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Unfortunately, this is something that most of us are aware of...its interesting though the stastical break down of how much more difficult it is for RW Jr. compared to other owners.
Now compare that with Buffalo’s situation. The Bills stadium officially seats 73,967. Their market penetration needs increased by 3.1%, a total that is 143% higher than the current average market penetration. And that doesn’t even include the fact that Buffalo already started this analysis at a 3.4% market penetration. To put this another way, it is literally nearly twice as hard to achieve a sellout in Buffalo today than it was forty years ago based on the population/stadium density percentage. And that doesn’t even take into account how much easier it is for the Bills’ NFL competitors to sell their stadiums out.
Looking at this from Ralph Wilson’s perspective, his organization in some ways has to work more than twice as hard as they used to in order to bring in the Forbes estimate of $40 million in annual gate revenue. If it was a matter of the team being non-competitive, it would come down to on-field improvements, but the Bills have been O.K. in that area. They have averaged seven wins a year and are typically in the playoff hunt for a significant majority of the season. It’s a better overall on-field situation than the Lions and some other teams that are generally doing worse on the field but better at the box office than Buffalo is.
It is also not a matter of fan ambivalence. Bills backers are among the most rabid out there. Their showing at the recent Bills-heavy Hall of Fame induction ceremony proved this as well as anything. These fans have also arrived in large numbers for games over the years in some of the worst weather, so passion isn’t an issue.
Looking at this from Ralph Wilson’s perspective, his organization in some ways has to work more than twice as hard as they used to in order to bring in the Forbes estimate of $40 million in annual gate revenue. If it was a matter of the team being non-competitive, it would come down to on-field improvements, but the Bills have been O.K. in that area. They have averaged seven wins a year and are typically in the playoff hunt for a significant majority of the season. It’s a better overall on-field situation than the Lions and some other teams that are generally doing worse on the field but better at the box office than Buffalo is.
It is also not a matter of fan ambivalence. Bills backers are among the most rabid out there. Their showing at the recent Bills-heavy Hall of Fame induction ceremony proved this as well as anything. These fans have also arrived in large numbers for games over the years in some of the worst weather, so passion isn’t an issue.
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