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Buffalo Bills CEO Russ Brandon has been through quite a few Training Camp opening days in his time with the franchise but its been a long time since opening day featured the kind of buzz that surrounds this year's camp at St. John Fisher.
Brandon stopped by the WGR Morning Show on Thursday and covered a number of topics with Jeremy White and Howard Simon including the high expectations. "“It’s permeated throughout the organization" Brandon said. "Obviously there’s been a lot of hype in the community and rightfully so, we all have high expectations for the season. We’re ready to go. The talking is over. Its time to put the paper on the field so to speak and see where we go with it.”
Brandon also gave his assessment of the men in power of the football operations. General Manager Buddy Nix and Head Coach Chan Gailey are going into year three on the job. "We’ve been able to establish some continuity with our organization" the CEO said. "But its time to take a meaningful step and put to rest 12 years of not being in the playoffs and get back to where our fans expect us to be and where we expect to be as an organization. When we hired Buddy and brought in Chan it was not the most popular move at the time but you will not find two better football men than Chan Gailey and Buddy Nix.
Brandon also answered questions in regards to ticket sales and the NFL blackout policy. Brandon said sales of season tickets are progressing but still not where the franchise would like them to be. As far as individual game sales, Brandon said there are some tickets left for the Tennessee game and a "significant" number left for the Thursday Night game with Miami. He added it will be a challenge to sell out the December games.
Which could be one factor in the team's decision not to participate in a new rule allowing clubs to tweak the blackout rule. Rather than sell 100% of non premium seats 72 hours prior to kickoff, the NFL is allowing clubs to sell 85% and still lift the blackout so the game can be televised locally. Among the reasons why the Bills opted against that was the harm it could do to the season ticket base. "We’re an organization that covets our number one asset which is our season ticket holder" Brandon told WGR. "I received hundreds of letters and emails from loyal people who have been a big part of this organization for a long time and were very pleased with our decision. It was very important to take care of the people who have taken care of us for so long. Yes, there is a revenue loss for the organization. Its done more for teams who have an issue truly selling out every week, we do not have that issue.
As far as talks with Erie County on a new lease for Ralph Wilson Stadium, Brandon said they are having good, thoughtful talks but gave no timetable for an agreement. The lease expires next July.
Brandon stopped by the WGR Morning Show on Thursday and covered a number of topics with Jeremy White and Howard Simon including the high expectations. "“It’s permeated throughout the organization" Brandon said. "Obviously there’s been a lot of hype in the community and rightfully so, we all have high expectations for the season. We’re ready to go. The talking is over. Its time to put the paper on the field so to speak and see where we go with it.”
Brandon also gave his assessment of the men in power of the football operations. General Manager Buddy Nix and Head Coach Chan Gailey are going into year three on the job. "We’ve been able to establish some continuity with our organization" the CEO said. "But its time to take a meaningful step and put to rest 12 years of not being in the playoffs and get back to where our fans expect us to be and where we expect to be as an organization. When we hired Buddy and brought in Chan it was not the most popular move at the time but you will not find two better football men than Chan Gailey and Buddy Nix.
Brandon also answered questions in regards to ticket sales and the NFL blackout policy. Brandon said sales of season tickets are progressing but still not where the franchise would like them to be. As far as individual game sales, Brandon said there are some tickets left for the Tennessee game and a "significant" number left for the Thursday Night game with Miami. He added it will be a challenge to sell out the December games.
Which could be one factor in the team's decision not to participate in a new rule allowing clubs to tweak the blackout rule. Rather than sell 100% of non premium seats 72 hours prior to kickoff, the NFL is allowing clubs to sell 85% and still lift the blackout so the game can be televised locally. Among the reasons why the Bills opted against that was the harm it could do to the season ticket base. "We’re an organization that covets our number one asset which is our season ticket holder" Brandon told WGR. "I received hundreds of letters and emails from loyal people who have been a big part of this organization for a long time and were very pleased with our decision. It was very important to take care of the people who have taken care of us for so long. Yes, there is a revenue loss for the organization. Its done more for teams who have an issue truly selling out every week, we do not have that issue.
As far as talks with Erie County on a new lease for Ralph Wilson Stadium, Brandon said they are having good, thoughtful talks but gave no timetable for an agreement. The lease expires next July.