The Buffalo Bills are fashioning a 50th anniversary celebration as their primary marketing platform for the 2009 NFL season, and InBev’s Labatt brand is the first marketer to sign on.
Bills planning 50th year celebration - Business First of Buffalo. And this, folks, is what it has come to in Buffalo. Beer companies are promoting Buffalo's 50th anniversary as an NFL franchise, because 50 years of watching said franchise has sold a LOT of alcohol.
10 months ago
Brian Galliford
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Yay, Labatt!
Also, not surprised the anniversary is the main marketing- “Just wait to see how we choke this year” isn’t the greatest slogan.
John Madden told me 90% of the game was half-mental...
by TheK-GunNeedsReloaded on Jan 12, 2009 1:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
ROTFLMAO
Now if only this gopher could play DE, we would be doing better, I mean, who couldn't play better than the corpse brothers Kelsay and Denney?
by WABillsfan on Jan 12, 2009 1:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Too bad they won't be going with Genny as their main booze sponsor
Who else wants some cream ale?!?!?
Kidding, they really needed to aim for a hard liqour company for this one though. With the economy going the way it is, they need to make sure that Bills fans get as much bang for their buck.
Ohhhhh, how about this marketing setup for the Bills and Labatt? Every time the Bills screw up a 3rd and short play by passing rather than running, or make a huge questionable FA or Draft signing, all Bills season ticket holders get a coupon for a free 6 pack of Labatt? I would buy a season ticket since the free beer would outweigh the cost of the ticket itself!
Now if only this gopher could play DE, we would be doing better, I mean, who couldn't play better than the corpse brothers Kelsay and Denney?
by WABillsfan on Jan 12, 2009 1:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Let’s see, who else will sign up? Tops, M&T Bank, Jet Blue and Blue Cross/Blue Shield….
I wonder if this will be our only offseason news until April???
~K
"I’m Kurupt with Buffalo Rumblings. I am worth hundreds!"
by Kurupt on Jan 12, 2009 1:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
No, just the only exciting news until April.
by thatguy34 on Jan 12, 2009 4:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Makes semse.
The Bills are the Blue of the NFL. When you’re away and can’t have them you remember them fondly and miss them. The when you finally get them you realize that they’re a bland pile of suck. But you keep on drinking because that’s the way it has always been and you want to hold onto that.
by twoeightnine on Jan 12, 2009 1:53 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Aww you threw Blue under the bus....
Playing Devil's Advocate at Buffalo Rumblings since 2007.
Eternal optimist.
by MattRichWarren on Jan 12, 2009 2:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Haha, wow, that is extremely well put.
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by Brian Galliford on Jan 12, 2009 2:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Honestly, what else would they market?
“Trent Edwards won’t get hurt this year”
“We promise another middle-of-the-pack year”
“Drafting in the Top 11 makes us better every year”
“Niagra Falls is cool, huh?”
Playing Devil's Advocate at Buffalo Rumblings since 2007.
Eternal optimist.
by MattRichWarren on Jan 12, 2009 2:02 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
“Bills football 2009: 8-8 is more symmetrical than 7-9, so we’re aiming high.”
Buffalo Rumblings - all you care to know about the Buffalo Bills and more
by Brian Galliford on Jan 12, 2009 2:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Bills Football ’09- “See how it all evens out for me?!”
John Madden told me 90% of the game was half-mental...
by TheK-GunNeedsReloaded on Jan 12, 2009 2:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Bills football 09 - where mediocrity happens
12/19/08 - Thank you KLJ for coming into my life.
by norcaliangelsfan on Jan 12, 2009 3:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Nice Seinfeld reference KGun
Playing Devil's Advocate at Buffalo Rumblings since 2007.
Eternal optimist.
by MattRichWarren on Jan 13, 2009 9:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Bills Football ‘09 – “What else are you gonna do on a Sunday?”
Bills Football ’09 – “If Arizona can do it, there must be some hope for us”
Bills Football ’09 – “Dick has to turn it around sometime”
Bills Football ’09 – “They might not be here forever”
Bills Football ’09 – "Because it can’t get any worse"
by thatguy34 on Jan 12, 2009 4:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
but it could get so much worse....
Playing Devil's Advocate at Buffalo Rumblings since 2007.
Eternal optimist.
by MattRichWarren on Jan 13, 2009 9:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
2010 would be more appropriate as the 50th anniversary
since 1960 is when they first began selling tickets to fans here and then later, in the fall, the Bills and the seven other AFL teams began their first season.
This sounds like jumping the gun, …..like giving your coach an extension six games into the season.
For the record, though, Buffalo became the 7th AFL franchise in October of 1959. Ralph Wilson wanted his team in Miami but.the folks who ran the Orange Bowl said “no thanks.” Wilson was given a choice of five other cities to start a team, and a guy from the Buffalo News, Paul Neville, wound up persuading him to come and see “the ’ol Rockpile.” Wilson did, and said “What the hell….” and said OK.
Forty-nine years later, many of us are still suffering.
by ccthemovieman on Jan 12, 2009 2:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
For some reason
Thats how they do it. I know I’ve seen it in print “Buffalo Bills est. 1959” as well as other things where an anniversary seems a year early, but what better year than next to define what has been a mostly mediocre team for most of its years
The Bills CAN win every game
by killascript on Jan 12, 2009 3:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Every year in your post is correct...
The team was founded in 1959, began play in the fall of ’60. As I said before, what else are they gonna market? Heck why not market the fiftieth anniversay for two years? one of the founding and one for the first season….
Playing Devil's Advocate at Buffalo Rumblings since 2007.
Eternal optimist.
by MattRichWarren on Jan 13, 2009 9:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I bet they will
~K
"I’m Kurupt with Buffalo Rumblings. I am worth hundreds!"
by Kurupt on Jan 14, 2009 12:00 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
If they are as "good" this year as they were last year...
what else are they going to market next year? (besides a new coach. If DJ goes 7-9 or 8-8 I can’t imagine he returns)
Playing Eternal Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008.
by MattRichWarren on Jan 14, 2009 9:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
2009 Buffalo Bills
get to know em cuz they all:
1) love Dick Jauron
2) can’t get off the field for a FG in week 17
3) wish they were 17-0, but we’re not, we are 7-9 and we have to deal with that, and we laugh all the way to the bank saying “we got paid for that?”
MARVelous
by MARVelous on Jan 12, 2009 3:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Hah!
How fitting is it that Labatt USA is up for sale, so its long-term future in Buffalo is uncertain.
Buffalo Bills Football 2009: “A Future as Uncertain as the Beer You’re Drinking.”
In bad economic times and a severely economically-divided city (man do they have OLD money though), seems fitting to up the ante in terms of beer sponsorship. As the economy delines, beer sales increase.
by TheAfghanTwilight on Jan 12, 2009 4:25 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
LMAO. One of the funniest, yet depressingly true comments I’ve ever read on this site.
Buffalo Rumblings - all you care to know about the Buffalo Bills and more
by Brian Galliford on Jan 12, 2009 4:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I might actually take “Buffalo Bills Football 2009 (sponsored by Labatt): A Future as Uncertain as the Beer You’re Drinking” as the unofficial anthem of sorts of Buffalo Rumblings. High quality stuff there.
Buffalo Rumblings - all you care to know about the Buffalo Bills and more
by Brian Galliford on Jan 12, 2009 4:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
lol
At least my writing background comes in handy occasionally. =)
by TheAfghanTwilight on Jan 12, 2009 4:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Canadian Beer for a Canadian Team????????
50 years of watching said franchise has sold a LOT of alcohol.
And that doesn’t look to change in the near future. I am sure our support of Labatt’s will entice more Canadians to come to the Ralf for games. I mean, someone is going to have to buy up the empty seats. That Russ Brandon is a quiz kid!!!
"The Bills have no playoff aspirations"
by Joe P. on Jan 12, 2009 4:35 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
That’s it. that’s their slogan!
by TheAfghanTwilight on Jan 12, 2009 4:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
lets just hope this isn't the only significant marketing ploy...
Hopefully, they aren’t counting on the 50 year anniversary to sell another year of mediocre football to the fans
Don't forget to pay the troll toll...
by evdawg419 on Jan 12, 2009 4:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I’ll just stay home and drink my Duvel that cost less per bottle than a Blue at the game.
"Buffalo Bills Football 2009 (sponsored by Labatt): A Future as Uncertain as the Beer You’re Drinking"
by TheAfghanTwilight on Jan 12, 2009 6:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Interesting
that’s very good sponsor, because only with alchool you can watch a bills game
by hightower_mc on Jan 12, 2009 6:23 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
THROWBACKS??
Hey guys, does this 50th year anniversary mean that we will be wearing our throwback uniforms all year?? God I hope so! I hate our stupid kid pajama uniforms
by The Wagon on Jan 13, 2009 7:37 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, I doubt it highly.
Buffalo Rumblings - all you care to know about the Buffalo Bills and more
by Brian Galliford on Jan 13, 2009 7:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Seriously. They should just use the throwbacks full time. For some reason, they look and play slower in the modern ones. But, because they’ve invested so much money and marketing into the new ones, there’s no way we see them disappear.
"Buffalo Bills Football 2009 (sponsored by Labatt): A Future as Uncertain as the Beer You’re Drinking"
by TheAfghanTwilight on Jan 13, 2009 9:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
NFL won't allow it
but one can dream. I saw the Raiders game last year and the Cowboys game last year in person and I love the look of the throwbacks…. almost always use them on Madden, too.
Playing Devil's Advocate at Buffalo Rumblings since 2007.
Eternal optimist.
by MattRichWarren on Jan 13, 2009 9:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Clairfy
NFL allows the non-standard jersey twice a year.
Playing Devil's Advocate at Buffalo Rumblings since 2007.
Eternal optimist.
by MattRichWarren on Jan 13, 2009 9:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I really hope
that if they are doing any sort of celebrating and remembering the first season that they at least play a game with the uniforms from that first season:
This uniform:
With this helmet:
When they started play in the American Football League in 1960, the Bills wore blue jerseys with gray numbers at home and for road games wore white jerseys with blue numbers. The rest of the uniform for both home and road contests included plain white pants with no stripe and plain royal blue socks. The helmets were silver with blue numbers on the side. The color scheme of gray/silver and blue was similar to that of the NFL’s Detroit Lions, to whom the Bills had several connections. Owner Ralph Wilson was a Lions fan growing up and was at one time a minority owner of the team while the Bills first coach, Buster Ramsey, came to Buffalo after serving as the Lions defensive coordinator.
This is the 50th season, so they really need to do something big, actually.
That’d be a nice tribute
~K
"I’m Kurupt with Buffalo Rumblings. I am worth hundreds!"
by Kurupt on Jan 14, 2009 12:19 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I doubt that we'll see them.
That means ditching the current thirds and the fans love those.
by twoeightnine on Jan 14, 2009 12:42 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Both of you are right
I would love to see those original jerseys but I don’t know if anyone would go for them.
Playing Eternal Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008.
by MattRichWarren on Jan 14, 2009 9:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
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