swede316 Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2201514 Saints in San Antonio then LA in the next 2 years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 Makes sense. The Saints weren't long for N'Awlins BEFORE Katrina struck, and there's no way they're going back now. Might as well tell Benson to get ready to move to LA and finally fill that market. Then Benson can complain and move from LA when ticket and merchandise sales suck, and after all the hounding he gets from Al Davis because it's infringing on his territory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 It probably would be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 It's a shame for N'Awlins, but it was probably coming anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 Everything that sports consultant said about New Orleans applies to double to Buffalo. Lack of corporate $$$!! Getting the L.A. hole covered by the Saints protects Buffalo. If the Bills left town, they would NEVER be replaced! There is no obvious market for the NFL after L.A. San Antonio, Albuquerque, Norfolk - all too small. Toronto - no stadium, Canadien dollar. Mexico City - intriguing, but money exchange issues, and players not wanting to play in a less-than-safe country. But this doesn't mean the Bills are safe. Who says L.A. can't have two teams? And what if some hotshot casino owner builds a mega-stadium palace in Las Vegas? If owners like Snyder, Kraft, and Jones, who are taking over the NFL, get an offer they can't refuse in Las Vegas, do you think the NFL would overlook the proximity-to-gambling issue? All in all, no need to worry just yet. But let's hope someone local guy like a Tom Golisano steps up to buy the Bills after Ralph checks out. But you'll know the end is near if the NFL decides to make the Bills a ward of the league (ala Expos/Nationals in MLB) after Ralph's passing. They will decimate the team, announce the city won't support the Bills, and sell it to a hand-picked out-of-town owner. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typical TBD Guy Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 Is this good news for Buffalo? Not really. If the NFL allows the Saints to move following the Katrina disaster, then we know nothing is sacred anymore to this league - nothing other than $$$, of course. Nevermind the fact that the Bills have been in Buffalo for 46 straight seasons, with great attendance throughout, and that this region played a critical part in creating the sport of pro football in the early 1900's....they wouldn't hesitate to relocate the franchise if it would mean a 1% increase in annual profit. The Dan Snyders and Jerry Jones of the league are ruining it, and I only hope someone stops them soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griz Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Saints to LA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zow2 Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 What does the article mean by "the NFL will consider relocating the Saints to Los Angeles if New Orleans is unable to recover from Hurricane Katrina"....? Obviously they are GOING to recover from the hurricane....it just might take a couple years. Are they giving New Orleans a 1 season period to get it's act together?...or are they just trying to soften the blow for the inevitable move to LA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Coli Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Introducing your New Orleans Bills.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Introducing your New Orleans Bills.... 487952[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachChuckDickerson Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 So it will be the LA Saints, then in a couple years after the rebuilding they will have the New Orleans Bills. EDIT: J Coli beat me to the punch 2 posts ago. Let this be a lesson to read the entire thread before posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortured Soul Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 What does the article mean by "the NFL will consider relocating the Saints to Los Angeles if New Orleans is unable to recover from Hurricane Katrina"....? Obviously they are GOING to recover from the hurricane....it just might take a couple years. Are they giving New Orleans a 1 season period to get it's act together?...or are they just trying to soften the blow for the inevitable move to LA? 487945[/snapback] http://www.nielsenmedia.com/DMAs.html They say New Orleans is going to lose up to half its pop. permanently. It was already only the 43rd largest media market. Adding in baton Rouge, it rises to the high 20's. Buffalo, when including Rochster and Syracuse, would only be 18th (of course, you have to add something for Canada). I think the best reason the Bills won't move is because there's no place to move them that be a clear improvement. The largest markets without a team (after LA) are Sacramento and Orlando, both of which would encroach on struggling NFL franchises - Jax and Oak. Then you're down to Portland, which has very little regional support. I'd guess the biggest threat is if some owner like Ziggy does something stupid, opening up a resonable market like Minnesota that would become willing to build a new stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevestojan Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Getting the Saints in town is a good thing? If I lived in a city with no football team, and they said "hey, we'll give you the Saints", I think I would decline... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 What does the article mean by "the NFL will consider relocating the Saints to Los Angeles if New Orleans is unable to recover from Hurricane Katrina"....? Obviously they are GOING to recover from the hurricane....it just might take a couple years. Are they giving New Orleans a 1 season period to get it's act together?...or are they just trying to soften the blow for the inevitable move to LA? 487945[/snapback] Lets not forget that this franchise was in danger, very real danger, of moving well before Hurricane Katrina. 25,000 seasons, no Fortune 500 companies, low revenues, poor populace, small TV market. Now, I really can't blame Benson if he wants to move, unless the city , state,feds, NFL or somebody wants to guarantee him revenues.Lets not forget that the state just about reneged on guaranteed payments to him last year. I know if it was my business, and looking realistically at that region and its rceovery time,coupled with the performance revenue wise pre Katrina, I would be looking to move as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 I'm sure there are loyal Saints fans. The Bobby Herbert-lead teams were tops, as well as the Pat Swilling/Sam Mills defensive clubs. I'd like to see them stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 There is no obvious market for the NFL after L.A. San Antonio, Albuquerque, Norfolk - all too small. Toronto - no stadium, Canadien dollar. Mexico City - intriguing, but money exchange issues, and players not wanting to play in a less-than-safe country. PTR 483146[/snapback] San Antonio is not really too small, as it would draw from the Austin market (1hr 10 minutes away), it is more a case of it not being super affluent, and the fact that its' NFL fan base is already divided between the Cowboys and Texans, to a lesser degree. They already have a nice facility for games (nicer than the dome in New Orleans, before Katrina), so it wouldn't be the furthest fetched idea... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDG Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 http://www.nielsenmedia.com/DMAs.html They say New Orleans is going to lose up to half its pop. permanently. It was already only the 43rd largest media market. Adding in baton Rouge, it rises to the high 20's. Buffalo, when including Rochster and Syracuse, would only be 18th (of course, you have to add something for Canada). I think the best reason the Bills won't move is because there's no place to move them that be a clear improvement. The largest markets without a team (after LA) are Sacramento and Orlando, both of which would encroach on struggling NFL franchises - Jax and Oak. Then you're down to Portland, which has very little regional support. I'd guess the biggest threat is if some owner like Ziggy does something stupid, opening up a resonable market like Minnesota that would become willing to build a new stadium. 487958[/snapback] Good analysis.... although I think that you are getting ahead of yourself by giving the Bills credit for the Syracuse market area. When local TV Stations in Syracuse take fan polls, the Bills have to compete with the Jets and Giants - and don't always win. Rochester is a Bills town, so the combined Buffalo-Rochester market would be #26, just ahead of San Diego. Also, since as far as I know there is no TV deal for Southern Canada with the Bills, I don't think you can really include them - and besides, every major market has outlying regional areas.... which is all Syracuse and So-On provide to Buffalo. The killer for Buffalo is that the Buffalo-Rochester market is declining in ranking every single year. Portland is already well ahead of us, and Raleigh-Durham is nipping at our heels (and if you combine Raleigh-Durham with Greensboro, a comparable distance to Buffalo-Rochester, they are already well ahead of us.... Heck Raleigh-Durham and Greensboro are both individually larger than Buffalo already.) Indeed, San Antonio-Austin, another comparable distance to Buffalo-Rochester is also already ahead of, and is growing explosively - and the NFL has "no interest" in the market (admittedly this may be primarily because it pales in comparison, like everyone else, to Los Angeles.) Further in the rear view mirror, we can probably bet on Salt Lake City, Birmingham, Sacramento, Norfolk, Memphis, Albuquerque-Santa Fe and Las Vegas (though I doubt they'll ever get a franchise) all passing us within our lifetimes. With 32 Teams the NFL has competitive balance, and a 33rd team would start to seriously dillute any prospects of competitive balance with only a 16 game season. There's plenty of indication out there that there is no enthusiasm for expansion. And of course, some day the NFL is going to turn its eyes on the giant Toronto and Mexico City markets. In the long term, the hope for the Bills isn't even Golisano - its in New York State's and Buffalo's political leaders turning around the terminal decline of the whole region before its too alte. JDG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bflojohn Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 One of the comments that is MOST disturbing is the "Bold New World" of NFL football....The old guard like Wellington Mara and Ralph Wilson, along with Lamar Hunt have helped tone down the ever present danger of selling out the smaller franchises for more lucrative markets. Daniel Snyder and Jerry Jones are licking their preverbial chops at the huge $ signs that are on the horizon! I'm beginning to believe that the Buffalo Bills are seriously going to need corporate monies in the long run, as the advent of things like the IBM Bills are NOT all that far fetched! This league COULD look vastly different in 20 to 25 years.... and like many here, I'm checking out of that scene without ONE glance back, except video "memories" of past glory for a once proud franchise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts