheProcess said: Then the NFL should mandate that tickets cannot be resold for greater than face value. Bills are in a fairly unique situation that a significant majority of their fan base does not live in WNY. That would be the solution. Wipes out the brokers and brings sanity back to the value proposition. This is the NFL - the greatest money producing sports machine in this country. What “value proposition” are you talking about? Bills fans have had the benefit of playing in a stadium well past it’s shelf life compared to other modern day venues and the team stunk for 17 years so the team was limited in its ability to raise ticket prices. Clearly that has changed with the arrival of Josh Allen and a new stadium. I also happen to live out of state but by your logic, I should have been banned from buying my PSLs? When I bought my season tickets after they drafted Josh Allen there was no season ticket waiting list. Anyone - including people living in WNY - could have purchased those seats prior to me but they were available because people were not willing to do so at the time. So after paying for season tix for 8 years, I should have been banned from buying PSLs in the new stadium? You should probably look into moving to NYC with the other socialists/communists that believe that the government should control everything. 1 1
RichRiderBills Posted July 3 Posted July 3 (edited) 32 minutes ago, eball said: Sorry you get the brunt of this, but enough with the whining about fans being “locked out.” Bills fans enjoyed the best bargain in professional sports for decades and could appreciate what they had rather than crying about their decision not to pay for seats in the new stadium. Change is a part of life, and it was long past overdue for the Bills to have a modern stadium with modern fan amenities. The place will be sold out for years with a lot of very happy Bills fans enjoying their team. It’s not the job of Terry Pegula or the NFL to make tickets cheap for Bills fans. I don't agree with this really. The prices reflected the fair market value. It was not like an act of charity. It was the price set by simple economics. They've now created scarcity via a contrivance.... i.e less tickets available. Nothing has occurred w the economy or the city of Buffalo (apart from this new stadium) that justifies this jump and it remains to be seen what the long term impact will be. Tix prices soaring the whole year above prices in Boston and New York. The median income in Boston is nearly DOUBLE what the avg income is in Buff. If these new prices reflect a true fair market....so be it. But i dont feel they do. Again, their are lots of external modifiers setting the prices now away from the tru value. Its all concerning. The PSL dimension has elevated the whole scene into madness. Changing the demographics of blue collar middle class fans and outpricing them is a real thing across sports. Sad to see it come to Buffalo. I dont know the solution or what to do. But i do think its sad. I also don't think its positive. Edited July 3 by RichRiderBills 1 1
SoonerBillsFan Posted July 3 Posted July 3 29 minutes ago, eball said: Sorry you get the brunt of this, but enough with the whining about fans being “locked out.” Bills fans enjoyed the best bargain in professional sports for decades and could appreciate what they had rather than crying about their decision not to pay for seats in the new stadium. Change is a part of life, and it was long past overdue for the Bills to have a modern stadium with modern fan amenities. The place will be sold out for years with a lot of very happy Bills fans enjoying their team. It’s not the job of Terry Pegula or the NFL to make tickets cheap for Bills fans. I get it, but I said it for years... having the ( or close to) lowest ticket prices in the NFL wasnt sustainable. Nor was the old Rich Stadium (not calling it anything else). Yes the NFL is out of touch with the average fan, and doesnt care. The new stadium will sell out, and ticket prices will start coming down somewhat, but the days of cheapest tickets is over. Unfortunately part of that is losing some long time season ticket holders, but it happens everywhere in every sport. 1
SoonerBillsFan Posted July 3 Posted July 3 2 minutes ago, RichRiderBills said: I don't agree with this really. The prices reflected the fair market value. It was not like an act of charity. It was the price set by simple economics. They've now created scarcity via a contrivance.... i.e less tickets available. Nothing has occurred w the economy or Buffalo that justifies this jump and it remains to be seen what the long term impact will be. Tix prices soaring the whole year above prices in Boston and New York. The median income in Boston is nearly DOUBLE what the avg income is in Buff. If these new prices reflect a true fair market....so be it. But i dont feel they do. Again, their are lots of external modifiers setting the prices now away from the tru value. Its all concerning. The PSL dimension has elevated the whole scene into madness. Changing the demographics of blue collar middle class fans and outpricing them is a real thing across sports. Sad to see it come to Buffalo. I dont know the solution or what to do. But i do think its sad. I also don't think its positive. Its a mix between Scarcity and opportunity cost. Fans have a decision how to spend their money. Do they pay for season tickets or stay home ( or go to a sports bar) and watch on TV. The Bills are about 6th to 7th in ticket prices right now. This was caused by PSL's and the cost of the new stadium. Resale is going to be flat stupid for a year or two as fans are trying to recoup psl costs. As for the stadium, its costs money, and with the economy costs go up. The reality is this...the NFL doesnt care. The only way they would is if 70% of fans stopped watching and attending games for a season or 2, but that will never happen. Maybe at some point the bubble bursts and the NFL, including players salaries, comes back to reality, but I doubt it
Kirby Jackson Posted July 3 Posted July 3 (edited) 39 minutes ago, RichRiderBills said: I don't agree with this really. The prices reflected the fair market value. It was not like an act of charity. It was the price set by simple economics. They've now created scarcity via a contrivance.... i.e less tickets available. Nothing has occurred w the economy or the city of Buffalo (apart from this new stadium) that justifies this jump and it remains to be seen what the long term impact will be. Tix prices soaring the whole year above prices in Boston and New York. The median income in Boston is nearly DOUBLE what the avg income is in Buff. If these new prices reflect a true fair market....so be it. But i dont feel they do. Again, their are lots of external modifiers setting the prices now away from the tru value. Its all concerning. The PSL dimension has elevated the whole scene into madness. Changing the demographics of blue collar middle class fans and outpricing them is a real thing across sports. Sad to see it come to Buffalo. I dont know the solution or what to do. But i do think its sad. I also don't think its positive. Except that’s not what happened. This stadium will largely be filled with the exact same demographic as the last one. The Bills and Legends priced this stadium, borderline, perfectly. They were able to raise a few hundred million in PSLs without pushing out the target audience. Lol, I’m old enough to remember when people thought PSLs would start at $10k and it would be a “wine and cheese” crowd. You can pull up those old threads on here and read the takes that were WAY off base. That was never going to happen. PSLs started at $750 and most under $2500. You had an option to finance over 10 years, or until this November to pay them off interest free. I’m told that’s the route that the majority of people went. If you can’t pay off $750 over 10 years though, you probably shouldn’t have season tickets. I haven’t seen, or heard, of a single person that was the case with. Edited July 3 by Kirby Jackson 3
WotAGuy Posted July 3 Posted July 3 I can’t wait until the Bills go 1-16 so I can afford to go to a late December game again! Fingers crossed! 1
SoonerBillsFan Posted July 3 Posted July 3 27 minutes ago, WotAGuy said: I can’t wait until the Bills go 1-16 so I can afford to go to a late December game again! Fingers crossed! You joke, but what happens when Allen Retires? 1
Einstein Posted July 3 Posted July 3 1 hour ago, SoonerBillsFan said: I get it, but I said it for years... having the ( or close to) lowest ticket prices in the NFL wasnt sustainable. Of course it was sustainable. That’s why it sustained for over 6 decades. The Bills had no trouble fielding a team and going to Super Bowls when tickets were cheap as $30, $40, $50. That vast majority of their revenue is derived from their TV share and their sponsorships. Tickets make up for less than 15%. More importantly, “best bargain in sports” was never an argument that prices were too low. It was simply a reflection of Buffalo’s lower cost of living. We don’t say Buffalo has “the best bargain in steaks” because a steak costs 3x less than it does in New York City or Los Angeles. We recognize that restaurants, labor, rent, taxes, and operating costs are all lower. The same is true for housing. A $300,000 home in Buffalo can easily cost $1 million or more in many NFL markets. Lower prices don’t automatically mean something is underpriced, they simply reflect the local economy. In other words, Bills ticket prices were aligned with the purchasing power of Western New York. That wasn’t a flaw in the business model but rather a reflection of the market they served. There is no evidence that keeping tickets affordable was somehow preventing the organization from succeeding financially. What’s changed isn’t that the old prices were “unsustainable.” What’s changed is that demand has increased due to Josh Allen and the team has decided to capture more consumer surplus. That’s a perfectly rational business decision, but fans are equally justified in saying they preferred when season tickets reflected the local economy rather than being priced closer to wealthier markets. 2
cr02pica Posted July 3 Posted July 3 All of this talk about how expensive tickets are at the new stadium but there is not talk about the thievery from Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster literally triple dips when a season ticket holder goes to sell their tickets; 1. They collect a fee when issuing the tickets to the season ticket holder, 2. They collect a sellers fee of 10% when the ticket is sold, 3. They collect another even more astronomical fee from the buyer when they sell the ticket. For a real world example; I have a pair of tickets listed for sale for $780, they listed the tickets for sale online for $926. They are going to collect $146 in fees just from the buyer and another $80 from me, that’s $226 to Ticketmaster before even taking into account the fee they collected when I purchased the tickets initially. This is the real problem. I also don’t know what you guys were paying for single game tickets prior to this season. I’ve been spending close to $300 per ticket to sit in the upper bowl the last few seasons. Long gone are the days of sub $100 tickets. 2
BeyondTheProcess Posted July 3 Posted July 3 (edited) 2 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said: I get it, but I said it for years... having the ( or close to) lowest ticket prices in the NFL wasnt sustainable. Nor was the old Rich Stadium (not calling it anything else). Yes the NFL is out of touch with the average fan, and doesnt care. The new stadium will sell out, and ticket prices will start coming down somewhat, but the days of cheapest tickets is over. Unfortunately part of that is losing some long time season ticket holders, but it happens everywhere in every sport. I'll put the deposit in for a couple and see what happens. My understanding is this gets you in the SRO queue which is fine. I'm 6'4" and can see anything from anywhere. I'm sort of old school, you know hit the Big Tree for a few swing by Hammers... and then hanging with the common man in the SRO section with a few beers would be more than cool. I'm mostly in WNY for elder(s) care duty so if can get to 1 or 2 games would be great. Edited July 3 by BeyondTheProcess 1
US Egg Posted July 3 Posted July 3 1 hour ago, SoonerBillsFan said: You joke, but what happens when Allen Retires? Go Sabres! 3
RichRiderBills Posted July 3 Posted July 3 3 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said: Except that’s not what happened. This stadium will largely be filled with the exact same demographic as the last one. The Bills and Legends priced this stadium, borderline, perfectly. They were able to raise a few hundred million in PSLs without pushing out the target audience. Lol, I’m old enough to remember when people thought PSLs would start at $10k and it would be a “wine and cheese” crowd. You can pull up those old threads on here and read the takes that were WAY off base. That was never going to happen. PSLs started at $750 and most under $2500. You had an option to finance over 10 years, or until this November to pay them off interest free. I’m told that’s the route that the majority of people went. If you can’t pay off $750 over 10 years though, you probably shouldn’t have season tickets. I haven’t seen, or heard, of a single person that was the case with. Truly we don't know really yet. Certainly we don't know enough to say something is a success or "executed perfect" either. Your not providing any real evidence it wont be a "wine and cheese" crowd. Nor real evidence they didn't, in fact, push out the target audience. Frankly the term "target audience" scares me. We don't know the impact or the sustainability of the prices. I feel this is cause for great concern. We don't know the long or even short term effect on the resale market.... A market like Green Bay is a counter point here to LA- not hoity totity but hard as hell to get a seat and just the same- an exclusive experience few have access to. Both models terrify me. My personal guess: -prices will make for tougher resale market and more out of towners in the seats. -Your going to change the demographics. You wont see gangs of as many college kids. etc.. -I personally don't feel you will see as many families and kids -I think in the longer run prices will drop to market avgs though. give it 3 years. maybe sooner/later depending on how the team is.
MikePJ76 Posted July 3 Posted July 3 In regards to the comment that the nfl should not allow fans to resell for more than face value.....that will never happen. the owners know a large portion of the people paying for their tickets only have them to sell and make money. They encourage it because it gives the owners sellouts in april and thanks to PSL's once you buy in those seats are sold forever. The organizations are counting on people selling on the secondary market. They have a large ownership percentage in a couple of the secondary resellers too. The Cowboys did extensive studies on secondary ticket prices when they opened AT&T stadium back in 09. They set their prices according to what the secondary market was getting....Not only did they sell their seats and their psl's they got a little more on the tickets because of the secondary market up front. They knew people all over the country would buy tickets and then sell them on the secondary market. That is exactly what happened and it is why the stadium is generally 25 to 40 percent visiting fans. This is what will happen in buffalo. There will be more visiting fans in the stadium in the coming years because of season ticket holders who bought to make money off them and not to attend the games. The team and the media will portray it as people wanting to see the stadium but really its about ticket holders wanting to rip off their fellow fans and being more than happy to make a profit selling to visiting fans. Its a pretty sad state of affairs.
Kirby Jackson Posted July 3 Posted July 3 (edited) 28 minutes ago, RichRiderBills said: Truly we don't know really yet. Certainly we don't know enough to say something is a success or "executed perfect" either. Your not providing any real evidence it wont be a "wine and cheese" crowd. Nor real evidence they didn't, in fact, push out the target audience. Frankly the term "target audience" scares me. We don't know the impact or the sustainability of the prices. I feel this is cause for great concern. We don't know the long or even short term effect on the resale market.... A market like Green Bay is a counter point here to LA- not hoity totity but hard as hell to get a seat and just the same- an exclusive experience few have access to. Both models terrify me. My personal guess: -prices will make for tougher resale market and more out of towners in the seats. -Your going to change the demographics. You wont see gangs of as many college kids. etc.. -I personally don't feel you will see as many families and kids -I think in the longer run prices will drop to market avgs though. give it 3 years. maybe sooner/later depending on how the team is. They had a target goal of selling out by the spring. They have sold all PSLs for 30 years, 6 months before they had hoped to. I would say we can call that a success. The stadium was priced in a manner that all current people would be able to swing it. A huge percentage of the stadium are returning customers for many years. I do know that as I do occasionally talk to the leadership within that department and Legends. It was a massive success. The ability to finance the PSLs over 10 years, made it available to everyone. There hasn’t been available Bills seats to the public for years. That’s not a thing anymore in the NFL. Season Ticket Holders own all of them. That’s been the case. That’s still the case. There aren’t a bunch of “wine and cheese” crowd that was just waiting their turn to pounce on tickets that they didn’t previously own. All current season ticket holders had the opportunity to remain and the overwhelming majority of them did (75%ish I think). Those people are there for the next 30 years. I am sorry to come across dismissive but this is a conversation that we have had on here for a decade. It played out exactly like it was always going to play out despite the fear mongering and misinformation that was everywhere back then. Addendum: Now, over time you may see these PSL holders sell off some of their games. You’ll see more opposing fans when that happens. Generally they’re willing to pay a higher price for a road game experience. The Bills fans know that as well as anyone. That’s what we do. That’s how all sports work in 2026. The tickets though are all owned, for the next 30 years, by the same Bills fans, like me and many others here, that have been going for decades. Edited July 3 by Kirby Jackson
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