What would a move to rochester do for the Bills?

[ICE74129]

It is possible that a move there can attract more fans from the Eastern part of the state?

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

Would they become an Arena Football II team?

[Mudflap1]

C'mon man. That wouldn't do anything. If they move, they are going to MOVE...

Jon

[ICE74129]

Just a thought. I have heard many from that area say that ticket sales might increase

[RedEyE]

If they moved more East, say East of Roch-cha-cha, they might gain more New York fans, but lose some Canadian and and WNY fans. And it still doesn't solve their small market problems. If anything it creates more.

However, I was thinking a move to Albany may create a larger fan base from VT, Connecticut, Western Mass & W New Hamshire, as well as the old fan base from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse etc. It could also attract some corporate business out of NYC, Hartford, Albany, Rutland, Montpileir etc.


..but they would still lose a great amount of traffic from Canada.

[THATHURMANATOR]

It is possible that a move there can attract more fans from the Eastern part of the state?
What would be the point of moving to Rochester less than an hour away?

[ICE74129]

If they moved more East, say East of Roch-cha-cha, they might gain more New York fans, but lose some Canadian and and WNY fans. And it still doesn't solve their small market problems. If anything it creates more.

However, I was thinking a move to Albany may create a larger fan base from VT, Connecticut, Western Mass & W New Hamshire, as well as the old fan base from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse etc. It could also attract some corporate business out of NYC, Hartford, Albany, Rutland, Montpileir etc.


..but they would still lose a great amount of traffic from Canada.


Good point. I would like to see more business support from those areas.

[Mr. Pink]

Moving in-state wise...I'd say the closest they could stay and legitimately attract more fans would be Syracuse. Just my opinion.

[The_Philster]

They wouldn't be the Buffalo Bills then :cynic:

[OpIv37]

Moving to Rochester wouldn't help. But putting a stadium East of Buffalo would- it would be easier for Rochester fans to get to the games and after the games, the Buffalo/Canada people could go west and the Rochester people could go East- as opposed to now where everyone has to go in the same direction....

[Bombdiggity]

If they moved more East, say East of Roch-cha-cha, they might gain more New York fans, but lose some Canadian and and WNY fans. And it still doesn't solve their small market problems. If anything it creates more.

However, I was thinking a move to Albany may create a larger fan base from VT, Connecticut, Western Mass & W New Hamshire, as well as the old fan base from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse etc. It could also attract some corporate business out of NYC, Hartford, Albany, Rutland, Montpileir etc.


..but they would still lose a great amount of traffic from Canada.

i would die if that happened. I'd defintly be a season ticket holder. Although I think that would be a little far fetched as Albany has a population less than 100k and it been relitivly close to NYC which is really good but its also a catch 22. NYC is mostly Giants and Jets fans. I dont think the move would solve money problems to make it worth it.

[Bill Brasky]

What would be the point of moving to Rochester less than an hour away?

I've had numerous threads about this.

Rochester serves as a neutrality point for the entire region. It would make it easier for all fans to get to the games, it would stabilize the fanbase, IMO.

Being in Buffalo, people have to haul ass all the way from the central, eastern, and other western parts of the state. In Rochester, the team is accessible to most fans within an hour/ hour and a half drive. I think it could work, but it has obvious downfalls like the whole "Canadian traffic" bs... plain and simple if you are a fan you will find a way to add the extra 50 minutes or so to get to the game. People have been doing it for years.

I don't like the idea of moving the team to Albany. Why do they deserve a team? That city is in worse shape than Syracuse, and Albany is the main reason why WNY is a complete mess. Why reward the state that has **** on the entire WNY region for years by moving one of the assets we have left to their territory. I'd rather see the team move the LA than Albany. That place can rot and sink into the Hudson along with NYC for all I care.

[ICE74129]

They wouldn't be the Buffalo Bills then :cynic: Well you could have the New york Bills or the LA bills. It is getting closer to it being one of those.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Moving to Rochester wouldn't help. But putting a stadium East of Buffalo would- it would be easier for Rochester fans to get to the games and after the games, the Buffalo/Canada people could go west and the Rochester people could go East- as opposed to now where everyone has to go in the same direction....
Agreed!

[THATHURMANATOR]

I've had numerous threads about this.

Rochester serves as a neutrality point for the entire region. It would make it easier for all fans to get to the games, it would stabilize the fanbase, IMO.

Being in Buffalo, people have to haul ass all the way from the central, eastern, and other western parts of the state. In Rochester, the team is accessible to most fans within an hour/ hour and a half drive. I think it could work, but it has obvious downfalls like the whole "Canadian traffic" bs... plain and simple if you are a fan you will find a way to add the extra 50 minutes or so to get to the game. People have been doing it for years.

I don't like the idea of moving the team to Albany. Why do they deserve a team? That city is in worse shape than Syracuse, and Albany is the main reason why WNY is a complete mess. Why reward the state that has **** on the entire WNY region for years by moving one of the assets we have left to their territory. I'd rather see the team move the LA than Albany. That place can rot and sink into the Hudson along with NYC for all I care.
What are you talking about? Toronto is by far the biggest city closet to Buffalo. Why move farther away? To get all the people from that bustling metropolis Syracuse??? How bout Albany??? Not to mention Rochester is a smaller city itself. Moving the Bills to Rochester would be nothing short of idiotic.

[THATHURMANATOR]

If they moved more East, say East of Roch-cha-cha, they might gain more New York fans, but lose some Canadian and and WNY fans. And it still doesn't solve their small market problems. If anything it creates more.

However, I was thinking a move to Albany may create a larger fan base from VT, Connecticut, Western Mass & W New Hamshire, as well as the old fan base from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse etc. It could also attract some corporate business out of NYC, Hartford, Albany, Rutland, Montpileir etc.


..but they would still lose a great amount of traffic from Canada.
Red Rochester is less than an hour away. I don't think it would have any effect on gaining NYC fans. How many people are even in Syracuse?

[THATHURMANATOR]

Well you could have the New york Bills or the LA bills. It is getting closer to it being one of those.
There is 0 chance they would move anywhere but LA.

[BADTHINGSMAN]

Monroe County couldnt even afford to keep a boat they wanted, not a chance they could afford an NFL franchise..

It would be a closer drive for me though..

[Bill Brasky]

sorry, but i don't really see many toronto people going to games... and the ones that do, do nothing except ***** about how bad traffic is... poor guys gotta sit in in for what, 2 hours... what's an extra 50 minutes?

[THATHURMANATOR]

I guess you don't sit in my section where there are almost as many canadians as Buffalonians....

[realdealryan]

Rochester?

Isn't there another way to keep the team? Here in Indy I woke up one day and the owner is crying and the mayor is crying and the governor is crying and then all of the sudden they have a big plan for a multi-use dome with power windows and a big racing sponsor.

YEAH OOPS the county I know I know...

[Ebenezer]

Rochester is poorer than Buffalo. Why would they move there?

[socalfan]

....................... Why is it again that Ralph won't sell some naming rights?


Shouldn't the stadium owner do that? If so, that surely isn't Ralph!

[realdealryan]

Yeah I'm a moron. I guess I just don't understand fully why there isn't a big name sponsor on the place.

[Jan Reimers]

I still believe the Bills will stay in Buffalo. Our problems are no worse than any other small market team, and I'm hoping that a local owner or ownership group - perhaps the Jacobs (Delaware North Companies), the Rich family and/or Tom Golisano - will step up and buy the team.

With the City of Buffalo undergoing a major rebirth, from the Inner and Outer Harbors to the Casino, the restoration of several architectural treasures, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and more, there will be a real effort to keep the team here.

It would be a shame to lose the Bills now. I predict they will stay and eventually play in a new downtown waterfront stadium.

[The_Philster]

Yeah I'm a moron. I guess I just don't understand fully why there isn't a big name sponsor on the place.
Ralph has stated he feels that the NFL has become too corporate..ignoring the dignity and history of the game

[dannyek71]

batavia maybe, but that would be it

[don137]

East of Buffalo but no further east than Batavia would attract more Syracuse and Rochester fans and not really effect people from the Buffalo area too much. It would hurt people like Phil that are from the southern tier as well as people from Erie, Fredonia, etc. but the Bills know their is a bigger fan base east of Buffalo than to the south west or north as shown by moving the training camp a couple years ago. No way move to Albany. You lose way too many fans from western NY and the fans there are already fans of the New Jersey teams especially the Giants since hey hold training camp there.

[Historian]

I still believe the Bills will stay in Buffalo. Our problems are no worse than any other small market team, and I'm hoping that a local owner or ownership group - perhaps the Jacobs (Delaware North Companies), the Rich family and/or Tom Golisano - will step up and buy the team.

With the City of Buffalo undergoing a major rebirth, from the Inner and Outer Harbors to the Casino, the restoration of several architectural treasures, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and more, there will be a real effort to keep the team here.

It would be a shame to lose the Bills now. I predict they will stay and eventually play in a new downtown waterfront stadium.

I agree.

[EricStratton]

batavia maybe, but that would be it



Batavia Downs would be the perfect location. I've been saying that for years now.

[Ebenezer]

I'm hoping that a local owner or ownership group - perhaps the Jacobs (Delaware North Companies), the Rich family and/or Tom Golisano - will step up and buy the team.

It will take all of them combined and more...and then hopefully they do not get outbid by another group. I believe the NFL must look for suitable ownership here. I don't believe that they "have to" accept a bid from a local group if they are outbid by another group.


With the City of Buffalo undergoing a major rebirth, from the Inner and Outer Harbors to the Casino, the restoration of several architectural treasures, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and more, there will be a real effort to keep the team here.

I live here...I do not see the supposed "rebirth".


It would be a shame to lose the Bills now. I predict they will stay and eventually play in a new downtown waterfront stadium.

Only if the state ponies up hundreds of millions of dollars.

It might sound as if I believe the Bills will be gone when RW dies...it is because I believe that the Bills will be gone when RW dies.

[EricStratton]

I don't think the NFL or the Gov's office will allow the State of NY to have no NFL teams.

With the Jets moving everything to Jersey the State will have no tax money from or ties to the NFL if the Bills move as well so I see an incentive for the league and the state to keep them here.

They may not be in OP in 10 years but I think they will be in WNY.

[Mitchy moo]

Just a thought. I have heard many from that area say that ticket sales might increase

Let me guess, you live near rochester right?

We sold out a majority of the games in the past few years, how many more tickets are you going to sell?

[justasportsfan]

Rochester has one of the most diverse fan base. Not everyone here are bills fans. As a matter of fact, there's tons of finfans here.

[Saratoga Slim]

I've had numerous threads about this.

Rochester serves as a neutrality point for the entire region. It would make it easier for all fans to get to the games, it would stabilize the fanbase, IMO.

Being in Buffalo, people have to haul ass all the way from the central, eastern, and other western parts of the state. In Rochester, the team is accessible to most fans within an hour/ hour and a half drive. I think it could work, but it has obvious downfalls like the whole "Canadian traffic" bs... plain and simple if you are a fan you will find a way to add the extra 50 minutes or so to get to the game. People have been doing it for years.

I don't like the idea of moving the team to Albany. Why do they deserve a team? That city is in worse shape than Syracuse, and Albany is the main reason why WNY is a complete mess. Why reward the state that has **** on the entire WNY region for years by moving one of the assets we have left to their territory. I'd rather see the team move the LA than Albany. That place can rot and sink into the Hudson along with NYC for all I care.


I live in Saratoga Springs (1/2 hour north of albany). I'd love to drive a half hour to Bills games instead of five. But the Bills have got to be in B-lo. just wouldn't be the same team without the wind whipping off the lake in late november.

OBD just has to get a little more creative to maximize the available revenue streams. putting training camp in Rochester was a perfect example.

[Bulldog]

Rochester is poorer than Buffalo. Why would they move there?

Funny that a guy from poor Rochester had to bail the Sabres out of bankruptcy. That being said, moving the team to Rochester would not really help at all.

[rocketman]

I have lived in Rochester for 15 years, and I can say without a doubt, that there is no way we could support the BB. However, I do think that more people would travel to the games if a new stadium was built in downtown Buffalo.

Just a thought.

[Michael82]

I have lived in Rochester for 15 years, and I can say without a doubt, that there is no way we could support the BB. However, I do think that more people would travel to the games if a new stadium was built in downtown Buffalo.

Just a thought.
Downtown Buffalo makes no sense for people outside of Buffalo, it takes longer to get to and the traffic would be a nightmare for us out of towners.

[Bill Brasky]

I don't get the traffic issue at all. THERE IS NO TRAFFIC PROBLEM IN BUFFALO. I don't remember the last time I had to sit and wait to go somewhere in town... after a Bills game, Sabres game, Bisons game, out and about...

You guys need to get real. Waiting in traffic for 10 minutes and you act like babies!

I am in my car, on the road, and out of traffic within 10 minutes after games are done at the Ralph. Hell sometimes I even drive down 20A and there are no problems. Put a new stadium right by the thruway. You guys act like it's a chore to make a couple turns and wait for a red light to get on the expressway.

[The_Philster]

Yeah, if you leave right at the end of the game and after you get to the car, there's little traffic..try hanging out for a few minutes in most lots...takes a while to get out of there. I don't even try leaving til almost 6pm after a 1pm kickoff

[Bill Brasky]

Yeah, if you leave right at the end of the game and after you get to the car, there's little traffic..try hanging out for a few minutes in most lots...takes a while to get out of there. I don't even try leaving til almost 6pm after a 1pm kickoff

I've stayed til 5 and not had a problem. 6 is a breeze. No offense, but I don't think you guys have a grasp on what traffic problems are. Maybe my sense of gridlock is different than yours. But if my short-tempered ass can handle traffic I think anyone can.

You guys cannot have your cake and eat it to. With city life, city ammenities, comes city issues. You want a new stadium, you want it in a downtown area, you're going to have to deal w/ traffic - plain and simple. You want your stadium in the middle of nowhere or out in the suburbs, deal with the 1-lane roads. It's like that with every other venue in the country.

The traffic getting to and out of HSBC and The Ralph is some of the best I've ever been around. You guys are making big issues out of little problems that most other metro areas have to deal with on a grander scale.

[The_Philster]

Maybe it's your lot, then..or maybe it's Lot 1 that the traffic is really bad :idunno:

[Bill Brasky]

maybe. I always park in the grass by the field house... they let you in as early as you want, it's right next to the stadium, and it's the same price and same parking capacity, but I've never had a problem getting out or in... we were usually teh first people there between 630-730 on gamedays. Plus it's better than any of the stadium lots, atmosphere-wise, IMO :up:

[The_Philster]

We have the Pinto in Lot 1...I'll take that anytime :D

[Bill Brasky]

I used to go in the RV lot and we'd cram 10-15 of us in a RV for the day. Those were fun times. I like the grass lot we go to now, though. I met a ton of cool people and the tailgating was great... plus the players drive right past us to get into the stadium... and you don't have to wait until 9 to get to a parking spot - stupidest rule the NFL has.

[The_Philster]

It's actually not the NFL.....it's some jackass on the Erie County Council...it's an NFL rule that not al teams enforce...supposedly this guy claims that it costs the county more money to police the lots if they're opened earlier...course he completely ignores the fact that the police are along the roads keeping people from parking in the center of the road waiting to get in the lots..:cynic:

[Bill Brasky]

really? I thought it was a league-wide rule. If not, then that is complete BS. The cops are already there patrolling the area when I get there at 7.

[The_Philster]

Lots open at 6am Pacific Time in San Diego for a 1:15 kickoff

[mr nyjet]

There is 0 chance they would move anywhere but LA.

there are other places, but la is the most probable.

no other place in new york is even remotely possible.:bullseye:

[mr nyjet]

Rochester is poorer than Buffalo. Why would they move there?

you have that backwards! just ask any sabres fan.:bullseye:

[Bill Brasky]

Lots open at 6am Pacific Time in San Diego for a 1:15 kickoff

WTF?! That is BS. I didn't know this was the case... we should be causing a stink, considering we are suppossedly one of the best tailgating scenes in the NFL.

[The_Philster]

We need to get that moron out of office...it's severely cramping our tailgate time :down:

[Bill Brasky]

We need to get that moron out of office...it's severely cramping our tailgate time :down:

Yeah him and everybody else... like that dickface Giambra...

Yo, what is the deal with the liquor laws on Sundays? I was told that they lifted them, but I got denied several times last year trying to buy on Sundays before 1.

[The_Philster]

Before 1 now? I thought it was before noon :idunno:

[Bill Brasky]

Before 1 now? I thought it was before noon :idunno:

I don't know, I never knew what time it was, because I alwasy bought the night before.

[Mr. Pink]

See Freeman, most people around here have only lived here and have NO idea what real traffic is. Go through LA where it can be like 3am and there's more traffic than here through what we consider "rush hour." Or try to navigate Chicago rush hour traffic, or when there is a Cubs and Sox game at the same time....or throw a Bulls/Hawks game in with it.

[HHURRICANE]

If they moved more East, say East of Roch-cha-cha, they might gain more New York fans, but lose some Canadian and and WNY fans. And it still doesn't solve their small market problems. If anything it creates more.

However, I was thinking a move to Albany may create a larger fan base from VT, Connecticut, Western Mass & W New Hamshire, as well as the old fan base from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse etc. It could also attract some corporate business out of NYC, Hartford, Albany, Rutland, Montpileir etc.


..but they would still lose a great amount of traffic from Canada.

What?!! They are all Giants and Patriots fans. Albany?!! What are you smoking man? They almost put the Pats stadium in Hartford. I lived there and if your not a Pats fan you are a Giants fan. Stay in Buffalo.