How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

[Fletch]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozan...ver-1-billion/ (there's a picture at the link for those of you that prefer picture books)

Forgive me. But I think the late Ralph Wilson had it wrong.


Instead of trying to grow the Buffalo Bills business by focusing north of the border, he should have expanded south. In fact, whom ever buys the NFL team should plant the Bills flag and claim all of New York state.


The New York Bills of Buffalo. Heck, they are the only NFL team that plays in the state. Why not brag about it?


The Bills are expected to sell for around $1 billion. The Cleveland Browns went for $987 million two years ago, about six months after the league inked new, far more lucrative, national broadcasting deals with CBS , NBC and Fox . The Browns have slightly more revenue than the Bills, but the multiple of revenue being paid for teams is higher now than 2012. Plus, the Bills have made $130 million of renovations to their stadium, most of which comes courtesy of taxpayers, which should should boost revenue.




The Bills are really hurting when it comes to advertising and sponsorship revenue, generating less than $15 million of revenue–about half of what the Green Bay Packers pulled in–during 2012, placing them in the bottom quartile of the league. A $20 million increase in sponsorship revenue would equate to about a $100 million increase in value because unlike national broadcasting fees, stadium advertising revenue is not shared equally with the other teams in the league.


With a New York name I bet the Bills could grab some big sponsors. Their current sponser roster has lots of names, but not much in the way of the big Wall Street and financial firms. The team owns the naming rights to Ralph Wilson Stadium and a sponsor would pay more for a team identified as New York rather than just Buffalo.


Arte Moreno did something similar after he bought the Anaheim Angels a decade ago and two years later officially changed the MLB team’s name to Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to generate more revenue.


Experts say the Bills would need permission by the league to change the name. I sent an email to the league this morning to see if the New York Giants and New York Jets, both of whom play at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, would also have to give permission but have not yet heard back.
My message to whom ever owns the Bills next: think more Big Apple and less Toronto.

[Topas]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

Interesting. Not sure I like NY Bills and neither am I sure that that is possible (Jets and Giants), but interesting nonetheless.
I would like to have a more southern focus without changing the name, but I am not sure how to do this.

[Fletch]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

Interesting. Not sure I like NY Bills and neither am I sure that that is possible (Jets and Giants), but interesting nonetheless.
I would like to have a more southern focus without changing the name, but I am not sure how to do this.

Yeah, agree. Not sure that there's much in the Southern Tier, and going towards PA doesn't help. I'm thinking more eastward, but only to make the team more appealing to some of the rest of the Finger Lakes region and Syracuse. Right now it's only about an hour further for people from Syracuse to attend a Giants or Jets game, plus they've got all that the NYC metro region has to offer if they overnight it.

I'm not sure that putting it in/near Rochester makes much sense. I do like the idea of putting it nearer Batavia though.

Funny thing though, if Golisano (or someone like him) buys the team and wants to build a stadium with his own money, other than zoning and permission and stuff, I'd think that he could put the team where he wanted to.

[trapezeus]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

the bills have pushed east and try to compete in albany and they've grown their brand there over last 15-20years. I'll give brandon some credit there.

changing the name to NY bills makes no sense. buffalo bills is the name and the brand they've established for over 60 years. it makes sense as the buffalo bills. it makes no sense as the NY Bills. it almost reads like a political joke about NYS being so expensive.

nyc are also not fickle fan bases. they love the giants or jets. one or the other. it's a lost cause. they have the tri state area down pat. You can rename it NJ, no one in the area would care to be like, "oh really, my tax dollars don't support my team, well i'm done."

the bills also have the tornto market largely to itself. if they could focus on the winning, they'll get more of the casual fans. Those are the fun guys to get because they don't buy sesason tickets, they buy game by game at inflated costs.

The bills have marketable stuff. they have essentially throw back uni's that are popular/hipster-ish. younger fans are so "fantasty football" oriented that the bills just need to market the **** out of their own potential superstars. That requires getting them in the first place and then keeping them. then working with them to get their brand out there. and oh, by the way, winning gets more of the fair weather fans buying jerseys. how many brady jerseys are out there? how many ray lewis, favre, names of people with stories.

the bills have a story more in line with most americans than the big market teams as well. when a david starts its ascent, americans love for david to slay goliath. and the bills have 15 years of being atrocious. if they ever do turn it around, i bet people would really get into their story. NYC fans aren't going to gravitate to that. but towns that don't have teams, and those fair weather people who love football and want a good game, will root for them.

it's on the bills for having such a pathetic executive structure that they can't put out 1 winning team in 15 years. don't over think the problem.

[Typ0]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

The JETS and GIANTS play in the New York Metropolitan Statistical Area and that's what matters. This argument about the Bills being the only NY team is crazy ...

[stuckincincy]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

the bills have pushed east and try to compete in albany and they've grown their brand there over last 15-20years. I'll give brandon some credit there.

changing the name to NY bills makes no sense. buffalo bills is the name and the brand they've established for over 60 years. it makes sense as the buffalo bills. it makes no sense as the NY Bills. it almost reads like a political joke about NYS being so expensive.

nyc are also not fickle fan bases. they love the giants or jets. one or the other. it's a lost cause. they have the tri state area down pat. You can rename it NJ, no one in the area would care to be like, "oh really, my tax dollars don't support my team, well i'm done."

the bills also have the tornto market largely to itself. if they could focus on the winning, they'll get more of the casual fans. Those are the fun guys to get because they don't buy sesason tickets, they buy game by game at inflated costs.

The bills have marketable stuff. they have essentially throw back uni's that are popular/hipster-ish. younger fans are so "fantasty football" oriented that the bills just need to market the **** out of their own potential superstars. That requires getting them in the first place and then keeping them. then working with them to get their brand out there. and oh, by the way, winning gets more of the fair weather fans buying jerseys. how many brady jerseys are out there? how many ray lewis, favre, names of people with stories.

the bills have a story more in line with most americans than the big market teams as well. when a david starts its ascent, americans love for david to slay goliath. and the bills have 15 years of being atrocious. if they ever do turn it around, i bet people would really get into their story. NYC fans aren't going to gravitate to that. but towns that don't have teams, and those fair weather people who love football and want a good game, will root for them.

it's on the bills for having such a pathetic executive structure that they can't put out 1 winning team in 15 years. don't over think the problem.

I'd guess that referring to younger folks seeking self aggrandizement with fantasy wins, fair weather fans buying jerseys, and a David vs. Goliath pitch qualifies as over-thinking the problem.

[alnilla]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

The JETS and GIANTS play in the New York Metropolitan Statistical Area and that's what matters. This argument about the Bills being the only NY team is crazy ...

They play in East Rutherford NEW JERSEY.

[Fletch]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

They play in East Rutherford NEW JERSEY.

And what, that isn't part of the NYC Metropolitan Statistical Area? Is that what you're trying to say?

[stuckincincy]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

They play in East Rutherford NEW JERSEY.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas_of_New_Jersey

[Fletch]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

the bills also have the tornto market largely to itself.

Woohoo!

That's sure gotten us a lot over the years, hasn't it.

The Toronto metro area plus everything in between NF and there is probably 8M people, and we're lucky if we get 10,000 of them to one game, somewhere around 1/10th of a percent. Good thing we have those 10K people all to ourselves.

I think that the whole Canada thing is wholly overblown. But since we're at it, think about it, would we ever have a sellout without those few Canadian attendees? We keep hearing about what a great fanbase we have, and I agree insofar as the real fans go, but when we consider that WNY has 2M+ in population between the Buffalo and Rochester metro areas, and we can't even regularly sell out our home games without help from the Canadian fans, I don't think that it really presents a huge obstacle to anyone arguing that there are better places around the country to have an NFL team in.

[Fletch]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropo..._of_New_Jersey

You may have to point out specifically that it's not in Cape May.

[stuckincincy]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

And what, that isn't part of the NYC Metropolitan Statistical Area? Is that what you're trying to say?

The intentional purging of geography from school curriculum has paid off.

[Fletch]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

The intentional purging of geography from school curriculum has paid off.

LOL

Apparently so has the dirge of business and entrepreneurial education from our high school curricula.

[Typ0]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

if you were trying to have a discussion about law, politics or taxation then you would have an argument. But you aren't. You are talking about business and marketing which pretty much revolves around the MSA. The Jets and Giants play within the New York MSA. I am just clarifying what I said because I don't understand some of the responses.

Buffalo does not play in the NY MSA. I do not feel use of New York in their name would be appropriate when two teams already play in that MSA and they are actually located within it. The Census drives the MSAs there is plenty of information at census.gov.

[alnilla]

Re: How To Instantly Make The Buffalo Bills Worth More Than $1 Billion

And what, that isn't part of the NYC Metropolitan Statistical Area? Is that what you're trying to say?

Still play it in a different state.