Buffalo is a small market, and everyone knows it. The Bills are able to fill Ralph Wilson Stadium, and they know their market can support an NFL team. It has for years, but over the past decade, the Bills have faced an increasing difficulty in filling their stadium while putting mediocre teams on the field. The best way to sell tickets is to win games. The second best way is to make big roster moves. The Bills have done the latter this offseason, and they hope it results in simply winning.
According to BuffaloNews.com, the Bills announced that they have sold out individual tickets that were made available to season ticket holders for their first two home games of 2012 against the Chiefs (week 2) and the Patriots (week4).
This is an encouraging sign, but it’s not time to declare the Bills’ ticket selling efforts a complete success. Buffalo still hasn’t sold out their season tickets. Group tickets will go on sale June 9th, and finally, the general public will be able to buy individual game tickets starting on June 10th. In short, there’s still a long way to go.
Small market teams such as the Bills are under far more pressure to win than huge market teams like the Giants or the Jets. The Bills additions of Mario Williams, Mark Anderson, and Stephon Gilmore have clearly convinced some Buffalo fans that the Bills are finally on the rise. It seems likely that the Bills will be able to avoid blackouts in 2012, but their long-term security can only be won on the field.
