Bills tix sales slow

About a month before the Buffalo Bills start training camp, there is mixed news from the team's ticket office on sales for the 2006 season.

Season ticket sales are down slightly from 2005 though four of the eight home games are pacing toward sellouts. Advance sales to season ticket account holders and group sales have resulted in just limited tickets remaining for games against the New York Jets on Sept. 24, Minnesota on Oct. 1, New England on Oct. 22 and Green Bay on Nov. 5.

Team officials announced this week that individual game tickets will go on sale to the public July 15 though season ticket sales continue. Prices for season tickets range from $36-$58 compared to individual game costs of $27-$47.

Training camp is scheduled to open July 28 at St. John Fisher College near Rochester.

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/s...ml?jst=b_ln_hl

I suppose this doesn't come as a big surprise to me.

While most season ticket holders will continue purchasing their tickets, I can see why the Bills may not be attracting new customers.

Prices went up for 2007 season tickets in a market that can hardly afford the increase, combined with what (?) two or three seasons of mostly sell outs and televised games.(we sure are an optimistic bunch) But why buy tickets when all the games are on TV?

Add to that a team that hasn't been dominant in the NFL since Kelly left.

When the games are blacked out and the team once again becomes a force to be reckoned with, ticket sales will improve too.

I think once we know who the starting quarterback is, sales will improve.

Still, expectations are low because of a poor showing last year. This is the first year in a while the Bills don't have a potential savior on their roster. Bledsoe came in '02 and we thought playoffs. They revamped the defense with Spikes, Milloy, and Adams in '03 and we thought Super Bowl. An explosive Evans arrived coinciding with McGahee replacing Henry mid '04 and they barely missed the playoffs. JP Losman replacing Bledsoe in 2005 was supposed to put the Bills over the top. It backfired because the Bills had no offensive or defensive lines. McGahee and Sam Adams underachieved. Mularkey and the faux Silver Fox are gone, replaced by Superhero Marv Levy and Coach of the Year Dick Jauron.

But expectations are low. Marv's putting together a smart, dedicated team. McGahee and Evans are captains, so are Spikes and Fletcher. Spikes and Fletcher are no brainers. Maybe Jauron's hoping to light a fire under McGahee's arse by naming him captain. Maybe McGahee's more dedicated than we realize since he works out in Miami.

Who knows?

I still think the games will sell out. Maybe not on time to lift a blackout, and probably not the Christmas Eve game, but people will go. There is no better feeling than sitting at the stadium in the late fall or early winter cheering on the Bills.
Eating chilli, drinking beer, and throwing a football around at 10:30 a.m. is the only way to spend a Sunday morning.