A Genuine Thank You to Ralph Wilson

[venis2k1]

The Bills are one of my releases from the stresses of raising and paying for a family and also something that has made my family closer than ever. Our love of the Buffalo Bills.

Ralph has worked hard to keep this team in this area, sure, he could have took the juice and left in the seventies with the Braves, but no, he stuck it out over the last 47 years. why?

Because he was making Buckets of Money? prolly not.
Because he "owed" it to the fans? thats not it.
Because he cares about the area? thats what i got my money on.

Its simple math(I realize gate revenue is only a percentage of overall)...Ralph Wilson Stadium holds 73,967 seats at an average ticket price of 41.29 over an 8 game(non playoff) season that comes out to roughly $24,432,779.44 at the gate(before you figure in concession and merchandise sales.(and if you dont think the bills have some of the cheapest concessions in the NFL your crazy))

Gillette Stadium holds 74,784 seasts for an average ticket price of $90.89 for about $54,376,942.08 at the gate(again non playoffs not counting luxury boxes)

So why cant ralph raise ticket prices(ive been told that thats not the problem) surly the extra 30 million dollars a year could help us compete, or at least get to the salary cap. I know, I know, the pats are one of the best teams in the NFL, thats why it costs so much to go see them...right?

Green bay tickets are averaged at $63.39 over 20 dollars more than the bills. thats about the league average. I dont think there is a team within $10 as cheap as the bills tickets. Ralph Wilson has done nothing but bend over backwards for this community to try to keep this team here, and he has been repeadedly stabbed in the back for his efforts. Called "Cheap" among other things.

Now you guys are mad because he cant control what happens when he dies? Fans like you guys deserve to lose your team.

[feldspar]

They just did raise ticket sales.

[venis2k1]

to $46.45 still way way below league average.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Good posting venis.

[BillyT92679]

Great post. I don't blame Ralph at all. He is not the reason why there are 200,000 fewer residents of Erie County today compared to 1971.

[OpIv37]

watching the Bills RELEASES stress for you? Are you watching the same team I am?

[feldspar]

Great post. I don't blame Ralph at all. He is not the reason why there are 200,000 fewer residents of Erie County today compared to 1971.

No, but it's Ralph's fault that he won't even consider looking for a buyer that will keep the team in Buffalo while he is still alive. If the person that buys the team after Ralph dies moves the team, Ralph will be at least partly to blame.

[FlyingDutchman]

watching the Bills RELEASES stress for you? Are you watching the same team I am?

bro, you gotta start listening to what people are trying to tell you on this board. Theres a little truth and good advice that you just dont seem to get.

You are a very negative person. If you want to call it being realistic or whatever excuse then go ahead, but you are very negative to the point that i just cant understand why you bother spending so much time on something that seems to cause you so much grief and aggrevation. Seriously though, why would anyone in their right mind surround themselves around a person, team or thing, that seems to cause great depression for. I know the Bills have blown their shots, dont have a winning tradition and havent won a Super Bowl, but i just love them cause i do. I love almost wins, the fact that we've been so close but didnt get it. It will make the time we do that much sweeter. I love the happy moments this team has given me.

How the hell did you ever start liking this team to begin with? Did you just jump aboard during their good years in the late 80s early 90s and now you feel stuck? I cant figure how you would ever start liking a team because it seems a team has to be flawless to meet your approval. What makes me personnaly love this team is the fact that i grew up watching them when they sucked, i watched them slowly progressive into an amazing team and watched it every step of the way. I watched some decent draft picks develop into some of the best players to ever play the game. I fell in love with the players and the team and was there trough thick and thin. BUT IT ALL STARTED WHEN THEY SUCKED. So its been a long rebuilding process, and the Donahoe era set us back. DEAL WITH IT AND STOP %$#^&$% *****ING AND MOANING. It sucks and we realize it, we just dont let it ruin the big picture of a team we love. Is it fun to be like the way you are?....honestly...?

Good post venis. My dad and I have been brought very close because of the Bills. Ever since I was little we always had something to do together on a Sunday and through the years as interests in life start to differ a little, we always have a common bond and conversation because of the Bills. When I moved back from college the time and distance made me feel a little apart from my Dad. We got season tickets and I was able to get some of that bonding back that I hadnt had since I was a kid. Thanks for the thoughts and opinions

[Yasgur's Farm]

That's what I call expressing yourself... Good job.:posrep:

[alohabillsfan]

Great Post Venis and Dutchman! I can not imagine going through life as negative as some of the fans on this board. Life is to short, enjoy it!

[mybills]

I know, I know, the pats are one of the best teams in the NFL, thats why it costs so much to go see them...right?
Wrong. Their tickets weren't that bad at the Foxboro Stadium. The new one (Gillette) is huge and they have to pay for it some how. They hadn't won the S.B. yet, and I paid $130.00 for the crappiest seats there. Last row at the top, under the lights. They looked like ants down on the field. So no, that's not the reason.

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

OK, I usually try to let the smiley happy people have their opinion, but I just want to say something that might sound negative, but it really isn't.

You can't say something about ticket prices and compare the New England area with the Buffalo area. The cost of living is so far different that $30 in ticket prices seems about fair. Just take a look at a house in one of the best areas of Buffalo, Amherst, where you can buy a nice home for $250,000. In Boston your search for that same home would double. The simple fact is that Ralph can't raise the ticket prices because that is what this market will allow it.


I am also not sure how Ralph has worked hard to keep this team in the area. I think the county and the state worked hard to help him keep the team in the area. I don't think I can say that this is Ralph working really hard. I don't know, maybe I can't see the light in front of my eyes, how has Ralph bent over backwards to keep the team here? Like I said, I don't want to be negative here, but I don't see this the same way you do. I don't want to say Ralph is a crappy owner, but I do know one thing, he is the only owner the football team I root has ever had and I don't know any different. My mindset right now is if Ralph really wanted to keep this team here he would start setting paths to assure the team will stay here after he passes. Then again, none of us know, but maybe the NFL has told him he can't move the team from this area.

[madness]

Great Post Venis and Dutchman! I can not imagine going through life as negative as some of the fans on this board. Life is to short, enjoy it!

Tell me about it. Ralph's practical entire life revolved around keeping the Bills alive and well in Buffalo. I find it hard to believe that he won't make provisions to keep the team here even after he's gone.

The amount of disrespect he's getting from the media and especially from the fan base is down right disgraceful. :shakeno:

[madness]

Ralph Wilson, Jr. is respected league-wide as an owner who is equally passionate about his beloved Bills and the National Football League and speaks his mind with the best interest of both at heart. Having started his Buffalo franchise in 1960, Mr. Wilson is the only original American Football League owner who has kept his team in its originating city. He played a significant role in the AFL-NFL merger and has since served on nearly every League committee. He has been honored with numerous awards, such as the Pete Rozell Award from the Touchdown Club in New Orleans, the NFL Alumni's "Order of the Leather Helmet" and the "Timmie" Award from the Touchdown Club of Washington D.C., but none were more appropriate than the Buffalo News naming him the "Tops Sports Figure" in Western New York in the past millennium.
Beyond the football field, Mr. Wilson's philanthropic arm reaches various parts of the country with emphasis on the Western New York region. Mr. Wilson has long been recognized for his diverse charitable endeavors that include such benefactors as the food banks of Buffalo and Rochester, the Ronald McDonald House, the United Way, S.P.C.A., the Buffalo Philharmonic, Shea's Performing Arts Center, and the Hospice Center of WNY, which recently named a new building wing the Mary and Ralph Wilson, Jr. Hospice Inpatient Unit. For his tremendous charitable efforts in the Buffalo area over the years, Mr. Wilson was named the Seymour Knox III Humanitarian Award winner in the spring of 2003. In recent years, he established the Ralph Wilson Medical Research Foundation and has contributed over $5,000,000 to the effort since 1999.Two of the Foundation's main benefactors are Buffalos Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Cleveland Clinic.
Mr. Wilson is also a strong supporter of education and has established scholarship programs at various colleges. As an alumnus of the University of Virginia, he recently endowed the University's Jefferson Scholars Foundation with an ongoing fund that will annually provide candidates from the Buffalo area with the ability to apply for the Foundation's four-year, full-ride scholarship program. At St. John Fisher College in Rochester, the Bills Chairman is responsible for a new building on campus that houses the College of Education.

[madness]

A minority owner of the Detroit Lions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Lions), Wilson got wind of Lamar Hunt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamar_Hunt)'s plans for a new league to challenge the AFL. He tried to put together a team in Miami (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami), but was turned down. His next choice was Buffalo. In September of 1959, Wilson sent Hunt a telegram with the words, "Count me in with Buffalo." He named his new team the Bills, after a previous team (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bills_%28AAFC%29) that played in the All-America Football Conference (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-America_Football_Conference) from 1946 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946) to 1949 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949). On October 28 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_28), the Buffalo Bills officially became the seventh franchise of the AFL.
Wilson was a pillar of the league, fielding the only AFL team that went to postseason play for four consecutive years, 1963-1966. The Buffalo Bills (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bills) won the league championship in 1964 and 1965. Wilson made professional football a resounding success in a "small market", signing such stars as Cookie Gilchrist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookie_Gilchrist), Jack Kemp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kemp), and Tom Sestak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Sestak) and Hall of Famer Billy Shaw (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Shaw).
He was a guiding force in AFL policies that ensured success, such as gate and television revenue sharing; in 1961 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961), with the rival Oakland Raiders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Raiders) in financial difficulty, Wilson loaned the club $400,000 and also would be willing to loan money to Billy Sullivan (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Billy_Sullivan_%28football%29&action=edit) of the Patriots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Patriots). Wilson helped keep those franchises afloat, likely saving the entire league from folding. In November 1963 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963), Wilson lobbied successfully to have American Football League games postponed the Sunday after JFK's assassination, while National Football League games went on.

[OpIv37]

bro, you gotta start listening to what people are trying to tell you on this board. Theres a little truth and good advice that you just dont seem to get.

You are a very negative person. If you want to call it being realistic or whatever excuse then go ahead, but you are very negative to the point that i just cant understand why you bother spending so much time on something that seems to cause you so much grief and aggrevation. Seriously though, why would anyone in their right mind surround themselves around a person, team or thing, that seems to cause great depression for. I know the Bills have blown their shots, dont have a winning tradition and havent won a Super Bowl, but i just love them cause i do. I love almost wins, the fact that we've been so close but didnt get it. It will make the time we do that much sweeter. I love the happy moments this team has given me.

How the hell did you ever start liking this team to begin with? Did you just jump aboard during their good years in the late 80s early 90s and now you feel stuck? I cant figure how you would ever start liking a team because it seems a team has to be flawless to meet your approval. What makes me personnaly love this team is the fact that i grew up watching them when they sucked, i watched them slowly progressive into an amazing team and watched it every step of the way. I watched some decent draft picks develop into some of the best players to ever play the game. I fell in love with the players and the team and was there trough thick and thin. BUT IT ALL STARTED WHEN THEY SUCKED. So its been a long rebuilding process, and the Donahoe era set us back. DEAL WITH IT AND STOP %$#^&$% *****ING AND MOANING. It sucks and we realize it, we just dont let it ruin the big picture of a team we love. Is it fun to be like the way you are?....honestly...?

Good post venis. My dad and I have been brought very close because of the Bills. Ever since I was little we always had something to do together on a Sunday and through the years as interests in life start to differ a little, we always have a common bond and conversation because of the Bills. When I moved back from college the time and distance made me feel a little apart from my Dad. We got season tickets and I was able to get some of that bonding back that I hadnt had since I was a kid. Thanks for the thoughts and opinions

I'm not really sure what you're getting at here. I'm not willing to abandon my team just because the results they've produced have been stressing me out.
Unlike you, I'm not willing to turn my back on everything that causes grief or aggravation. As far as your assertation that the team has to be flawless to meet my approval, where the hell did that come from? Since this board has been in existence, this team has done nothing but underperform. I hardly see how wanting my team to be better than Josh Reed, John DiGiorgio, Larry Tripplett, Robert Royal and Peerless Price is demanding flawlessness. I hardly see how having high expectations is a problem. It's not like we had double digit wins and I'm still *****ing. It's not like it took one losing season to get here. I'm sorry I'm not gifted like you and justa- I can't just take years of frustration and go "oh well- that was Donahoe's fault" and pretend it never happened.

[justasportsfan]

bro, you gotta start listening to what people are trying to tell you on this board. Theres a little truth and good advice that you just dont seem to get.

You are a very negative person. If you want to call it being realistic or whatever excuse then go ahead, but you are very negative to the point that i just cant understand why you bother spending so much time on something that seems to cause you so much grief and aggrevation. Seriously though, why would anyone in their right mind surround themselves around a person, team or thing, that seems to cause great depression for. I know the Bills have blown their shots, dont have a winning tradition and havent won a Super Bowl, but i just love them cause i do. I love almost wins, the fact that we've been so close but didnt get it. It will make the time we do that much sweeter. I love the happy moments this team has given me.

How the hell did you ever start liking this team to begin with? Did you just jump aboard during their good years in the late 80s early 90s and now you feel stuck? I cant figure how you would ever start liking a team because it seems a team has to be flawless to meet your approval. What makes me personnaly love this team is the fact that i grew up watching them when they sucked, i watched them slowly progressive into an amazing team and watched it every step of the way. I watched some decent draft picks develop into some of the best players to ever play the game. I fell in love with the players and the team and was there trough thick and thin. BUT IT ALL STARTED WHEN THEY SUCKED. So its been a long rebuilding process, and the Donahoe era set us back. DEAL WITH IT AND STOP %$#^&$% *****ING AND MOANING. It sucks and we realize it, we just dont let it ruin the big picture of a team we love. Is it fun to be like the way you are?....honestly...?

Good post venis. My dad and I have been brought very close because of the Bills. Ever since I was little we always had something to do together on a Sunday and through the years as interests in life start to differ a little, we always have a common bond and conversation because of the Bills. When I moved back from college the time and distance made me feel a little apart from my Dad. We got season tickets and I was able to get some of that bonding back that I hadnt had since I was a kid. Thanks for the thoughts and opinions

Some people don't understand the spirit of sports. The challenge of competition. Win or lose, it should be fun. Some people take it personally, therefore need to get a life.

Now unlike you and me, we enjoy the games win or lose and these people can't stand it if we enjoy it and they can't. So they keep trying to make everyone miserable like they are . It's pathetic.

[OpIv37]

Some people don't understand the spirit of sports. The challenge of competition. Win or lose, it should be fun. Some people take it personally, therefore need to get a life.

Now unlike you and me, we enjoy the games win or lose and these people can't stand it if we enjoy it and they can't. So they keep trying to make everyone miserable like they are . It's pathetic.

I will never understand how someone who claims to be a fan of a sports team can enjoy a loss. It's counterintuitive.

[justasportsfan]

I will never understand how someone who claims to be a fan of a sports team can enjoy a loss. It's counterintuitive.
who says I enjoy a loss. It's the spirit of competition. Problem is, you FEAR therefore you whine and *****. You're scared therefore you're negative. It's a miserable way to view sports which should be entertainment. No matter what, I'm not gonna be miserable about it no matter how you try to make us join your misery.

[venis2k1]

The simple fact is that Ralph can't raise the ticket prices because that is what this market will allow it.


thats my point. what do you want from the fricken guy?

If you opened up a car dealership in buffalo tomorrow, would you sell your cars at half price? If you did, you would be out of bussiness in a month. Fans are so quick to point the finger at the guy, and call him cheap, when the blame is really on the fans themselves. For over ten years, the bills have been the cheapest ticket in the NFL, and they still cant sell out home games. Its embarising really, But its Ralphs fault a new owner might want to move to a more profitable area?

Lets Go Whalers!

[OpIv37]

thats my point. what do you want from the fricken guy?

If you opened up a car dealership in buffalo tomorrow, would you sell your cars at half price? If you did, you would be out of bussiness in a month. Fans are so quick to point the finger at the guy, and call him cheap, when the blame is really on the fans themselves. For over ten years, the bills have been the cheapest ticket in the NFL, and they still cant sell out home games. Its embarising really, But its Ralphs fault a new owner might want to move to a more profitable area?

Lets Go Whalers!

The missing piece: Price increases with demand.

How do you increase demand? Put a winning product on the field. For the last ten years, the Bills have failed to do this.

Just like you can't charge half price for cars in Buffalo because you'd go out of business, you also can't expect people to pay Mercedes prices for a Kia. The economics don't work.

[venis2k1]

great point, but why isnt this a problem in cities with perrenial losers like cleveland, zona, or NO(before last year)?

[OpIv37]

great point, but why isnt this a problem in cities with perrenial losers like cleveland, zona, or NO(before last year)?

Cleveland lost their team for a few years and got to skate on the excitement of the team returning. In 2005 NO got tons of support because of Katrina, but I dont have a good explanation for Zona or NO before that. Better weather definitely helps- people are more willing to watch a losing team in December when its not 14 degrees and snowing in the stadium.

[justasportsfan]

Better weather definitely helps- people are more willing to watch a losing team in December when its not 14 degrees and snowing in the stadium.
Not in a place like WNY where there is nothing to do but watch the bills . It's very true when people say finfans are fairweathered because they have other options than the fins. Beach and women will tend to trump football as far as So Florida is concerned so better weather doesn't always mean football.

[FlyingDutchman]

I'm not really sure what you're getting at here. I'm not willing to abandon my team just because the results they've produced have been stressing me out.
Unlike you, I'm not willing to turn my back on everything that causes grief or aggravation. As far as your assertation that the team has to be flawless to meet my approval, where the hell did that come from? Since this board has been in existence, this team has done nothing but underperform. I hardly see how wanting my team to be better than Josh Reed, John DiGiorgio, Larry Tripplett, Robert Royal and Peerless Price is demanding flawlessness. I hardly see how having high expectations is a problem. It's not like we had double digit wins and I'm still *****ing. It's not like it took one losing season to get here. I'm sorry I'm not gifted like you and justa- I can't just take years of frustration and go "oh well- that was Donahoe's fault" and pretend it never happened.

you just dont get it and refuse to open your eyes. nobody is turning their back on the losing and things that aggrevate us. WE JUST DONT FEEL THE NEED TO SIT AND STEW ABOUT IT ON A CONSTANT FREAKIN BASIS. I agree this team has underperformed. We rebuilt after our good years in the 90s and became good again, and Donahoes failures to get a competant coach in here cost us some good years. Now, we are rebuilding again and most of us understand what that means. So what do you plan to accomplish by *****ing about the past? IMO opinion the past is the past, and this team is headed in the right direction. Will we win a Super Bowl? I sure hope like you wouldnt believe, if not, im not gonna cry and moan over the same stuff over and over again. Stop reading what you want to read and start thinking outside the box of your normal negative depressive thoughts. Try to actually comprehend what people are saying for once. Nobody is happy with losing, what dont you get? A lot of us are glass half full type people which makes this team and game fun to watch. You, are obviously the opposite which causes a miserable freaking time for yourself and those around you. STOP TRYING TO BRING OTHER PEOPLE DOWN TO YOUR DEPRESSED STATE OF MIND PLEASE AND LET US BE HAPPY. Ive tried making my point to you for the last time. I wish you would have followed what you said you were gonna do a while ago. Good day to you.

[FlyingDutchman]

And not for nothing OP, i actually think your a smart person with good insight on football and everything involved, but jesus christ just take the pessimism on every thread down a notch.

[Ingtar33]

The Bills are one of my releases from the stresses of raising and paying for a family and also something that has made my family closer than ever. Our love of the Buffalo Bills.

Ralph has worked hard to keep this team in this area, sure, he could have took the juice and left in the seventies with the Braves, but no, he stuck it out over the last 47 years. why?

Because he was making Buckets of Money? prolly not.
Because he "owed" it to the fans? thats not it.
Because he cares about the area? thats what i got my money on.

Its simple math(I realize gate revenue is only a percentage of overall)...Ralph Wilson Stadium holds 73,967 seats at an average ticket price of 41.29 over an 8 game(non playoff) season that comes out to roughly $24,432,779.44 at the gate(before you figure in concession and merchandise sales.(and if you dont think the bills have some of the cheapest concessions in the NFL your crazy))

Gillette Stadium holds 74,784 seasts for an average ticket price of $90.89 for about $54,376,942.08 at the gate(again non playoffs not counting luxury boxes)

So why cant ralph raise ticket prices(ive been told that thats not the problem) surly the extra 30 million dollars a year could help us compete, or at least get to the salary cap. I know, I know, the pats are one of the best teams in the NFL, thats why it costs so much to go see them...right?

Green bay tickets are averaged at $63.39 over 20 dollars more than the bills. thats about the league average. I dont think there is a team within $10 as cheap as the bills tickets. Ralph Wilson has done nothing but bend over backwards for this community to try to keep this team here, and he has been repeadedly stabbed in the back for his efforts. Called "Cheap" among other things.

Now you guys are mad because he cant control what happens when he dies? Fans like you guys deserve to lose your team.

i couldn't sum it up better

[HHURRICANE]

I'm mssing something. When did Ralph determine that he can't get the same ticket sales at $90 a ticket? Maybe he's afraid that if he charges that much he might have to put a better product on the field.

If Ralph loves the area than have a gameplan in place to keep the team there after he dies. I have a business that has 30 families dependant on getting a check from it. I have a life insurance policy in place so people don't lose their jobs if I die. If he cares than prove it. I don't like paying my premium every year but it's the right thing.

[HHURRICANE]

Lets Go Whalers!

I missed your synopsis on the Whalers? I lived outside of Hartford when they got moved. They got moved because they couldn't sell tickets and Hartford wasn't going to pay to keep them. Was there anymore to this?

[venis2k1]

I'm mssing something. When did Ralph determine that he can't get the same ticket sales at $90 a ticket? Maybe he's afraid that if he charges that much he might have to put a better product on the field.


Im not a bussiness major or anything, but if we cant sell out home games at 45 dollars a seat, why do you think we could if it was twice as much?

[HHURRICANE]

Im not a bussiness major or anything, but if we cant sell out home games at 45 dollars a seat, why do you think we could if it was twice as much?

The point is that they weren't getting sold out at $20 a ticket. The price is irrelevant. The product is what determines the price.

I could have gone to every Atlanata Hawks game for free this past season. FREE tickets to every game. I went to zero games. Why? Because they suck and there was no reason to waste my time. Atlanta has the population and the money but the Hawks had poor atendance.