Sellout streak ended (1 Viewer)

[Bri]

The Buffalo Bills have the dubious distinction of ruining the NFL's streak of lifting the local television blackout this year.

The Bills did not sell out Sunday's game against Jacksonville by the 1 p.m. deadline Friday, and the game will not be shown on local television.

It's the first game in the entire NFL this year that will be blacked out. All 160 games over the first 11 weeks of the season were sold out 72 hours in advance of kickoff, and the 15 other games this weekend also sold out before the deadline.

Before this year, the most sellout weekends in one season were four in 2002 and 2005. The blackout rule went into effect in 1973. It wasn't until 1998 that the NFL had a weekend in which every game was sold out in advance of the deadline.

The Bills reported that a little more than 7,000 tickets remained Friday afternoon for the Jaguars game. There are roughly 10,000 tickets left for next week's home game against the San Diego Chargers.

Despite this week's failure, the Bills have a tremendous track record of selling tickets, especially considering their lack of success on the field this decade. They have sold out 27 of the previous 28 games at Ralph Wilson Stadium, all in time for the TV blackout to be lifted.

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Pretty impressive streak for the NFL though

 

[RenegadeGM]

Maybe the local TV station will pick up the remaining tickets, or has that window closed already too?

 

[Bri]

Maybe the local TV station will pick up the remaining tickets, or has that window closed already too?

window ends on friday, which can be tough. 7k off they weren't that close, but I'd imagine Saturday tickets might sell well IF they were available and fans knew about it.IMO this is a big deal esp if the NFL sells out the rest of the games. That's shatterring the previous record of sellout streaks. Ticket prices will rise a bunch and/or owners will try and find a way to fit more seats under their roof. I don't expect the owners to just sit tight and be happy.Regardless, if this runs the whole season it's phenomenal to sell out every game in the whole league for a year in any sport.

 

[hellz_fireflies]

It's the Bills for god sakes..even the home team fans gave up!

 

[Hairy Snowman]

Maybe the local TV station will pick up the remaining tickets, or has that window closed already too?

window ends on friday, which can be tough. 7k off they weren't that close, but I'd imagine Saturday tickets might sell well IF they were available and fans knew about it.IMO this is a big deal esp if the NFL sells out the rest of the games. That's shatterring the previous record of sellout streaks. Ticket prices will rise a bunch and/or owners will try and find a way to fit more seats under their roof. I don't expect the owners to just sit tight and be happy.Regardless, if this runs the whole season it's phenomenal to sell out every game in the whole league for a year in any sport.

good info Bri and very good insight to the ramifications for ownership.

 

[jevy]

Good. I'm tired of watching Losman and the Bills.

It looks like we'll get Pit/Bal, which is ok by me.

 

[Bri]

Maybe the local TV station will pick up the remaining tickets, or has that window closed already too?

window ends on friday, which can be tough. 7k off they weren't that close, but I'd imagine Saturday tickets might sell well IF they were available and fans knew about it.IMO this is a big deal esp if the NFL sells out the rest of the games. That's shatterring the previous record of sellout streaks. Ticket prices will rise a bunch and/or owners will try and find a way to fit more seats under their roof. I don't expect the owners to just sit tight and be happy.Regardless, if this runs the whole season it's phenomenal to sell out every game in the whole league for a year in any sport.

good info Bri and very good insight to the ramifications for ownership.

thank you

 

[Cowboys#1]

finally the bills are off local tv.

doesnt matter much since i have sunday ticket, but i pity my neighbours watching the bills every week (felt that pain for too long!)

 

[Da Guru]

That 72 hour rule is stupid. If the game sells out on Saturday so be it. Broadcast it.

 

[dparker713]

Good. I'm tired of watching Losman and the Bills.It looks like we'll get Pit/Bal, which is ok by me.

Actually, I dont think you get a game on that channel in that time slot on local TV. Personally, I seriously doubt the NFL will be playing in 100k stadiums like college football anytime time soon. And its not like you can readily expand most of the stadiums in the NFL, so you'd atleast be waiting on the next round of stadiums.

 

[The Contrarian]

As I a Lions fan, I wish this would happen in Detroit.

 

[joey]

Good. I'm tired of watching Losman and the Bills.It looks like we'll get Pit/Bal, which is ok by me.

Actually, I dont think you get a game on that channel in that time slot on local TV.

Yes. If a local game is balcked out, that channel airs a different national game.As a Raider fan that has experienced MANY blackouts over the past few years,I know this a little too well. An interesting thing about the Raiders this year is that they haven't been blacked outONCE since the Raiders themselves took over ticket sales instead of the crappy OMFA(Oakland Something Somthing Administration) that was handling their ticket sales sincethey moved back to Oakland. That relationship was strained from the beginning to say theleast and OMFA put little to no money and effort into getting sellouts. With the Raiders nowin charge of marketing and ticket sales, the Raiders are selling more tickets AND theyhave a vested interest in buying any outstanding tickets to make sure the game isn't blackedout.The only problem is, this is the year I wish they WERE blacked out so I didn't have to watchthem!

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

What is the purpose of the blackout rule in 2006? To me it seems stupid not to broadcast the local team b/c of not selling a few thousand seats. The networks are paying billions of dollars for tv rights and not going to show it b/c of a few thousand dollars the owners are not getting. To me it seems advertisers would want local teams going into local markets b/c they would get higher ratings there. Who benefits from the blackout rule? The owners are not hurting by not selling totally out. To me it is just the fans getting screwd

 

[Bri]

Personally, I seriously doubt the NFL will be playing in 100k stadiums like college football anytime time soon.

With different amounts for concerts, I can never remember how many are at Giants stadium, 60k?Wellington Mara devellopped the golden goose of the NFL. The Giants have been sold out for decades and have a long waiting list. Further it's amazing how little they complain if/when ticket prices are increased.The Jets play in the same stadium(+market) and while they do well, they really aren't anything like the Giants in ticket sales. Moving, hiring bad coaches like Kotite, dunderhead QBs, front office stability, there's much to be examined there. I could go on and on here, I find those two teams as comparisons quite interesting. The somewhat recent losses in the Giants ownership/front office are enormous and there's a whole discussion right there too.I suppose my Q to you, dparker, is what did Mara do business wise once he established his golden goose? You're right they don't have a 100k stadium and yet New York(NJ) certainly has the population to fill it. Why not? Think Mara's son will build a new stadium or "stay pat"?

And its not like you can readily expand most of the stadiums in the NFL, so you'd atleast be waiting on the next round of stadiums.

No but they often do stuff with those fancy boxes, sky boxes and whatever names they give them. Sometimes they tak away regular seats and build new ones, other times they make the existing ones that much nicer to charge more.

 

[Bri]

What is the purpose of the blackout rule in 2006? To me it seems stupid not to broadcast the local team b/c of not selling a few thousand seats. The networks are paying billions of dollars for tv rights and not going to show it b/c of a few thousand dollars the owners are not getting. To me it seems advertisers would want local teams going into local markets b/c they would get higher ratings there. Who benefits from the blackout rule? The owners are not hurting by not selling totally out. To me it is just the fans getting screwd

blackout rule has been around a long while. I don't disagree that it's got alot of negative impact but they're selling out everywhere so I don't think it changes anytime soon.

 

[Floyd The Barber]

Unless somebody stepped up to buy the tickets, the Rams didn't sell out today's game either. And word has it all of their remaining home games will be nip and tuck as well.

 

[Canadian Law]

finally the bills are off local tv.doesnt matter much since i have sunday ticket, but i pity my neighbours watching the bills every week (felt that pain for too long!)

There is a God!Hopefully this keeps up for the rest of the season. I was forced to watch Houston and Buffalo for the early game last week, though I must admit, the first quarter was exciting. Looks like Global will show Pitt. v. Bal.Really, I should spring for Sunday Ticket.

 

[JMJ]

I can never remember how many are at Giants stadium, 60k?

79,000 + for football games

 

[raidergil]

I can never remember how many are at Giants stadium, 60k?

79,000 + for football games

And a population pool of at least 10 million to draw from - they should always be sold out with a waiting list.In upstate NY the worst part of today's TV viewing options are not that the Bills are blacked out, but rather we are being shown the Giants-Tenn. game over the Chicago-NE game. The Giants are NJ's team not NY's - and we live 7 hours away.

 

[Bri]

I can never remember how many are at Giants stadium, 60k?

79,000 + for football games

And a population pool of at least 10 million to draw from - they should always be sold out with a waiting list.In upstate NY the worst part of today's TV viewing options are not that the Bills are blacked out, but rather we are being shown the Giants-Tenn. game over the Chicago-NE game. The Giants are NJ's team not NY's - and we live 7 hours away.

I'm in upstate NY and have the Pats game. It's listed as 4:15 not 4 for some reason. BTW sopcast will probably have the game if you want to watch on your computer

 

[Doctor Detroit]

That 72 hour rule is stupid. If the game sells out on Saturday so be it. Broadcast it.

It's not that easy. You have to secure ad revenue and Friday is when firms are at work. No TV, no ads. You can't just do deadline deals on Saturday and the stations can't run PSAs all day. It's a business culture outside of the NFL's control.

 

[Thorpe]

There is a huge elderly population in Buffalo (including my grandmother-in-law) that are fanatical about the Bills but going to the game is not an option. I don't think any one could have been happier than her when the Bills came back last week. Its a shame they have this policy and a bigger shame that a local company didn't step in and buy the remaining tickets.

 

[dparker713]

Personally, I seriously doubt the NFL will be playing in 100k stadiums like college football anytime time soon.

With different amounts for concerts, I can never remember how many are at Giants stadium, 60k?Wellington Mara devellopped the golden goose of the NFL. The Giants have been sold out for decades and have a long waiting list. Further it's amazing how little they complain if/when ticket prices are increased.The Jets play in the same stadium(+market) and while they do well, they really aren't anything like the Giants in ticket sales. Moving, hiring bad coaches like Kotite, dunderhead QBs, front office stability, there's much to be examined there. I could go on and on here, I find those two teams as comparisons quite interesting. The somewhat recent losses in the Giants ownership/front office are enormous and there's a whole discussion right there too.I suppose my Q to you, dparker, is what did Mara do business wise once he established his golden goose? You're right they don't have a 100k stadium and yet New York(NJ) certainly has the population to fill it. Why not? Think Mara's son will build a new stadium or "stay pat"?

And its not like you can readily expand most of the stadiums in the NFL, so you'd atleast be waiting on the next round of stadiums.

No but they often do stuff with those fancy boxes, sky boxes and whatever names they give them. Sometimes they tak away regular seats and build new ones, other times they make the existing ones that much nicer to charge more.

You might see a few teams like the Giants and maybe a few others move to bigger stadiums, but I still find it doubtful it will be the norm anytime soon. As for the Giants, they've soldout for decades and the waiting list for season tickets is generously estimated at 50 years. I've been on it for 10 and Ive barely moved. There is room for them to grow, but traffic is already a mess on gamedays and there isn't really a better location to move to. People often forget that many of these 100k stadiums in college football are in the middle of small cities, whereas pro sports are more reliant on TV and therefore reside in larger cities. As for a new stadium, its already in the works and its going to house the Jets and Giants with about 80k capacity.

 

[Bri]

where is the new stadium gonna be?

 

[The_Borg]

I can never remember how many are at Giants stadium, 60k?

79,000 + for football games

And a population pool of at least 10 million to draw from - they should always be sold out with a waiting list.In upstate NY the worst part of today's TV viewing options are not that the Bills are blacked out, but rather we are being shown the Giants-Tenn. game over the Chicago-NE game. The Giants are NJ's team not NY's - and we live 7 hours away.

I'm in upstate NY and have the Pats game. It's listed as 4:15 not 4 for some reason. BTW sopcast will probably have the game if you want to watch on your computer

With the NFL's new flex rule for television broadcasts, you can't take any listed time for granted. This past Sunday's NE-CHI game was listed on the game ticket for 1:00 PM. However the NFL moved it to 4:00 PM for FOX to broadcast it as their late game.

 

[GroveDiesel]

It's a shame that it was blacked out since it was such a good game.

It's hard to blame the Bills though. They have one of the largest stadiums in the NFL, have had a terrible team for a decade, have a pretty small mostly blue collar population base and yet still sell out most of their games.

 

[timintey]

where is the new stadium gonna be?

same complex, same traffic nightmare

 

[Bri]

where is the new stadium gonna be?

same complex, same traffic nightmare

I never understood the nightmare. I always got in and out pretty quick after a show or game.