Do You Really Want A New Stadium With A Dome?

[BillsImpossible]

I no longer want a new stadium, but if a new stadium is built the last thing the Bills need is a dome on top of it.

After going to the game last week against the Packers, I've had a change of heart.

The atmosphere was electric prior to, during, and after the Bills won.

Even the cheeseheads were impressed.

"This is what football is all about," a cheesehead said to me as we all stood around a fire drinking beer and eating homemade stew.

Packers fans felt right at home in OP.

The same kind of game day experience can not be replicated in downtown Buffalo.

There's something about being outside in the middle of country/rural land in Orchard Park. It's open, not closed in. It's a big space to work with and has served the WNY community very well over many years. It works well, very well!

The local police in Orchard Park and Sheriffs Dept. have been working Bills games for a long time and do a damn good job of making sure everyone has a good time and gets home safe. They know how to turn a blind eye in the right situations for the sake of keeping the peace and standing for freedom in America. Orchard Park is not a Nanny State.

Walking down the street on Southwestern Blvd. with beers in our hands, the police stood on the corner watching us go by freely, and I said to myself, "Thank God, America's still alive."

What would the police do in Buffalo?

Makes the average fan that goes to 1 or 2 games a year wonder, "Do I want to go to a game in downtown Buffalo? Will my car get stolen? Will I get ticketed for drinking my Molson Golden?"

Back to the Golden Dome.

If the Bills played the Packers last Sunday under the cozy comfort of a dome, I honestly don't think the Bills win that game.

It wasn't the weather, it was the atmosphere. Domes are a buzz killer. They're loud, but CenturyLink Field is louder without one.

Football was and still is meant to be played outside.

Retractable roofs are a cop-out. It's cold and rainy. Close the roof. Really?

Who are we? The Miami Dolphins?

What do the Packers, Giants, Patriots, Steelers, *Cowboys, Ravens, and Broncos all have in common besides multiple Super Bowl wins?

They all play in outdoor stadiums. Asterisk next to the Cowboys, Jerryland is a wannabe dome. Good.

Domes spell doom to me. Maybe that's why the Vikings chose to build a new outdoor stadium?

Atlanta plays in a dome. Not good.

Detroit plays in a dome. Not good.

Peyton Manning played in a dome stadium most of his career, and has 1 less Super Bowl than his brother even though he's the best quarterback ever.

Teams that have played under a dome haven't had any success in the NFL until the Saints and Colts won the Super Bowl, and that was almost 10 years ago.

I really wonder what the fans of the Buffalo Bills think about building a new stadium now that we've had a full 8 game home season at RWS.

If the people of Erie County could vote between keeping the Ralph or building a new stadium downtown, I think most people would keep the Ralph.

[OpIv37]

do I want a downtown dome stadium, meaning me personally?

No.

But you, me and the other people here are the diehard Bills fans. We'd watch them play in a high school stadium with metal bleachers in a blizzard if we could drink in the parking lot before the game started. We don't care about any of the frills. A decent view, a nice replay board, and we're happy.

The problem is that the NFL and the team aren't trying to market to us. They're trying to get more casual fans to show up when the team is losing. They're trying to get wives/girlfriends to be willing to go to the game with their man. And most importantly, they're trying to sell luxury boxes.

Open air stadiums in the middle of nowhere don't do that.

I'd be happy with an open air stadium in the same spot but the economics of the league have changed and it simply won't work.

[Scumbag College]

Dome or no dome it's all about luxury and corporate boxes if you are talking a new stadium.

[BillsImpossible]

do I want a downtown dome stadium, meaning me personally?

No.

But you, me and the other people here are the diehard Bills fans. We'd watch them play in a high school stadium with metal bleachers in a blizzard if we could drink in the parking lot before the game started. We don't care about any of the frills. A decent view, a nice replay board, and we're happy.

The problem is that the NFL and the team aren't trying to market to us. They're trying to get more casual fans to show up when the team is losing. They're trying to get wives/girlfriends to be willing to go to the game with their man. And most importantly, they're trying to sell luxury boxes.

Open air stadiums in the middle of nowhere don't do that.

I'd be happy with an open air stadium in the same spot but the economics of the league have changed and it simply won't work.

When you say, "it," won't work, what is, "it?"

[OpIv37]

When you say, "it," won't work, what is, "it?"

An open air stadium in the middle of nowhere.

I think a downtown dome is the most likely to be economically viable.

[Novacane]

Yes. I want a dome.

[BillsImpossible]

Dome or no dome it's all about luxury and corporate boxes if you are talking a new stadium.

If a new stadium is built in downtown Buffalo, is Terry Pegula going to pull a magic wand out of his ass and fill corporate luxury boxes with businesses and fans that don't exist?

A new stadium needs new forms of revenue to pay for it. The corporate dollars aren't there, and a new stadium isn't going to magically create something out of nothing.

Fans that sit in the 200 level, "Club Section," at Ralph Wilson Stadium are the red seats that are often more than half empty, but they don't count as official seats to be a sellout.

These are premium tickets that go for about $100 a game, with heated seats, heat lamps above, a huge bar, and basically no wait time to take a leak, but the Bills still can't sell those seats out.

The market dictates.

[OpIv37]

If a new stadium is built in downtown Buffalo, is Terry Pegula going to pull a magic wand out of his ass and fill corporate luxury boxes with businesses and fans that don't exist?
.

he's gonna have to if he wants the team to remain economically viable in Buffalo.

[BillsImpossible]

he's gonna have to if he wants the team to remain economically viable in Buffalo.

Economic viability is what the Ralph is all about.

I don't think the average fan can afford $200 per ticket seats in Buffalo and PSL fees on top of it to pay for a new toy we don't really need.

Goodell says we really need a new stadium, but now that Terry and Kim Pegula are in charge I don't think what the Commissioner says matters any more.

[BillsImpossible]

If I was Terry or Kim Pegula, I'd want to concentrate as much money as possible on the team itself, not a new stadium that would cost more than 9 Mario Williams contracts.

[WagonCircler]

Retractable. It's the best we can hope for.

The question is no longer 'Will there be a new stadium', it's when and, to a much lesser degree, where. This is a done deal.

I'm totally with the OP on what football is and should be. But I'd rather have some of that than another cookie cutter Ford Field. That would be a nightmare scenario.

A retractable 60,000 seat stadium would ensure sellouts, even with the inevitable price increases.

I also honestly believe that the dome would be open for 80% of Bills home games.

Tailgating is going to die, unfortunately, but it is unchangeable. It has to with the modern NFL economics. It sucks, but it is what it is. And if it has to be, then at least with a retractable dome we'd get football under the sky, instead of some sterile indoor version of it.

[Mr. Cynical]

Retractable. It's the best we can hope for.

The question is no longer 'Will there be a new stadium', it's when and, to a much lesser degree, where. This is a done deal.

I'm totally with the OP on what football is and should be. But I'd rather have some of that than another cookie cutter Ford Field. That would be a nightmare scenario.

A retractable 60,000 seat stadium would ensure sellouts, even with the inevitable price increases.

I also honestly believe that the dome would be open for 80% of Bills home games.

Tailgating is going to die, unfortunately, but it is unchangeable. It has to with the modern NFL economics. It sucks, but it is what it is. And if it has to be, then at least with a retractable dome we'd get football under the sky, instead of some sterile indoor version of it.

This. I think a retractable dome is the best of both worlds. It allows the Bills to keep the "cold Buffalo weather" advantage over warm weather/full dome teams, but it also allows them to close it up if a major storm hits again so that they aren't forced to go tin cupping for a place to play.

[TacklingDummy]

Dome or nothing.
Sorry but sitting in the cold sucks.

[DraftBoy]

Retractable Roof Stadium with PSL's, Luxury Boxes, and limited tailgating is what we're getting whether we like it or not.

[Historian]

I want a dome.

The weather sucks in Buffalo after September 15th. We have already had one crippling snowstorm as early as October 11th, and the weather is getting weirder by the year.

Give me an inside venue, with restaurants, merchandise shops, and a Bills museum. Sort of a combination of the field house and the stadium.

Then lets have events all year round in it.

If ever a city needed a dome, it's Buffalo.

[YardRat]

I prefer an outdoor stadium, but as others have stated we're going to end up with a dome or retractable roof, most likely downtown. I like the Ralph, a lot, and have heard many comments from out-of-towners at games, or friends from other markets that have attended a game there, regarding what a great football venue it is, but the NFL has changed and unfortunately Buffalo is going to have to change with it.

[imbondz]

yes I want one of everything

[Meathead]

Fans that sit in the 200 level, "Club Section," at Ralph Wilson Stadium are the red seats that are often more than half empty, but they don't count as official seats to be a sellout.

all those seats are already sold. the ppl that buy them usually have tons of money so the empty seats are either them sitting inside or just not coming and dont care about the tix not getting used

[Meathead]

i have too many awesome memories of epic bad weather games to ever be enthusiastic about a dome

isnt it ironic that hockey has always been an indoor game and its fans cant get enough of the so called winter classic. you know if you do it every other week its sorta not classic. how about the winter memorable, or the winter mildly unusual

[notacon]

Yes. A retractable dome, in downtown.

Orchard Park location for a stadium sucks. The stadium built there sucks. It always has sucked and was built for the stupidest of reasons...to save money.