IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

[raphael120]

Once the Bills leave (if they do), there will be no ressurection of the franchise in this town...UNLESS...this town comes out of it's economic depression and the politicians get their heads out of their asses because this is a declining city with plenty to offer but too many *******s at the top not making the right decisions and only do things that benefit only themselves and their political pals.

This city is a lot like Pittsburgh in that the population is shrinking, but Pittsburgh is ahead of Buffalo in the fact that taxes arent that high and property taxes arent either. And theyre adding to their waterfront and cleaning up the property along the rivers meanwhile Buffalos massive expanse of lake front property is a trash heap. Buffalo has all the opportunity to be a beautiful city with plenty to offer, it's just the people in charge and the fact that NYC sucks the life out of the rest of NY...it's unfortunate because Buffalo has just as much culture, pride, and importance as any other city represented in the NFL... If the Sabres can make a lot of money in a lesser league such as the NHL, then I think if someone who knew what they were doing was in charge of the Bills and built us to be relevant in the league as we once were in the 90s, then we'd see plenty of more fans in that respect.

I wonder what the ratio of Bills fans to Sabres fans is...

I mean you see how popular a team is when they do well...look at the list of top 20 hockey jerseys sold last season:

1. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
2. Daniel Briere, Buffalo Sabres
3. Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres
4. Maxim Afinogenov, Buffalo Sabres
5. Thomas Vanek, Buffalo Sabres
6. Jason Pominville, Buffalo Sabres
7. Chris Drury, Buffalo Sabres
8. Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche
9. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
10. Peter Forsberg, Nashville Predators/Philadelphia Flyers
11. Brian Campbell, Buffalo Sabres
12. Eric Staal, Carolina Hurricanes
13. Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks
14. Mike Modano, Dallas Stars
15. Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers
16. Brendan Shanahan, New York Rangers
17. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
18. Derek Roy, Buffalo Sabres
19. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
20. Teemu Selanne, Anaheim Ducks


8 players from the Sabres were popular enough to be on that list...whens the last time one of the Bills were popular enough to be on a top 20 list? I know it's a stupid thing to be pointing out but hell, winning breeds popularity and popularity breeds more fans (although some may be bandwagon jumpers), but more fans = more revenue. The Sabres play in the same tiny market as the Bills but people like to root for the winner, and the Sabres have been winners for the most part (and I believe they will be next season).

In conclusion...if we just had the Bills be good for any of the past 8 years....I doubt this whole Toronto thing would have ever been forced to happen. Although we do sell out our stadium, NFL teams make money from merchandise sales and advertising also...and when your team stinks you lose our on both those big revenue streams.

So Ralphy, you have only yourself to blame for your unsuccessful tenure as president of the Bills...and I think youre time is running out to witness a Superbowl...but apparently you being able to sell a team for massive amounts of money to Toronto is your own personal Superbowl, huh?

[OpIv37]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

If Toronto gets the Bills there will NEVER be another team in Buffalo because the region just can't support it.

But you're absolutely right- we haven't had a marquee player since the SB days- maybe Moulds but even he was never close to top 20 in jersey sales. It all comes down to providing a better product, and Ralph either can't do it or is unwilling to do it.

[DrGraves]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

the only reason they were all on the list is because the sabres got new uni's so everyone wanted one. if other teams had changed uni's their players would be there too.

[OpIv37]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

the only reason they were all on the list is because the sabres got new uni's so everyone wanted one. if other teams had changed uni's their players would be there too.

sorry but teams change jerseys every year, and a jersey change alone doesn't account for 8 players in the top 20. No team has ever come close to that. I could come up with a list of teams that could change jerseys every year and still not get 3 in the top 20.

[jimbohastle51]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

i have faith, somehow the bills will stay in buffalo. green bay at one point was playing like 3 games a year in milwaekee and buffalo is bigger than green bay and has more to offer. i have faith somehow that the bills will stay. the commissioner is a western NYer and the politicians are involved the city needs the team to stay too, it is one of the only sources of income for the city and attractions

[FlyingDutchman]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

DrGraves has a point though. They switched to a completely new look and old merchandise just didnt look right. Mix that with a young exciting team that was lighting the league on fire in an area begging to back a winner and theres no wonder theres that many jerseys sold in the top 20. Western New York was exploding with Sabre pride last year at this time, while im sure most of the rest of country didnt even know the NHL playoffs had started.

[Philagape]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

the only reason they were all on the list is because the sabres got new uni's so everyone wanted one. if other teams had changed uni's their players would be there too.

The Bills changed their jerseys too, not that long ago

[Tiburon1724]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

the only reason they were all on the list is because the sabres got new uni's so everyone wanted one. if other teams had changed uni's their players would be there too.

Anaheim changed their logo/jerseys the same time.

[DrGraves]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

everyone had to get a new jersey or else the stadium would be black and red for a blue and gold team...

and the bills change... i mean they still are blue...

maybe that wasn't the only reason but it was definitely a major major factor in that statistic.

but i agree wny fans are the best.

[Historian]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

Once the Bills leave (if they do), there will be no ressurection of the franchise in this town...UNLESS...this town comes out of it's economic depression and the politicians get their heads out of their asses because this is a declining city with plenty to offer but too many *******s at the top not making the right decisions and only do things that benefit only themselves and their political pals.

Perhaps losing the Bills will be that wakeup call.

Unfortunately...

[YardRat]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

i have faith, somehow the bills will stay in buffalo. green bay at one point was playing like 3 games a year in milwaekee and buffalo is bigger than green bay and has more to offer. i have faith somehow that the bills will stay. the commissioner is a western NYer and the politicians are involved the city needs the team to stay too, it is one of the only sources of income for the city and attractions

Green Bay is an entirely different animal because of their public ownership.

If I were Ralph, I'd be lobbying behind the scenes to get the other owners to change the league rules, and allow the same to happen for smaller market teams like Buffalo if they meet certain criteria.

[Kenny]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

i have faith, somehow the bills will stay in buffalo. green bay at one point was playing like 3 games a year in milwaekee and buffalo is bigger than green bay and has more to offer. i have faith somehow that the bills will stay. the commissioner is a western NYer and the politicians are involved the city needs the team to stay too, it is one of the only sources of income for the city and attractions

GreenBay playing games in Milwaekee was a situation of two small markets (possibly even going from one larger to one smaller).
Completely different animal with Buffalo playing games in Toronto.

[HHURRICANE]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

If Toronto gets the Bills there will NEVER be another team in Buffalo because the region just can't support it.

But you're absolutely right- we haven't had a marquee player since the SB days- maybe Moulds but even he was never close to top 20 in jersey sales. It all comes down to providing a better product, and Ralph either can't do it or is unwilling to do it.

Could you imagine trying to move this team with Kelly, Thomas, and Smith?

Don't be surprised if the Bills move down in the draft to save money.

[raphael120]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

Sabres are a popular team in the NHL. When I went to Caps/Sabres games Caps fans would know alot about the Sabres, as well as my friends from Pittsburgh, theyre a very popular, likeable team and while my Steelers buddies always rip on me about the Bills, the past few years I was ripping on them for the Penguins.

But again, how popular would the Sabres be if they didn't play so well the past few years??

It's amazing what a couple of back to back playoff season will do for your sports organization, city, and marketability.

If the Bills were a better team, people from Toronto would be more willing to come and pay to see a WINNING team HERE rather than us having to move our LOSING product UP to Toronto 5 times in the next 5 years...

[justasportsfan]

Re: IF Bills Were to Leave, They Would Never Build a New Franchise in Buffalo

If the bills leave they might as well move buffalo or call it tulsa, NY.