Bills fans stick behind their team

[PHINATIC13]

I'll give you a call when I run out of things to do in SoCal, when I feel like freezing my a** off, maybe I'll head to Buffalo.Who am I kidding there is no way in Hell in going to Buffalo.:tongue:

and it's clearly not you. As I already said, there are plenty of entertainment options in Buffalo. The city used to be a top 10 city in terms of population. It still has amenities of a much more major city. A theater district, four separate nightlife districts, two pro sports teams not to mention minor league teams (the Bisons won the championship this year, woo hoo!), one of the oldest zoos in the nation, Niagara Falls, the museum of science, the botanical gardens, the waterfront, the Naval shipyard, the historic society, albright knox art gallery, incredible architectural and historic tours, and so on and so on. Heck, just look at the metro rail. Buffalo is the smallest city in the nation to have lightrail...remnance from Buffalo's 'big city' mentality, even though the population is shrinking.

Now am I saying Buffalo is New York, Boston, or even Miami? No. It simply isn't at that level. No denying that. But to say that the only reason Bills games sell out is because it's the only thing to do is simply absurd, and only people that don't know Buffalo would say such a thing.

Oh, and if you ever do venture up to Buffalo, I highly recommend you set aside some good time for good eatin'. Be sure to get:

Anderson's beef on weck
ted's hot dogs
mighty taco
Duffs' wings
La Nova's bbq wings
a chicken finger sub from Mike's
Bocce Club pizza
and some sponge candy from Antoinettes to top it all off.

Wash it down with some ridiculously sweet loganberry. :)

 

[VanDolPhan]

Wow winner of the most pointless thread by the most pathetic people ever.

 

[PayTheBills]

I do find it funny that this thread ended up being about how well the cities of New York and Buffalo support their teams (to the point of bickering between forumers from these respective cities), while the whole reason the topic was started was because the Dolphins aren't getting that kind of support from Miami. You're right, it was a pointless thread. It is beyond obvious that Miami is simply not up to par with its AFC East rivals in terms of fan support. End of debate.

Now if you want to say that it's because there are soooo many other entertainment options in Miami, then so be it. Let the Dolphins move to, I don't know, BIRMINGHAM, or somewhere with less entertainment options. You all apparently don't want them.

 

[goodfella11]

What is there to do in Miami? I visited my buddy who lives there and stayed over 1 month. Entertainment, I don’t think so. You have to go to Orlando to get entertainment. There’s just as much to do in buffalo then there is in Miami. You Floridians spend way to much time in the sun.

 

[TigerJ]

Their 10th consecutive sellout? Wow! that's impressive We've sold out every game since the late 70s, of the 4 teams in the division the Bills sell out the least.

Duh! What's your population base? 8 million in NYC, another 3-4 million in the Jersey metro? In all of Western NY including the cities of Buffalo and Rochester, the Bills market consists of maybe a million people. Moreover the average income in the NY metro area is a lot higher than in Buffalo and the price of a Jets ticket even though it's probably a good bit higher than a ticket to see the Bills still represents a lot smaller percentage of a fan's paycheck.

Considering the size of their market and the size of Ralph Wilson Stadium, we do pretty well.

 

[nyjunc]

Duh! What's your population base? 8 million in NYC, another 3-4 million in the Jersey metro? In all of Western NY including the cities of Buffalo and Rochester, the Bills market consists of maybe a million people. Moreover the average income in the NY metro area is a lot higher than in Buffalo and the price of a Jets ticket even though it's probably a good bit higher than a ticket to see the Bills still represents a lot smaller percentage of a fan's paycheck.

Considering the size of their market and the size of Ralph Wilson Stadium, we do pretty well.

I've gone over this so you can check my posts from earlier in the threead but ther are more than enough people to draw from in Buf and the surrounding areas. I would buy your excuses but why is the building always sold out when you are good? If you had trouble selling out during your great run then I'd buyt it but you were always sold out and if the Bills fans are such great fans and have enoughh people that can afford tickets in good times why can't they afford them in bad times?

 

[TigerJ]

We're talking comparison of the two areas, nyjunc. Sure, Western NY has enough fans to sell out the stadium, and most of the time they do. For every available seat in the Meadowlands, however, I'm guessing there are at least six times as many fans in the NYC area as there are for every fan in the Buffalo area. I'm also guessing that the Jets, like the Giants have a waiting list for season tickets. There may be a few other large market teams where that is also true, but most NFL teams are like Buffalo which currently has in the neighbohood of 45,000 season ticket holders. A Jets fan has to know that if he drops his season ticket when the team is in a down cycle, someone else is going to get it, and he may never get it back again. When the Bills are in a down cycle, seaon ticket holders know that while they may not get the same seat, they can always get a new season ticket when team fortunes are reversed. Don't tell me that if the Jets are stinking up the Meadowlands with poor play, there aren't fans who would like to punish the team by not buying tickets. The fear of not getting back in keeps them from doing so.

BTW, I am not a season ticket holder and almost never go to games. I happen to be a church pastor. When I'm done conducting a service on Sunday morning, I cannot get to a 1 PM game in time. I would if I could.

 

[nyjunc]

You are right about the waiting list, we have a large one BUT this isn't about us. Like i said earlier I wouldn't have a problem if the Bills had trouble selling out when they were winning but they did not so why can the building be filled when the times are good but not bad especially when really the Bills are THE thing to do in Buffalo.

 

[TigerJ]

I guess I begin with a fundamental assumption, nyjunc. It is that there is no fundamental difference between the fans of one team and the fans of another, the possible exception being the Green Bay Packers, many of the fans of which are also stock holders. Therefore, when there is a difference in the behavior from one city to another, the difference is precipitated by circumstances and not some fundamental aspect of fan character. I maintain that if you took a million fans out of the NY metro area and traded them to the area around Buffalo for a million typical Bills fans that they would soon behave the same way as Bills fans, and vice versa. Of course, that experiment can never be done so we'll never know.

 

[AmishJihad]

You are right about the waiting list, we have a large one BUT this isn't about us. Like i said earlier I wouldn't have a problem if the Bills had trouble selling out when they were winning but they did not so why can the building be filled when the times are good but not bad especially when really the Bills are THE thing to do in Buffalo.

Actually, we did have trouble selling out occasionally in the 90's.

 

[nyjunc]

Actually, we did have trouble selling out occasionally in the 90's.

If that's the case than things are different but are you talking about early 90s or late 90s? I know you didn't sell out all the time in the late 90s but I always remember that Stadium packed w/ your great early 90s teams.

 

[cmsubillsfan]

Despite opening this season with two losses, and having won only six of their last 18, the Bills anticipate to record their 10th consecutive home sellout with this Sunday's game against New England. Why can't our fin fans be as loyal???:confused:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/football/nfl/09/28/bc.fbn.bills.fansupport.ap/index.html

ooh ooh I've got this one. Miami is full of a bunch of band wagon fans. Buffalo has real fans. Some of us have been fans for almost forty five years. I've personally cheered for the bills since 1988. This isn't to say that all fish fans are bandwagon fans, but it seems that many who live in Miami are.

 

[goodfella11]

The Ralph has the 5th largest capacity, behind only FedEx (Was), Arrowhead (KC), Giants and Pro Player.

Please note that of those 4, that 3 are major cities and one is the only show anywhere near town. To boot, none are nearly as economically depressed as Buffalo.

Amish I love your avatar, how can I get that?

 

[nyjunc]

Originally Posted by AmishJihad
The Ralph has the 5th largest capacity, behind only FedEx (Was), Arrowhead (KC), Giants and Pro Player.

Please note that of those 4, that 3 are major cities and one is the only show anywhere near town. To boot, none are nearly as economically depressed as Buffalo.

That wasn't alwyas the case. The Meadowlands has increased cpacity in the past decade while when RWS underwent renovations they scaled back the seats but up until about '97 RWS(or Rich Stadium as it was known then) held a few thousand more than The Meadowlands and they always sold out.

 

[harmonkoz]

Amish I love your avatar, how can I get that?

Right click on it and select 'Save picture as'...

Or if using Firefox 'Save link to disk'