New stadium rumors

[WagonCircler]

Re: New stadium rumors

We are talking about catering to 18% of the fan base? The majority of the fan base is in the city.

Where does that number come from?

I don't think anywhere close to a majority is in the city. And unlike many fan bases, I think we are in odd situation in that Buffalo isn't even the geographic center of the fan base.

Once you go west, into Ohio and PA, the overwhelming number of Steelers fans and generations of Browns fans makes Bills fans rare. I would think that the majority of Bills fans are in all of the suburbs, in every direction (obviously there are no due west suburbs in Lake Erie) and eastward, as well as northward in Southern Ontario.

I'd personally like to see the stadium, provided that we actually get one, very close to Downtown, but I don't think there's one Bills fan in WNY would would consider any of the sites being discussed in this thread as a deal breaker.

I can't imagine even one serious person who doesn't have some kind of agenda (i.e. passive aggressive Canadians who really want the Bills to move to Toronto but pretend otherwise) who would rather see the Bills go away rather than see them in Batavia or Lancaster or Niagara Falls.

If we actually get a new stadium, that means we have a new, local owner committed to keeping the team here for at least 20 or 30 years. And if that's the case, I don't care if they build it on Jefferson and Best streets or the freaking Love Canal, I'll just be happy to have the Sword of Damocles no longer hanging above our heads.

So and comments like "Batavia would be ******ed" of "F - - - Pembroke" are....******ed.

[better days]

Re: New stadium rumors

Places I'd be good with:

1. Outer Harbor Area where the old Pier used to be
2. La Salle Park (loved playing softball there back in the 90s but there are plenty of other places to play)
3. Squaw Island
4. West end of Tonawanda north of where the 290 hits the 190 (near 2 Mile Creek Rd)
5. Right where it is
6. Niagara Falls

There are flaws in all of these, but that's the list as I see it.

I think moving towards Rochester is pointless. If you want a suburban stadium, just spend $400 million and renovate the Ralph. If we're building new, it has to be near a better draw/higher density area.

I don't think anyone could come up with a worse list of sites in Western New York than the above list.

[better days]

Re: New stadium rumors

This is such a dumb debate. The stadium belongs in Downtown Buffalo. That's what real cities do. We are talking about catering to 18% of the fan base? The majority of the fan base is in the city. Yes traffic and parking is bad but you revitalize a city through making a move like putting the stadium downtown. No one wants to come to Orchard Park. Why would they want to come to an equally unattractive place like Batavie or the American side of the falls?

Cheektowaga alone has a greater population than the City of Buffalo.

Add in West Seneca, Depew /Lancaster, Orchard Park, Amherst, ETC., The Suburbs DWARF the City of Buffalo in population & the number of Bills fans.

[Skooby]

Re: New stadium rumors

Cheektowaga alone has a greater population than the City of Buffalo.

Add in West Seneca, Depew /Lancaster, Orchard Park, Amherst, ETC., The Suburbs DWARF the City of Buffalo in population & the number of Bills fans.

How many of those folks in Cheektowaga have eaten at Captain's cove , bought Scheafers light from Fays drug store, danced at Club Otto's, ate pudding at Lums ? That's what I want to know.

[BertSquirtgum]

Re: New stadium rumors

How many of those folks in Cheektowaga have eaten at Captain's cove , bought Scheafers light from Fays drug store, danced at Club Otto's, ate pudding at Lums ? That's what I want to know.

What the **** does it matter?

[Skooby]

Re: New stadium rumors

What the **** does it matter?

It's all relative to Cheektowagonians.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Re: New stadium rumors

Where does that number come from?

I don't think anywhere close to a majority is in the city. And unlike many fan bases, I think we are in odd situation in that Buffalo isn't even the geographic center of the fan base.

Once you go west, into Ohio and PA, the overwhelming number of Steelers fans and generations of Browns fans makes Bills fans rare. I would think that the majority of Bills fans are in all of the suburbs, in every direction (obviously there are no due west suburbs in Lake Erie) and eastward, as well as northward in Southern Ontario.

I'd personally like to see the stadium, provided that we actually get one, very close to Downtown, but I don't think there's one Bills fan in WNY would would consider any of the sites being discussed in this thread as a deal breaker.

I can't imagine even one serious person who doesn't have some kind of agenda (i.e. passive aggressive Canadians who really want the Bills to move to Toronto but pretend otherwise) who would rather see the Bills go away rather than see them in Batavia or Lancaster or Niagara Falls.

If we actually get a new stadium, that means we have a new, local owner committed to keeping the team here for at least 20 or 30 years. And if that's the case, I don't care if they build it on Jefferson and Best streets or the freaking Love Canal, I'll just be happy to have the Sword of Damocles no longer hanging above our heads.

So and comments like "Batavia would be ******ed" of "F - - - Pembroke" are....******ed.

You are right. The geographic middle would be North in Niagara Falls, which is why I would understand building it there.

Building it in the middle of freaking nowhere with absolutely nothing around it just seems foolish.

I prefer Downtown Buffalo of course. No city with a downtown stadium has easy access in and out on game day. Why even discuss that matter. Of course getting in and out will be hard. I would hope a downtown stadium would include a more revamped trolly/Metrorail system.

Building a stadium in a tiny town like Batavia would just be VERY odd. While the stadium committe certainly needs to explore all possibilities I would throw out a guarantee it will not be in Batavia because as stated it is in the middle of nowhere, and further away from the geographic middle of the fan base.

[better days]

Re: New stadium rumors

You are right. The geographic middle would be North in Niagara Falls, which is why I would understand building it there.

Building it in the middle of freaking nowhere with absolutely nothing around it just seems foolish.

I prefer Downtown Buffalo of course. No city with a downtown stadium has easy access in and out on game day. Why even discuss that matter. Of course getting in and out will be hard. I would hope a downtown stadium would include a more revamped trolly/Metrorail system.

Building a stadium in a tiny town like Batavia would just be VERY odd. While the stadium committe certainly needs to explore all possibilities I would throw out a guarantee it will not be in Batavia because as stated it is in the middle of nowhere, and further away from the geographic middle of the fan base.

Well, I don't think Batavia would be any more odd than building a Stadium in the booming metropolis of Foxborough.

I think the over riding factor in choosing a new site should be ease of access for the greatest number of fans.

I think mass transit would be great, but that is a huge expense to add to the Stadium bill.

Niagara Falls would be a difficult ride for anyone not living in Niagara County.

The outer Harbor in Buffalo has LIMITED access.

I think Lancaster or Batavia would make most sense for the most people to get to the game fast & easy.

Orchard Park & Downtown would be next on my list.

[Mr. Pink]

Re: New stadium rumors

Explain what your statement has to do with this current situation.

Shows that Buffalo itself wasn't a prime choice 40 years ago to build the stadium and sets precedent for them to build a stadium outside of the city again.

Also it devalues your idiotic statement a little.

If the goal is to regionalize the team, and who knows if that's the case anymore or would be the case with a new owner, then building outward towards Canada or Rochester would make more sense than putting the stadium in Downtown or the South Towns.

[Fletch]

Re: New stadium rumors

I'm so glad the article mentions Batavia. I've been screaming for that for 10 years.

Buy Batavia Downs. Raze it. Build Ralph II. Better yet, Rich II. Or Pegula Stadium.

It's prefect. Easily accessible from the NYS Thruway. Rochester and Syracuse are far more interesting markets to cultivate than Canada, IMO.

Raise the speed limit to 75 mph, done and done.

This by far makes the most sense and isn't much further for Canadian fans and is still easy to access. Parking would be so much easier, better, faster, etc. In fact, they could build a special access ramp to the Thruway just for events and games.

There's also rural Rt. 20.

I think that they're too late on this though, the economy in NYS has dropped like a lead balloon over the last five years and is getting worse by the nano-second.

Either way, it does make the most sense of all proposals, draws Rochester right into the mix full instead of half-tilt, and even opens up the drive from Syracuse and points east far more substantially.

[Fletch]

Re: New stadium rumors

Orchard Park & Downtown would be next on my list.

Downtown makes about as much sense as everyone that thought that a Bass Pro Shops would stimulate the economy in Buffalo.

Cutting taxes would stimulate the economy in WNY and NYS in general, but the state is in a self-fulfilling-prophecy style death spiral in that regard.

The whole "downtown Buffalo" thing sounds nice in theory but will never happen.

[Fletch]

Re: New stadium rumors

Building a stadium in a tiny town like Batavia would just be VERY odd. While the stadium committe certainly needs to explore all possibilities I would throw out a guarantee it will not be in Batavia because as stated it is in the middle of nowhere, and further away from the geographic middle of the fan base.

Not true, for many Buffalonians the trip to where Darian Lakes is is no farther than OP, or not significantly so.

You also fail to mention how much closer it is for Rochestarians and particularly those from Syracuse, who could shave about 45 minutes off of their over-two-hour drive time to make it a far more reasonable 80-90 minutes.

Even Ithaca and Binghamptom become reasonable at that point.

For Canadians crossing at either Lewiston or NF there's all but no perceptible difference except that the drive to Darian Lakes would be much easier and more rural.

For those in Lockport, Tonawanda, and Amherst I also see no perceptible difference.

[Fletch]

Re: New stadium rumors

By the way, it's 25 miles exactly from Exit 50 of I-90 to Darian Lake. That's 20 minutes at 75.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Re: New stadium rumors

Shows that Buffalo itself wasn't a prime choice 40 years ago to build the stadium and sets precedent for them to build a stadium outside of the city again.

Also it devalues your idiotic statement a little.

If the goal is to regionalize the team, and who knows if that's the case anymore or would be the case with a new owner, then building outward towards Canada or Rochester would make more sense than putting the stadium in Downtown or the South Towns.

Why would we care about 40 years ago though and why would it have any bearing on the topic at hand?

[better days]

Re: New stadium rumors

Downtown makes about as much sense as everyone that thought that a Bass Pro Shops would stimulate the economy in Buffalo.

Cutting taxes would stimulate the economy in WNY and NYS in general, but the state is in a self-fulfilling-prophecy style death spiral in that regard.

The whole "downtown Buffalo" thing sounds nice in theory but will never happen.

I think Lancaster or Batavia make the most sense, but Downtown is a much better option than the outer harbor or the Falls IMO.