Bills May Sell Out '08 Home Schedule Before Selling Single Games

Bills Could Sell Out All Home Games Before Individual Ticket Sales Begin

Strong ticket demand has the Bills on pace to "sell out every home game before individual ticket sales even begin" for the first time in franchise history, according to James Fink of BUSINESS FIRST OF BUFFALO. The team was scheduled to begin general ticket sales on July 19, but the Bills have suspended that date "because there may be none to sell." The team's focus is on "selling season-ticket packages along with premium seats and suites." Through June, six of the Bills' seven regular-season games at Ralph Wilson Stadium were sold out and "only a handful of tickets remain for the Dec. 28 game" against the Patriots. The Bills have sold "about 8,700 of the 10,000 premium seats in the stadium and leased 155 of the venue's 160 suites." With the Bills scheduled to play eight games at Rogers Centre in Toronto over the next five years, Team Marketing Report Exec Editor Jon Greenberg said of the strong sales in Buffalo, "Maybe the threat of the Bills leaving for Toronto is scaring fans into buying tickets to show their support for Buffalo." Fink notes a strong home schedule, including the Raiders, 49ers and a November 17 "MNF" game against the Browns, is "helping the cause." Greenberg said that the strong ticket sales "will have other payoffs for the Bills besides selling out Ralph Wilson Stadium." The Bills "likely will have more than 120 sponsorship deals in place once the season begins." The team during the off-season extended a deal with Time Warner Cable and inked a new deal with Gulf Oil Corp. (BUSINESS FIRST OF BUFFALO, 7/4 issue).