Vic Carucci: Bills Have No Desire For A New Downtown Stadium In Foreseeable Future

[BillsImpossible]

I think this will make Deadspin, and most Bills fans very happy.

http://bills.buffalonews.com/2016/02/14/bills-politicians-on-same-page-with-new-stadium-talk/

But from every indication I've received from those at the top of the Bills' organization, there is virtually no desire to move forward at any time in the foreseeable future with plans to build a downtown palace of their own. Despite considerable speculation on that front, the idea hasn't been met with a whole lot of enthusiasm (http://bills.buffalonews.com/2015/07/30/pegula-on-new-bills-stadium-its-nothing-urgent-right-now/) from the Pegulas -- league pressure or not.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UiM2_Va8h-k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[coastal]

I guess oil prices bottoming out has put some pressures on their liquidity.

[Victor7]

The Ralph isn't that bad at all. I keep reading how its ****ty and what not. I mean its not like Jerry's monstrosity or Lucas Oil in Indy but its not bad at all. I've been to plenty of stadiums around the league and the difference, while existent, is not that big a deal.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

The Ralph isn't that bad at all. I keep reading how its ****ty and what not. I mean its not like Jerry's monstrosity or Lucas Oil in Indy but its not bad at all. I've been to plenty of stadiums around the league and the difference, while existent, is not that big a deal.

It had better be. Didn't they just finish a 9 figure renovation a few years ago?

[OpIv37]

The Ralph isn't that bad at all. I keep reading how its ****ty and what not. I mean its not like Jerry's monstrosity or Lucas Oil in Indy but its not bad at all. I've been to plenty of stadiums around the league and the difference, while existent, is not that big a deal.
I've said this before and I'll say it again:

The Ralph is a good stadium for true fans. It's cheap (by NFL standards), it's accessible, it has good sight lines, it's great for tailgating. But the NFL doesn't care about the die hard fans precisely because we are die hard. They know we are going to be there no matter what. They already have our money. They want the casual fans. They want to give people who aren't as into football a reason to go watch a game in mid-December when the team is 5-9.

The way to do that is to build a stadium with a lot of amenities that is close to bars, restaurants and shopping, so that's what the league cares about.

[Bill Cody]

The NFL could literally care less about the average fan. It's 110% about revenue streams and luxury boxes and the like. My personal feeling is the game experience is better at the Ralph than it would be in a new building downtown, tailgating is part of the game experience and that would be worse or non existent downtown. Traffic could be a lot worse depending on what infrastructure is added. It's tiresome to be honest to hear talk of how "dated" the Ralph is. It's a ****ing football stadium. It's like saying we have to tear down the Holiday Inn so we can put up the Ritz Carlton. Really?

[trapezeus]

I guess oil prices bottoming out has put some pressures on their liquidity.

why? he sold his reserves to be cash rich. he shouldn't be all natural gas reserve wealth now. Shell bought him out.

[more cowbell]

Ralph Wilson Stadium is a 100% accurate reflection of the Bills franchise.

Not the worst, but not even in the conversation when it comes to "very good" or "elite". It just exists, much like the football team. They just exist.

[BillsImpossible]

Ralph Wilson Stadium is a 100% accurate reflection of the Bills franchise.

Not the worst, but not even in the conversation when it comes to "very good" or "elite". It just exists, much like the football team. They just exist.

What more do you want out of a football stadium?

What makes other stadiums better?

[OpIv37]

Ralph Wilson Stadium is a 100% accurate reflection of the Bills franchise.

Not the worst, but not even in the conversation when it comes to "very good" or "elite". It just exists, much like the football team. They just exist.

I don't disagree with your assessment of the franchise.

But the "very good" or "elite" stadiums don't cater to true fans. They cater to casual fans with distractions that have nothing to do with the game on the field and to the wealthy who can afford luxury boxes and care more about showing off their wealth than the game on the field.

Give me good sight lines, decent audio, a good replay board and reasonable pisser lines. Everything else is just bull****.

[Night Train]

The Ralph is excellent. Non issue for now.

[YardRat]

I like the Ralph, personally. Not a bad seat in the house, and IMO the amenities aren't nearly as bad as some would like to make them out to be. But, then again, when I attend I go to watch a football game, I couldn't care less about higher end food options, a personal bidet, and valet parking.

[pmoon6]

I've said this before and I'll say it again:

The Ralph is a good stadium for true fans. It's cheap (by NFL standards), it's accessible, it has good sight lines, it's great for tailgating. But the NFL doesn't care about the die hard fans precisely because we are die hard. They know we are going to be there no matter what. They already have our money. They want the casual fans. They want to give people who aren't as into football a reason to go watch a game in mid-December when the team is 5-9.

The way to do that is to build a stadium with a lot of amenities that is close to bars, restaurants and shopping, so that's what the league cares about.Another reason the NFL loves the casual football "fan". They know little about the true game and are easily duped. When you see the systematic engineering that goes on or maybe just ultra incompetent officiating if you don't believe in such stuff, huge time gaps for injuries, replay and TV timeouts the game has become unwatchable unless you DVR it. I can cook a full blown dinner just going to the kitchen during commercial breaks. Maybe that's a good thing to some, but it takes the enjoyment out of it for me.

[Mace]

I like the Ralph, personally. Not a bad seat in the house, and IMO the amenities aren't nearly as bad as some would like to make them out to be. But, then again, when I attend I go to watch a football game, I couldn't care less about higher end food options, a personal bidet, and valet parking.

Top end stadiums offer personal grooming stations for those with luxurious locks.

And I have to disagree with you about personal bidets. I don't know what to do with them but they're cool and shoot water all over the place. Hold a waterproof light in there and you have personal dancing fountains like Las Vegas or something, though you get wet amusing yourself with them. If I could get some decent crepes while getting wet monkeying with a bidet knowing my bicycle was safe with a valet that would be the shiznit. I don't like them personal grooming stations though, unless maybe they had some of them free horse doovers and a free budweiser tall boy.

[YardRat]

Well, personal grooming stations for luxurious locks aren't an extravagance, they are a basic necessity.

[Mace]

Well, personal grooming stations for luxurious locks aren't an extravagance, they are a basic necessity.

Especially with them horse doovers and a bud tallboy, imho. I'd even groom myself then, sort of.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Well, personal grooming stations for luxurious locks aren't an extravagance, they are a basic necessity.

Nay, they are a human right!

http://i.imgur.com/k2ViXm1.jpg

[Turf]

If the local fans are OK with the stadium, why should the NFL care? When you watch a game on TV from Buffalo you see a perfect field and 75000 screaming maniacs. Why do they need to show some monstrous venue? The looks of a dome stadium from the outside don't turn me on. When I watch football from other cities I'm looking for how many empty seats there are. That should be the NFL's only concern.

[OpIv37]

If the local fans are OK with the stadium, why should the NFL care? When you watch a game on TV from Buffalo you see a perfect field and 75000 screaming maniacs. Why do they need to show some monstrous venue? The looks of a dome stadium from the outside don't turn me on. When I watch football from other cities I'm looking for how many empty seats there are. That should be the NFL's only concern.

I'll tell you why the NFL cares: the "NFL" really means the owners. The league has a revenue sharing agreement. Luxury box revenue counts towards a team's earnings but isn't shares. So, if a team like Buffalo can make more money on its own, then the top 1/3 teams in terms of earnings will have to share less money.

So, the Snyder/Kraft/Jones types want the small market teams to make more money. They don't care about the fan experience or the local taxpayer or the product on the field. Just money.

[Ingtar33]

The Ralph isn't that bad at all. I keep reading how its ****ty and what not. I mean its not like Jerry's monstrosity or Lucas Oil in Indy but its not bad at all. I've been to plenty of stadiums around the league and the difference, while existent, is not that big a deal.

I'm going to keep the bathrooms out of the conversation -

having been in most NFL stadiums and many college stadiums, including the Ralph after it's latest renovation I can say there is nothing wrong with the current ralph. The parking is the best point for it, and if you like the frathouse atmosphere of the talgating the ralph actually is fairly high ranked (most NFL teams have enough "on site" parking which are under the NFL's anti-tailgating regulations); I would hate to see the Bills move to a site where the only allowed tailgating is in a cordoned off section, which you have to pay for before the season, It never feels like football in those "tailgating" sections.

[Mace]

I'm going to keep the bathrooms out of the conversation -

You'd change your tune if you spent time making dancing fountains with a personal bidet and a waterproof light, let me tell you.

[Historian]

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfl1/t31.0-8/12747243_10208252400004790_6526211974040591427_o.jpghttps://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpl1/t31.0-8/12764496_10208252399564779_2776309678493628583_o.jpg

[Historian]

I shot these photos on 11/9/13, the day my nephew's team made it to the Ralph. (and won)

Granted, this was before the remodel, but it's this type of cement decay that worries me. You can add all the concession stands and toilets you want, but is this stadium structurally sound as we approach 2023?

I dunno, it's just some food for thought.

I like the Ralph. And given all the land it sits on, its almost hard to imaging why there were no adjoining restaurants...or hotels built on the property over the last 45 years. Seems to me it would have been a gold mine.

[YardRat]

Maybe the OP school taxes are a factor in that.

[BillsImpossible]

I shot these photos on 11/9/13, the day my nephew's team made it to the Ralph. (and won)

Granted, this was before the remodel, but it's this type of cement decay that worries me. You can add all the concession stands and toilets you want, but is this stadium structurally sound as we approach 2023?

I dunno, it's just some food for thought.

I like the Ralph. And given all the land it sits on, its almost hard to imaging why there were no adjoining restaurants...or hotels built on the property over the last 45 years. Seems to me it would have been a gold mine.

The reason why there are so few surrounding businesses is because of New York's communist government that makes starting a business and hiring people look like a type of punishment the State must inflict upon people that dare to do so, instead of rewarding them for taking a risk and being successful.

Property taxes are sky high because the biggest employer in Erie County is the State of New York, followed by the Federal Government, followed by the Buffalo City Schools, followed by Erie County itself.

It's one never ending government paycheck after another that taxpayers in New York have to pay in order to keep the fat ass government and their perks alive.

Andrew Cuomo is talking about a $15 minimum wage across the State of New York. He's nuts.

The man has no clue. All he does is play Santa Claus politics, and carry the establishment torch in NY.

Buffalo and Niagara Falls city politics have been absolutely dominated by Democrats for over the last half century.

The only real sense of 'change,' came from a businessman that was born in Pennsylvania and made a fortune off of his Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering.

New York doesn't like that, such a thing might cause too many long standing government planted and protected trees to be cut down.

They want people to have dependence upon government jobs, not independence with the private sector. Cuomo may as well be Castro.

Niagara Falls should be a gold mine too, but it has the same political plum problems.

How in the name of Baby Jesus could NYS F up Niagara Falls?

Political insanity. People in WNY keep electing democrats over and over and over again expecting different results.

[Turf]

Not to mention for the last 50+ years Niagara falls has housed the largest conglomerate of chemical factories that have dumped organic chemicals into the mouth of one of the worlds largest resources of fresh water for decades.