Buffalo Bills schedule is great for TV, not for fans in the stands

[Woodman]

https://www.buffalorumblings.com/202...-in-the-stands

The Buffalo Bills’ 2022 schedule came out nearly a week ago, and I’ve been sitting on some opinions, mainly because they aren’t very positive. It’s finally time for me to share those thoughts with you and see what you have to say.

1. Lamenting the loss of 1:00 PM Sunday

I’m a big fan of Sunday afternoon games. The regularity of it all is nice. I was never one complaining about national respect and all that. I get why they are on so many national windows—I like watching Josh Allen, too—but it just means I can’t plan my schedule around every Sunday afternoon. Even a shift from 1:00 PM Eastern to the late afternoon time slot works for me.

2. Maximum exposure

That was the term I used in the schedule release post, and it’s so accurate. The Thanksgiving game is one of the most-watched of the year and games against the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, and New England Patriots are sure to attract major eyeballs, too. The biggest prize is the Opening Night contest against the Super Bowl champs. Buffalo received the maximum number of primetime games and is on national TV more than anyone. It’s great for TV-watchers.

[OpIv37]

I was thinking about this earlier.

Literally every other business in the world bends over backwards for their most loyal customers. The NFL does the complete ****ing opposite. They know the diehard fans are going to show up no matter what. So, they base everything around attracting the casual fans and TV watchers, from how they build the stadiums to how they schedule games. They know the season ticket holders and other die hard fans will be there, so they're not even a consideration.

[Woodman]

3. Road trips are disappointing

I can’t help but be negative about the road slate. I was really excited for the Chicago game, in particular. Putting it on Christmas Eve is literally the worst possible placement. Only once every eight years is there a game in Chicago, and this could be the last one at Soldier Field. Literally none of the road games are exciting. Monday night in January in Cincinnati, Miami in September, Los Angeles in September on a weeknight... Just no truly great road game option.


4. Home tailgate options are good, not great

There are some really great tailgating options, but too few of them. The October 9 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers should be great. The Packers game in late October is a night game, which means an all-day tailgate. Hopefully the weather is nice for the mid-November Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns games, but one more home game in September/October would have been nice. Instead we get a Monday night game, which means some folks will skip the tailgate altogether and just head over after work.

[notacon]

I was thinking about this earlier.

Literally every other business in the world bends over backwards for their most loyal customers. The NFL does the complete ****ing opposite. They know the diehard fans are going to show up no matter what. So, they base everything around attracting the casual fans and TV watchers, from how they build the stadiums to how they schedule games. They know the season ticket holders and other die hard fans will be there, so they're not even a consideration.

"Most loyal customers”?!?!?!? People that attend games?!?!?! The “most loyal customers” are the TV networks, which pay the overwhelming majority of the bills and is why NFL football is the most lucrative professional sport.


The “most loyal customers” are tens of millions, and the OVERWHELMING majority of how people actually watch games...on TV.

As we saw in the 2020 season.....the NFL does just fine with virtually ZERO fans in the stands. Yes, it took a small bite out of the owners pockets, not nearly enough to mean anything.

The NFL is a TELEVISION sport. PERIOD!!!!

TV is why it is so strong and popular. Everything they do is to benefit the TV watching experience.

Ralph Wilson was a terrible owner, but him, along with Lamar Hunt, had the vision and foresight to realize that TV was THE ticket to success and riches beyond imagination.

And that vision was the insane, socialistic idea that teams SHARE revenue from not only TV, but ticket sales. Fueled by the idea (and contract) to televise every single AFL game.....with a single contract between the league and TV networks, treating the AFL LEAGUE as a single entity. At that time in the NFL, TV networks had individual contracts with individual teams.


It was brilliant!!!!

Today’s NFL is like any other entertainment. Instead of being produced in an inside studio....the “studio” is a stadium. They could just as easily CGI the crowds and add sound effects for the cheering “loyal fans” and no one would know the difference on TV.

[OpIv37]

"Most loyal customers”?!?!?!? People that attend games?!?!?! The “most loyal customers” are the TV networks, which pay the overwhelming majority of the bills and is why NFL football is the most lucrative professional sport.


The “most loyal customers” are tens of millions, and the OVERWHELMING majority of how people actually watch games...on TV.

As we saw in the 2020 season.....the NFL does just fine with virtually ZERO fans in the stands. Yes, it took a small bite out of the owners pockets, not nearly enough to mean anything.

The NFL is a TELEVISION sport. PERIOD!!!!

TV is why it is so strong and popular. Everything they do is to benefit the TV watching experience.

Ralph Wilson was a terrible owner, but him, along with Lamar Hunt, had the vision and foresight to realize that TV was THE ticket to success and riches beyond imagination.

And that vision was the insane, socialistic idea that teams SHARE revenue from not only TV, but ticket sales. Fueled by the idea (and contract) to televise every single AFL game.....with a single contract between the league and TV networks, treating the AFL LEAGUE as a single entity. At that time in the NFL, TV networks had individual contracts with individual teams.


It was brilliant!!!!

Today’s NFL is like any other entertainment. Instead of being produced in an inside studio....the “studio” is a stadium. They could just as easily CGI the crowds and add sound effects for the cheering “loyal fans” and no one would know the difference on TV.

You're confusing "most loyal" with "most lucrative." The most loyal customers are the ones who buy tickets and spend most of a day to go to a game regardless of the weather, not the people who click a button on a remote.

[notacon]

You're confusing "most loyal" with "most lucrative." The most loyal customers are the ones who buy tickets and spend most of a day to go to a game regardless of the weather, not the people who click a button on a remote.

You’re confusing "loyalty” as having any value.

People that attend games are no more “loyal" than fans that watch every game on TV. The idea that they are “more loyal” is silly and elitist baloney.

[Woodman]

Fans in the stands!!

[OpIv37]

You’re confusing "loyalty” as having any value.

People that attend games are no more “loyal" than fans that watch every game on TV. The idea that they are “more loyal” is silly and elitist baloney.

And that's the problem. In most businesses, loyalty has value. We are loyal to a bunch of businesses in our area. The people who work there value our loyalty. They know us by name and occasionally give us discounts or free items, because us spending money there means something.

The most loyal and most intense fans are the ones who show up on game day and pay for tickets and parking and concessions in the stadium. But, for the NFL, that's not their main source of revenue, and there's no other game in town. If the restaurant on the corner that we like starts constantly closing for private events, or only opening really late, or not telling us what the hours will be until a day or two ahead of time, then we'll just go to another restaurant. But, they would never do that because they need regulars to be profitable. This isn't a problem for the NFL, though. There is no other team a few blocks away, and the people who buy season tickets are still going to buy them no matter how the league ****s with them with the schedule.

[Typ0]

Not for fans watching on TV who work regular jobs either. A couple night games a year is tolerable but the schedule this next season is going to keep me up too late too often.

[OpIv37]

Not for fans watching on TV who work regular jobs either. A couple night games a year is tolerable but the schedule this next season is going to keep me up too late too often.

Agreed. Night games suck. We have to wait all day Sunday or all day Sunday AND Monday to see the games. For Thurs night games, we get the game before everyone else, but then we have to wait 11 days until the next one.

Regardless of what night they're on, they don't end until well after 11 on the east coast. It must really suck for people who go to the games- someone who lives in Rochester or on the other side of the border bridge isn't going to get home until 3 or 4 in the morning.

And, there are no other games to watch during commercials.

People think they're prestigious because it means national exposure. I get it- it means we're good enough that people outside of the region want to watch our games. But I see them as a huge hassle for the reasons above.

Also, it's hard to buy the 'prestige" argument when one of the Thurs night games is Jets vs Jaguars. I know, every team is supposed to get a night game at least once a season, but you'd think that dud would be buried at a Sunday 1 pm time slot with 8 other games on at the same time rather than featured on national television.

[Novacane]

It would have been nice to have the Chicago and Cinci games early in the season and the LA and Miami games later.

[Skooby]

Your choice, we perpetually pick 11th & hire A-holes like Rex Ryan or we are a playoff caliber team ranked at or near most likely to win the whole thing.

[OpIv37]

Your choice, we perpetually pick 11th & hire A-holes like Rex Ryan or we are a playoff caliber team ranked at or near most likely to win the whole thing.

That’s the whole ****ing problem. There were nearly two decades where we were a 5-8 win team, often imploding under the incompetence of people like Rex. But we still had season ticket holders. We still had people who watched every game. Now that we are good, the people who were there when we were bad are getting ****ed so the NFL can make money showing us off to the people who only care when we are good.

[Skooby]

That’s the whole ****ing problem. There were nearly two decades where we were a 5-8 win team, often imploding under the incompetence of people like Rex. But we still had season ticket holders. We still had people who watched every game. Now that we are good, the people who were there when we were bad are getting ****ed so the NFL can make money showing us off to the people who only care when we are good.

You’re either the featured team or a cellar dweller, the spotlight comes at a cost & with some heat.

[OpIv37]

You’re either the featured team or a cellar dweller, the spotlight comes at a cost & with some heat.

Only because that's how the NFL makes money: catering to the masses at the expense of the most loyal. It doesn't have to be that way. But the NFL has no problem ****ting on the regulars in favor of getting the numbers up, because they're in a unique position to get away with it.

Let's go back to the restaurant example. Like I said, we have a couple of local restaurants where they know us. Let's say we were eating in there and a big group of tourists came in, and suddenly we started getting bad service so they could kiss ass to the tourists and try to get a big tip. We wouldn't go back. But, the restaurants likely wouldn't do that, because they know those tourists are one and done, and will be gone once the fall comes, whereas we are in there a couple times a month. That's the way almost every other business works: you go out of the way for your regulars, and while you don't ignore new/infrequent customers, you certainly don't let serving them get in the way of serving your regulars.

The NFL works differently, because the regulars are extremely loyal, and they don't have any competition. There is no other Buffalo football team that we can go watch now that the NFL is dumping on the regulars to appeal to the masses. Unlike any other business, they make more money ****ting on their regulars to appeal to a temporary crowd.

[kgun12]

You’re confusing "loyalty” as having any value.

People that attend games are no more “loyal" than fans that watch every game on TV. The idea that they are “more loyal” is silly and elitist baloney.

Bull crap! You can have all the TV money you want but let me ask this. What happens to a team if the loyal fans stop coming to the games. The team will pack up and leave in a New York second. If the loyal fans aren’t important than left the TV blackout.
Why does the NFL pressure team to keep building the latest and greatest stadiums at the expense of taxpayers, more more for the league. It has nothing to do with the the fan, even if that’s what they want you to believe. If they cared about the fans or even the city they played in, the Bills new stadium would be downtown but it not because they don’t care about any of that!

Sorry, the NFL has s*#t on the loyal fan and they just don’t care!

[swiper]

My father told me in the 70's that the owners were so greedy that they'd find a way to make everyone pay to see games. He was prescient.

[notacon]

And that's the problem. In most businesses, loyalty has value. We are loyal to a bunch of businesses in our area. The people who work there value our loyalty. They know us by name and occasionally give us discounts or free items, because us spending money there means something.

The most loyal and most intense fans are the ones who show up on game day and pay for tickets and parking and concessions in the stadium. But, for the NFL, that's not their main source of revenue, and there's no other game in town. If the restaurant on the corner that we like starts constantly closing for private events, or only opening really late, or not telling us what the hours will be until a day or two ahead of time, then we'll just go to another restaurant. But, they would never do that because they need regulars to be profitable. This isn't a problem for the NFL, though. There is no other team a few blocks away, and the people who buy season tickets are still going to buy them no matter how the league ****s with them with the schedule.

Total BULLCRAP!!!!!

Jesus. Are you really equating wealth and ability to pay (sometimes ridiculous amounts) with “loyalty”?!?!?

I grew up poor. Five kids, a mother who could not work outside the home because of health issues, and my father working two jobs just to keep food on the table.

There was NO ****ING WAY we could spend money to go to even (by today’s standards) cheap games.

So, just because other families had more deposable income, THAT makes them “the most loyal and most intense fans”?!?!?!? How ****ing obtuse and CLUELESSLY elitist and ARROGANT that is. You sound like a greedy right winger, that looks down their nose at the less fortunate. How REPULSIVE!!!!

No Opi....”the most loyal and most intense fans” has NOTHING to do with attending games. It’s All about attitude.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” support and defend their team NO MATTER WHAT...through thick and thin!!!

“The most loyal and most intense fans” consume all the information they can about every member of the TEAM, and support every player on the roster.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” DO NOT **** on their TEAM by minimizing their VERY REAL accomplishments and OVER DRAMATIZING their very slight shortcomings.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” DO NOT UNFAIRLY **** on individual players that are considered extremely good players outside the negative bubble of some haters.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” CELEBRATE when ANY player gets the honor of being named to the Pro Bowl, instead of ****ting on the HONOR and trying to denigrate it.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” CELEBRATE EVERY victory and understand that 100% perfection is IMPOSSIBLE.


“The most loyal and most intense fans” understands why sometimes a close loss does NOT mean that the opposing team is better.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” CELEBRATE when the WHOLE football world showers their TEAM with extremely realistic accolades and expectation of greatness....instead on ****ting on it, and scoffing that it’s “just their opinion”.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” DO NOT look for and dwell on the negatives and ONLY the negatives in order to denigrate the teams’s accomplishments.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” REVEL in the EXCELLENCE of the TEAM’S performance when it’s the BEST in OVER TWENTY FIVE YEARS, instead of sneering and crapping all over the team because they are not perfect.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” DO NOT whine that their TEAM has HUGE RESPECT in the NFL evidenced by FIVE PRIME TIME GAMES, because it means they have to stay up past their bedtime to watch the game.

You LITERALLY have NO IDEA what “loyalty” means. None. NADA. ZIP. ZERO!!!!!

What a disgrace.

[OpIv37]

Total BULLCRAP!!!!!

Jesus. Are you really equating wealth and ability to pay (sometimes ridiculous amounts) with “loyalty”?!?!?

I grew up poor. Five kids, a mother who could not work outside the home because of health issues, and my father working two jobs just to keep food on the table.

There was NO ****ING WAY we could spend money to go to even (by today’s standards) cheap games.

So, just because other families had more deposable income, THAT makes them “the most loyal and most intense fans”?!?!?!? How ****ing obtuse and CLUELESSLY elitist and ARROGANT that is. You sound like a greedy right winger, that looks down their nose at the less fortunate. How REPULSIVE!!!!

No Opi....”the most loyal and most intense fans” has NOTHING to do with attending games. It’s All about attitude.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” support and defend their team NO MATTER WHAT...through thick and thin!!!

“The most loyal and most intense fans” consume all the information they can about every member of the TEAM, and support every player on the roster.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” DO NOT **** on their TEAM by minimizing their VERY REAL accomplishments and OVER DRAMATIZING their very slight shortcomings.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” DO NOT UNFAIRLY **** on individual players that are considered extremely good players outside the negative bubble of some haters.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” CELEBRATE when ANY player gets the honor of being named to the Pro Bowl, instead of ****ting on the HONOR and trying to denigrate it.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” CELEBRATE EVERY victory and understand that 100% perfection is IMPOSSIBLE.


“The most loyal and most intense fans” understands why sometimes a close loss does NOT mean that the opposing team is better.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” CELEBRATE when the WHOLE football world showers their TEAM with extremely realistic accolades and expectation of greatness....instead on ****ting on it, and scoffing that it’s “just their opinion”.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” DO NOT look for and dwell on the negatives and ONLY the negatives in order to denigrate the teams’s accomplishments.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” REVEL in the EXCELLENCE of the TEAM’S performance when it’s the BEST in OVER TWENTY FIVE YEARS, instead of sneering and crapping all over the team because they are not perfect.

“The most loyal and most intense fans” DO NOT whine that their TEAM has HUGE RESPECT in the NFL evidenced by FIVE PRIME TIME GAMES, because it means they have to stay up past their bedtime to watch the game.

You LITERALLY have NO IDEA what “loyalty” means. None. NADA. ZIP. ZERO!!!!!

What a disgrace.

Oh please. I've been paying for DirecTV since 2003. In that time, there have been maybe 5 games that I didn't watch, and they were all meaningless losses at the end of bad seasons where I accidentally heard the score before I could watch. I watch every game live.

You don't even watch the games live unless they're on national TV, so get off your ****ing high horse about your supposed "loyalty".


Oh, and also, one of the prime time games is Jets vs Jaguars, so STFU about how having prime time games means "HUGE RESPECT".

And it's more than just staying up late. It's having to wait longer for the games to start and not having other games to flip to during commercials. That ****ing annoys the **** out of me.

[notacon]

Oh please. I've been paying for DirecTV since 2003. In that time, there have been maybe 5 games that I didn't watch, and they were all meaningless losses at the end of bad seasons where I accidentally heard the score before I could watch. I watch every game live.

You don't even watch the games live unless they're on national TV, so get off your ****ing high horse about your supposed "loyalty".


Oh, and also, one of the prime time games is Jets vs Jaguars, so STFU about how having prime time games means "HUGE RESPECT".

And it's more than just staying up late. It's having to wait longer for the games to start and not having other games to flip to during commercials. That ****ing annoys the **** out of me.

Sorry, but what the NFL schedule makers decide is a DIRECT REFLECTION of how much RESPECT they have for the teams.

To deny that is to deny reality. The networks clamor for the best matchups in prime time.


And the Buffalo Bills are in GREAT DEMNAD!!! The Bills are correct'y seen as one of the BEST teams in the NFl....while you **** on them at every opportunity.....over exaggerating their “shortcomings” (when EVERY team reflects the exact same from time to time) and under selling their (and ignoring or minimizing) extremely excellent overall performance.


What I was observing is your perverse and warped criteria on what constitutes “The most loyal and most intense fans”.


I never knew you thought like an out-of-touch elitist, but, your posts about “loyalty” have shown exactly that attitude.