O/T Bills/Broncos Game Blacked Out.

[upstater1]

I actually feel bad for the fans.

I mean, there are probably a ton of local fans who like watching the game, but would rather sit at home or with a group of friends at the bar and watch it rather than face the Buffalo weather.

45 degrees and sunny on Saturday

 

[PatsGirl2011]

I live in Rochester, so I know for a fact when they blackout games that all local markets are blacked out.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

It is going to be cold.

Its Christmas weekend.

The season is over. The game is nothing more than the a pre-season game for next year.

I poke fun of fan bases that have blackouts when their team is not 100% out of the playoffs. Once the season is over who cares.

 

[upstater1]

The stadium seats 73k even with a couple of sections closed. It's actually a 78k stadium. But still, 73k - 24k = 49k. Walk up is probably around 10k, but even then, 45k is about the season ticket base, so you can expect the stadium to be half empty.

Have a look at Buffalo's drafts, and you can understand why the support is tepid. They do draw better (if you look at revenue and attendance) than about 10 other NFL teams, but look at that draft:

First Rounders / Who they could have taken within next few picks:

2010 CJ Spiller / Jason Pierre Paul
2009 Aaron Maybin / Bryan Orakpo
2008 Leodis McKelvin / Ryan Clady
2007 Marshawn Lynch / Darelle Revis
2006 Donte Whitner & John McCargo / Haloti Ngata & Nick Mangold
2005 NO PICK / (traded for Losman + second rounder) Aaron Rodgers
2004 Lee Evans & JP Losman / Steven Jackson (instead of Losman)
2003 Willis McGahee / Nnamdi Asomugha
2002 Mike Williams / Dwight Freeney
2001 Nate Clements
2000 Erik Flowers / Keith Bulluck

12 players taken in the first round over a decade, and the only ones who produced for them were Lee Evans and Nate Clements (McGahee and Lynch excelled only AFTER leaving Buffalo)

Say they had only taken one third of the guys after the slash (/), they could have ended up with Freeney, Ngata, Clady and Pierre Paul.

 

[Gainzo]

Two factors to consider here. The stadium is bigger than most NFL arenas at 73,100, but tickets also are quite cheap -- perhaps the cheapest in the league. No doubt that if the Bills were winners, fans would fill the place.

You forgot the other factor. The Bills haven't made the playoffs since the 1999 season. Remember the Bills starting Rob Johnson over Flutie in what turned out to be the "music city miracle?"

As you said, the Bills Stadium is too big for that market.

I don't blame Bills fans one bit. They are telling Ralph Wilson that enough is enough.

 

[upstater1]

You forgot the other factor. The Bills haven't made the playoffs since the 1999 season. Remember the Bills starting Rob Johnson over Flutie in what turned out to be the "music city miracle?"

As you said, the Bills Stadium is too big for that market.

I don't blame Bills fans one bit. They are telling Ralph Wilson that enough is enough.

The stadium is too big for 90% of NFL markets, but in case people think there aren't many people up here, it's just not true. The Bills draw within an hours distance from a total population of 6 million. That's a lot of people. Within 1 1/2 hours drive it pops up to 9 million. 25% of the fanbase is from a region of Canada where 5.5 million people live (Ft. Erie, St. Catharine's, Hamilton, Toronto). I've sat next to Bills season ticket holders from Ottawa.
On the USA side, there are 3 million people (Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Jamestown).

 

[Gainzo]

The stadium is too big for 90% of NFL markets, but in case people think there aren't many people up here, it's just not true. The Bills draw within an hours distance from a total population of 6 million. That's a lot of people. Within 1 1/2 hours drive it pops up to 9 million. 25% of the fanbase is from a region of Canada where 5.5 million people live (Ft. Erie, St. Catharine's, Hamilton, Toronto). I've sat next to Bills season ticket holders from Ottawa.
On the USA side, there are 3 million people (Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Jamestown).

Crossing the border for an NFL game must be a pain in the arse and the Stadium is awful. Small concourses and a severe lack of bathrooms isn't a winning formula for an NFL Stadium.

It also doesn't help that Buffalo has a terrible reputation when it comes to drunken fans.

 

[Sivy]

When was the last time Bills fans were smug?

As to the OP, the Bills were #1 in the league this year in time missed for injuries. With no depth, they can't overcome something like that. But the franchise has at least made some positive moves in the past year or so - I doubt they'll continue to be basement dwellers for long...

I could argue that Bills fans are worse than jets fans ( Id lose, but I could argue it) Every time they win a game they walk around like king sh@t. Cant stand it. When they beat the pats, all of them kept talking about how awesome they were and how they were "for real" now FF a month or so and things are back to normal and there are no bills fans around...its the same with the dam Sabers fans as well.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

...



What a sorry situation for that franchise and those fans.

Hmmm. The Los Angeles Bills has sort of a pathetic ring to it, doesn't it, though?

 

[slam]

I could argue that Bills fans are worse than jets fans ( Id lose, but I could argue it) Every time they win a game they walk around like king sh@t. Cant stand it. When they beat the pats, all of them kept talking about how awesome they were and how they were "for real" now FF a month or so and things are back to normal and there are no bills fans around...its the same with the dam Sabers fans as well.

If anyone ever feels sorry for Bills fans, go to the forum at twobillsdrive.com and click on any thread that mentions the Pats or Brady. They're pathological. Understandably pathological, but still.

 

[Gainzo]

If anyone ever feels sorry for Bills fans, go to the forum at twobillsdrive.com and click on any thread that mentions the Pats or Brady. They're pathological. Understandably pathological, but still.

You would be pathological if the Pats only beat the Bills twice since 2003.

 

[Joker]

Hmmm. The Los Angeles Bills has sort of a pathetic ring to it, doesn't it, though?

well...jeez...use your imagination...obviously you'd have to change the Bills part of the name to...uh...Jills...or Hollywood Hills....or Gang Kills...or if Phil Jackson bought them...the Phils....or Booze and Pills...or Grills...or Green Gills....the options are practically endless