FanPost

More Stadium Discussion - with a poll

There was a lot of interesting discussion in the comments section of John Boccacino's recent article on this site, "To build new or renovate: Buffalo Bills stadium talk". The article was prompted by an annoucement that a private consulting firm had been hired by the Pegulas to consider the various options for a potential new Bills stadium at some point in the probably not too distant future. Unfortunately the comments section is now closed. That's why I decided to post this. It's an important discussion, and one that won't go away until the possible new stadium decision is finalized, for better or worse. And it's a discussion in which the only legitimate opinions on the matter are from Bills fans themselves - not politicians, and ESPECIALLY not the OTHER 31 NFL owners.

My personal opinion on the matter is that the recent renovations to the stadium are more than sufficient, and there is no true "need" for a new stadium. They should just continue to do this, as needed, in the future. But I know this probably isn't what will happen; maybe the Bills will continue in their present venue for longer than some would hope, but eventually there will be a new place, "needed" or not. So the questions to be answered are 'where?', and 'what?'. (And obviously 'how?', as in 'how will it be paid for?', and 'how will regular fans be able to afford to go there?' But those are questions for another time. Although feel free to comment on that too, if you wish. It's a free country.)

Make no mistake; moving the stadium downtown WILL be the end of tailgating at Bills games, at least as we know it today. I think that those in favor of this underestimate how important this aspect is to the very existence of this franchise here in Western NY. (And yes, I do like to tailgate. I'm one that sees no point in attending a Bills game if you don't arrive at the parking lot by at least 8am. That means getting up at 4am for me - and that's if pretty much everything is loaded up and arranged the night before. It's not about being drunk. It's a pretty tame scene with us nowadays - a campfire regardless if it's 80 degrees or 10 degrees, cooking over that fire, and several beers. Not much of a party anymore.) Anyway, back to the economic benefit of the tailgating. Nobody can claim in their right mind that the attenance from the year 2000 to the present would be anywhere near as high, if that parking lot scene did not exist. The on-field product usually wasn't drawing it in, despite the team's many false promises to attempt to generate excitement. Only in a handful of those seasons was the team even pretending to try to win. We have no way of knowing for sure of course, but I bet attendance would be cut in half, and the team would have been gone long ago.

If they build a new stadium downtown, I would likely be done with season tickets, even if they ever get good. I would check it out though - if it's open air. If they put a roof over it, I'll never go to another game again. Same goes even for if they build an indoor stadium in Orchard Park, or anywhere else. The cold weather NFL teams that have moved indoors over the years are a complete embarassment to themselves (Lions, Vikings, and especially Colts). Their fans are widely mocked and degraded at every opportunity, and rightfully so. These woebegone franchises have breeded whole generations of feeble bodied and weak minded fans that wouldn't be caught out-of-doors doing ANYTHING, for any amount of time, when the temperature dips below 40 degrees (faranheit) - that's short sleeve weather here.

I say 'especially' the Colts, because in addition to building a dome, they relocated there, literally overnight, in a drunken night of binge drinking, and leaving behind a loyal and old fanbase. Does anybody really think they are going to win in a cold place on the road in January. They looked in that game in Kansas City this past season like they wished they were anywhere else. That's what happens when you play your football inside.

I will always consider the Indianapolis Colts a laughingstock, and no amount of Peyton Mannings or Andrew Lucks, or even Bill Polians and Frank Reichs will ever change that for me.

Also there's the safety consideration: Roofs can collapse. And we get snow here.

Speaking of snow, there have been comments made regarding the famous snowstorm game in 2017 against those Colts here. As in, that's why we need an indoor stadium. That game was likely a once in a lifetime event - THAT extreme storm has to happen to fall on one of 8 Sundays (during certain hours). It had never happened quite like that, and probably won't again in our lifetimes. It's hardly the norm when discussing "snow games".

And then there's the widely circulated arguments of 365 day a year events to be held in an indoor downtown Bills stadium, the so-called economic benefit to the region that will provide. Come on with this. There's only so many monster truck rallies, RV shows, and circuses (without clowns or elephants) to be had. Those things are already happening at other venues across the region anyway. The super bowl still isn't coming to town even then, which I'm glad for. Not really interested in having two teams, neither named 'Bills' play for the championship in our stadium.

A football stadium, to me, needs a place sit (or at least the option to sit), restrooms, drinking fountains, and a scoreboard, and a marked field for the teams to play a game on. You can throw in some concessions too, for people that don't get enough to eat or drink in the parking lot. But that's just my opinion. And Jerry Jones's, of course.

For the purposes of the poll below, of course newer indoor stadiums aren't really "domes" anymore, but "dome" shall mean "any stadium with a roof over the playing field and seating areas".

Sorry, I don't mean to be do deragorty towards people who might prefer the Bills played indoors. (Unless you reading this are one of the other 31 NFL owners. Then I DO mean it to be.) It's just that tailgating, and watching the Bills play in all types of weather has been such a tradition to me, and countless other fans. And I get slightly offended when people talk about how 'bad' the current stadium is. It must be somewhat like how diehard Brooklyn Dodgers fans felt when people talked about how lousy a place for baseball Ebbets Field was in its later years. Although in that case, at least, Ebbets Field really was crumbling. New Era Field isn't.

Thanks for reading, and good luck!

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.