Like it or not, the only reason for many people that Buffalo is even known or thought of is because of the Bills. The only reason Buffalo is not considered an equal to Rochester, rather than a step above, is because it has the Bills. Those 4 Super Bowl losses are the only thing many people even know about Buffalo. As they say, it's better to be known for something than to not be known at all. It's the price you pay to not being forgotten.
Albuquerque NM, Tucson AZ, Fresno CA, Long Beach CA, Mesa AZ, Virginia Beach VA, Omaha NE, Colorado Springs CO, Tulsa OK, Wichita KS, Bakersfield CA, Aurora CO, Santa Ana CA, Corpus Christi TX, Riverside CA, Lexington KY, Stockton CA, Anchorage AK, Greensboro NC, Toledo OH, Plano TX, Henderson NV, Jersey City NJ, Chula Vista CA
These are all cities that are bigger, many more than twice the size, of Buffalo. Yet if you ask a typical American to list off the cities in the US they are going to get to Buffalo before these places 9 times out of 10. Why? Brand identity.
Beyond that, how many people do you see with Frank Lloyd Wright, Albright Knox or Shea's tattoos? Personally I think tattoos are silly but people ink their body to show their identity. Like it or not, the Bills are a part of the community identity. At times, it's the only thing someone in Amherst or Lancaster has in common with the person from the First Ward or North Buffalo. So having something that the community comes together around, good or bad, comes at a price.
Some things you just pay for to have and you don't look to quantify a return.
People like to say that Buffalo is Rising and love to talk about how many cool things are happening. You hear people talk about #Buffalove with pride...even if you want to mock them while they do. But at the end of the day there is nothing unique about what is happening in Buffalo. Every city in the US has similar. People talk about architecture tourism as if having a restored FLW house is something special. They are wrong, the Darwin Martin House does not even make every list of his best works.
But there are just 32 cities that have an NFL team. There are 30 cities that have an NHL team, 30 with a MLB team and 30 with a NBA team. Of all of those, only a handful have more than 2 professional teams. Buffalo, holding on for dear life, is one of them. You simply don't let go of that.
To put it another way...ask yourself an honest question of what would the identity of Buffalo be without pro sports? Just what would people think Buffalo is. Snow. Snow is the only other thing that people on a national basis know about Buffalo. Rust Belt is another term that may come to mind. It's the price you pay to not be considered a former city. it's the price you pay to not just be considered a place it snows. It's the price you pay for people to know where you are on the map.
Without using the internet or a map...ask yourself if you know where Fresno CA, Greensboro NC or Chula Vista CA is? Ask yourself if you can name anything of significance about Stockton CA, Plano TX or Wichita KS. I would bet you can't. That's not a bad thing but it's expected. Yet each of these places has a larger population, a better economy and most importantly is growing at a much faster pace than Buffalo.
Each of these places has history and hipsters. Each of these places has a blog like Buffalo Rising that talks about what's cool. Each of these places matters. But right now, each of these places by and large is unknown and Buffalo isn't.
Like it or not, that's the price you pay.
- post script - I could go on about how a stadium can actually build out the tax base but went off on this theme during my morning coffee......