Bills President & CEO Russ Brandon yesterday morning said that after last week's snowstorm, there "are 'no red flags' preventing the team from practicing back in Buffalo this week and hosting the Browns next Sunday," according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSPORTS.com. At this point, there "are some concerns about flooding and another storm is set to move through the area" tomorrow. But Brandon added that there "are no major concerns and the Bills will charter back home" after tonight's game against the Jets at Ford Field in Detroit. He said that there "are only 'a few minor' issues at the practice facility but everything has passed inspection to this point" (CBSSPORTS.com, 11/23). Brandon said that the plan is for the team to return home "immediately after Monday night’s game and practice in Orchard Park for their Nov. 30 game." Brandon is hopeful that the game will be "played at The Ralph, but that would depend on the weather, including any potential flooding when a forecasted warming trend causes the heaping piles of snow in and around the stadium to start melting" (BUFFALO NEWS, 11/22). CBSSPORTS.com's La Canfora reported Bills and NFL execs "are discussing contingencies for moving practices and housing players elsewhere this week ... as the authorities ensure that the Bills' practice facility has not been damaged or compromised in any way by the storm." The NFL "is very conscious of not steering assets and relief efforts away from the needy in any way in order to allow the Bills to practice and play." Meanwhile, Bills Owner Terry Pegula is a Penn State booster, and sources said that when he and the NFL "were discussing where to play their Week 12 game, Pegula was enthusiastic about moving it to Happy Valley, but the lack of NFL game day infrastructure (replay booths, sidelines wired for tablets and headsets, etc.) made those non-starters given the available NFL stadiums" (CBSSPORTS.com, 11/23).
BEHIND THE SWITCHAROO: THE MMQB's Peter King writes he does not sense the Bills "are that pleased to be playing in climate-controlled Ford Field." But in the end, this "was a league call, and when all the options were presented to commissioner Roger Goodell on a conference call Thursday evening, and Detroit was being painted as the best option, Goodell said, 'I agree.'" Penn State and Yankee Stadium "would have loved the game." But NFL Exec VP/Business Ventures Eric Grubman said, "When we consider non-traditional sites, we spend at least a week building out infrastructure in the stadium to get it NFL-ready and turn it into an NFL facility." The factors Grubman listed for the alternative NFL site: "weather, both leading up to the game and on day of game; size of stadium; a stadium’s familiarity with neutral-site NFL games; practice and treatment facilities for the Bills; indoor practice facility availability; TV network preference; and fan experience." Grubman said of playing tonight rather than tomorrow, "The Tuesday thing we debated. We talked about it, and it was an option. If Buffalo had felt strongly about wanting to play on Tuesday, that would have ticked up." As for sites the NFL eventually decided not to choose, Gillette Stadium "didn't need the added congestion" and MetLife Stadium was out because the league "didn’t want to take Jets at Bills and make it Bills at Jets." Heinz Field was "impractical" because of "four high school games Friday, Syracuse at Pitt on Saturday afternoon, and a re-sodding of the field beginning Saturday" at 8:00pm ET. FirstEnergy Stadium was "in the midst of a re-sod, with the Browns scheduled for Week 12 and 13 road games." Soldier Field also was "recently re-sodded." In Cincinnati, there was "no indoor facility, and some weekend/Monday rain in the forecast." Rain was "in the forecast" yesterday in DC as well (MMQB.SI.com, 11/23).
TICKET TALK: ESPN.com's Mike Rodak reported fans yesterday "scooped up" all 500 tickets for tonight's relocated game "within 10 minutes" of their release, despite a two-ticket limit per person. Scalpers "quickly moved to sell the tickets on the streets outside the stadium, in one case asking $125 for a single ticket" (ESPN.com, 11/23). ESPN.com's Darren Rovell reported some of the largest online ticket exchanges "have decided not to allow tickets for this game to be listed for sale." StubHub, Ticketmaster (through its NFL Ticket Exchange) and Vivid Seats "are prohibiting fans from posting tickets for the matchup." StubHub Head of U.S. Communications Alison Salcedo said that the company "frequently decides not to allow sales of tickets the seller has obtained for free." One large reseller, TicketNetwork.com, "did have 32 general admission seats listed" as of 6:30pm ET yesterday, "with asking prices ranging" from $41-68. eBay, which owns StubHub, "also had postings and a few sales, with tickets generally going for $20 to $30 apiece" (ESPN.com, 11/23). Meanwhile, in Detroit, Marlon Walker reports many fans turned out yesterday "after having issues getting tickets through the website handling the digital ticketing." Tickets "were supposed to be available at 10 a.m. Saturday, but many reported that the site was either unavailable or crashed on them at that time" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/24).
