Pro Football Weekly on Bills

[Nighthawk]

This pisses me off. They question the fans support of this team, but make no mention that our owner has yet to step up to the plate and make this team a championship caliber team. Better yet, he hasn't even made it a playoff team! Sorry, but Ralph may be playing his cards to sell this team to an out of town owner who will move it. Word of advice...Don't trust Ralph!

http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Way+We+Hear+It/default.htm?mode=afceast

Sorry if this was posted already...

[PromoTheRobot]

Yawn. Excuses never end. "I'll support this team when they win a Super Bowl!" What great fans the Bills have! (sarcasm!) Meanwhile you have teams like the KC Chiefs and Green Bay Packers that sell out every game. Even have long waiting lists for season tickets. But the Bills? Cheapest seats in the NFL, team in the hunt for the playoffs, can't sell out three games...and the biggest game of the year there are 20,000 unsold seats!!!

Sorry to break the news to you: Bills fan support is nothing to crow about. You can make every excuse in the book...too cold, too close to christmas, team is no good...it all boils down to fans who don't give a crap. They might as well load the moving vans now.

PTR

[The_Philster]

:deadhorse

[Goobylal]

Yawn. Excuses never end. "I'll support this team when they win a Super Bowl!" What great fans the Bills have! (sarcasm!) Meanwhile you have teams like the KC Chiefs and Green Bay Packers that sell out every game. Even have long waiting lists for season tickets. But the Bills? Cheapest seats in the NFL, team in the hunt for the playoffs, can't sell out three games...and the biggest game of the year there are 20,000 unsold seats!!!

Sorry to break the news to you: Bills fan support is nothing to crow about. You can make every excuse in the book...too cold, too close to christmas, team is no good...it all boils down to fans who don't give a crap. They might as well load the moving vans now.

PTR
Great post. Not selling-out the Miami game told me that the Bills are a representation of their fans. You get what you give. Sorry, that's the truth.

[OpIv37]

I think that it's inaccurate to judge the Bills fans by what happened at the end of this season- the fans ****ed up 3 whole games after taking nearly a decade of abuse. Shame on us :rolleyes:

That being said, I can understand why people have that perception about us- 3 missed sellouts in a row- one against a division rival and one against the best player in the NFL.

Still, I said this before and I'll say it again- the FO has the fans by the balls. Either we spend our money to see a crappy team, or they claim they have no fan support and use that as an excuse to move the team. It doesn't provide them with much motivation to put a quality product on the field.

[ParanoidAndroid]

None of our players are all that exciting. If we had a running back that made plays like the Chiefs do, or a future Hall-of-Fame QB like the Packers do, we might sell out a few more games. We just don't have the players to market an expensive 4 hours to working class, paycheck-to-paycheck Western New Yorkers. The only alternative cure for that is a playoff win.
Lee Evans is on the verge of stardom, and Losman is headed in the right direction, but McGahee just turns everybody off and the rest of the team is just not exciting at all.
Cincinnatti has their big three on offense. They're a fun team to watch, so there isn't as much talk about that small market team being moved.
When a team has struggled on offense for the last 4 seasons like the Bills have, the fan base is bound to shrink and fall into a general malaise.
Is anyone talking about moving the Saints now? Not too long ago, the franchise was deemed a failure and were the most likely to be moved to L.A.
Now they have Bush and Brees winning games and selling tickets. Add to that, the all-American sentimental favoritism they are enjoying and suddenly they look pretty well anchored right there in New Orleans.
Buffalo needs to find a franchise player or win a playoff game soon otherwise it will only get worse.

[The_Philster]

I think that it's inaccurate to judge the Bills fans by what happened at the end of this season- the fans ****ed up 3 whole games 4

[Goobylal]

Buffalo needs to find a franchise player or win a playoff game soon otherwise it will only get worse.
...for Buffalo when Ralph sells or moves the team. The only reason the Bills are still in Buffalo is Ralph Wilson. But there comes a point where you say "F it!" and do what's best for you.

[alohabillsfan]

...for Buffalo when Ralph sells or moves the team. The only reason the Bills are still in Buffalo is Ralph Wilson. But there comes a point where you say "F it!" and do what's best for you.

Exactly! The Bills were in the hunt and could not sell out.. The fan base is not what it was 10-15 years ago... They (FO) need to cover about 6 to 8K seats or expect another 3 -4 Blackouts next season!

[bills_7]

Il be pissed if the bills move... if its to Toronto i don't think i will mind it too much, but anywhere else.... i dont knw what i would do

[Goobylal]

Exactly! The Bills were in the hunt and could not sell out.. The fan base is not what it was 10-15 years ago... They (FO) need to sover about 6 to 8K seats or expect another 3 -4 Blackouts next season!
Why would they do that? That only cuts down on the money Ralph would be getting while benefitting all the people who AREN'T coming to games by showing them the game for free on TV.

[TigerJ]

I've said why I thought the last four nome games did not sell out. I'm not going to repeat myself. I'm not blaming fans and I'm not blaming Ralph Wilson. I think if the Bills appear to have a strong offseason to go with a modestly imporved product on the field (versus the 2005 season) the season ticket base will improve somewhat with perhaps an additional couple of sell outs. If the Bills have a good season in 2007, they will sell out in 2008.

[Goobylal]

Ultimately it's the fans hurting themselves and their fellow Bills fans who legimitately cannot go to games by not selling-out the stadium so that the games can be shown on TV, local businesses can make money during gametime, and to prevent giving Ralph an excuse for moving the team. Very shortsighted on Bills fans' parts.

[camelcowboy]

This topic always depresses me. I was at the Tennessee game me and my buddies were crushed to see all the empty seats. Everyone claims that its the bills fault. Maybe a little of it was, but they were playing damn good football with a roster void of talent. They were a win from controlling there own destiny and fans were no where to be found. Well sabres games taking away from tickets, four games were in the winter after thanks giving. Pretty weak. Now next year they better sell out because there schedule looks great, and the team is getting better no excuses TD is out of town its a different era.

[camelcowboy]

I've said why I thought the last four nome games did not sell out. I'm not going to repeat myself. I'm not blaming fans and I'm not blaming Ralph Wilson. I think if the Bills appear to have a strong offseason to go with a modestly imporved product on the field (versus the 2005 season) the season ticket base will improve somewhat with perhaps an additional couple of sell outs. If the Bills have a good season in 2007, they will sell out in 2008.

Your telling me that we can sell out the Viking game in october, but we can't sell out 4 games in a roll against quality opponets when the bills were playing good football. Call me short sighted, but i can't excuse that.

[SeatownBillsFan21]

living in seattle sucks as a bills fan but it suck even worse when you people cant sell out games do you want a team in buffalo if so start acting like it the truth is we didnt sell out our home game so how can this piss you off it the truth

[G. Host]

Your telling me that we can sell out the Viking game in october, but we can't sell out 4 games in a roll against quality opponets when the bills were playing good football. Call me short sighted, but i can't excuse that.

The Games in October were sold out in August and September when hopes were high for earlier games always sell out before later games even before Sabres got hot unless there is a strong fanbase favorite coming to town or a scalpers sell them to an opposing team's fans.

[jamze132]

I've said why I thought the last four nome games did not sell out. I'm not going to repeat myself. I'm not blaming fans and I'm not blaming Ralph Wilson. I think if the Bills appear to have a strong offseason to go with a modestly imporved product on the field (versus the 2005 season) the season ticket base will improve somewhat with perhaps an additional couple of sell outs. If the Bills have a good season in 2007, they will sell out in 2008.
I agree. It's isn't the fans that are hurting the ticket sales. It's the on field product that Donahoe left Marv with.

Having said that, we still need to support the team by buying tickets or we will not have a team much longer.

There really isn't anymore reason to revolt against the Bills by not going to the games anymore. The old regime is gone and we say pretty good improvement the further the season went on. All the players bought into the system installed by Dick and there wasn't any off field scandles that have plagued us for the last couple of years.

[madness]

I'm sorry but bashing Ralph is just true ignorance in it's purest form. There wouldn't be a team in Buffalo much less ANY small market team if it wasn't for pioneers like Wilson. His "tight" wallet saved teams like the Raiders and Patriots from financial ruin and almost single handily kept the AFL afloat.

[The_Philster]

I'm sorry but bashing Ralph is just true ignorance in it's purest form. There wouldn't be a team in Buffalo much less ANY small market team if it wasn't for pioneers like Wilson. His "tight" wallet saved teams like the Raiders and Patriots from financial ruin and almost single handily kept the AFL afloat.
and considering we're not exactly spending just the bare minimum every year and are, in fact, usually pretty close to the cap, it's ridiculous to accuse him of being cheap

[DynaPaul]

Ultimately it's the fans hurting themselves and their fellow Bills fans who legimitately cannot go to games by not selling-out the stadium so that the games can be shown on TV, local businesses can make money during gametime, and to prevent giving Ralph an excuse for moving the team. Very shortsighted on Bills fans' parts.

The Buffalo fans have been giving and giving and giving for a LONG time. I'd hardly blame the fans for the last home games not selling out. All home games have been sold out for a long time until this season but there comes a point where the fans are tired of getting their heart broke. Plus, with the economy the way it is now I don't blame the locals for not shelling out their hard-earned cash to see their team NOT get into the playoffs for the 7th straight year. We all still support our team and root for them but I don't blame people for not shelling out money to see an average product. Sure, we've been improving over the years and it looks like we really do have a nice team forming but remember that's been said for the last 7 years. People get tired of it. There has been a lot of instability here with this team with all of the coaching and GM changes.

I still make it out to a game or two every year from the Albany area but I'm not going to put myself on a pedestal and blame the fans who don't go to any games at all. Really, I can sympathize with their frustration.

[Goobylal]

That's fine DP. But while the fans have no obligation to go to games, Ralph has no obligation to keep the team in Buffalo. Neither sides owes the other anything. But Bills fans stand to lose a LOT whereas Ralph would make a killing selling or moving the team.

[The_Philster]

Ralph won't move it...he's stated that countless times...he's the most outspoken opponent of franchise free agency...but the next owner :idunno:

[PromoTheRobot]

For all the excuse-makers...look in the morror to find the real problem.

PTR

[Mr. Cynical]

My 2 cents...

Lambeau Field is the best comparison market-wise (local population and stadium size are comparable).

They spent $295M in 2003 for renovations. Ralph spent $57M in 1999.

I do think having the Sabres (as others have pointed out) can be impacting Bills' sales, whereas all GB has is the Pack.

I can't think of another city the size of Buffalo (and economic troubles) that has two major professional sport leagues (NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB). Maybe the time has come that it just can't support two any longer. The NFL has to be thinking about this as well which maybe explains their reluctance to help Ralph. Why throw good money after bad and bend over backwards to try and keep the Bills on life support when there are "easier" and more profitable solutions elsewhere?

LA Bills could be a very real possibility unfortunately and that would really suck...I would no longer have a home team. :(

If they could just win one and lift the curse I'd bet it would all work out....

[TigerJ]

Part of the problem with Buffalo being a small market team is the fact that the Sabres are so popular right now. If someone likes both the Sabres and the Bills but can't afford season tickets for both, or even to go to games of both in the same week, will have to choose between the two teams. Can you really blame them for picking the hotter team? As a small market team, it is a little tougher to come up with enough fanes to fill both venues. If however, the Bills appear to the fans as having turned the corner, some who decided not to buy season tickets until the product improved will trickle back into the fold. That's where I see some increas in season ticket sles coming this summer.