leets

Don't get too excited. There are very few pro teams that actually pay for their facilities

I only responded because Greekboy said Buffalo did not deserve an NFL team. I can not comment on Norflok's ability to support a team but if you look at Buffalo and its nearby easily drivable population it is extremely large. The NFL does not ignore the fact that Toronto will be more interested in the NFL with a team in Buffalo. The Bills are as close as can possibly be to Canada's largest city without puting a team IN Canada. Also Buffalo's 1.8 Mill metro is very compact compared to Norfolk. These thing contribute to a full stadium and big TV revenues for the NFL.

You are have not counted the Canadian Population which is directly on Buffalo's boarder which numbers 600,000. (many of these people live closer to downtown Buffalo than people in Buffalo's American suburbs That brings Buffalo's metro up to 1.8M and the Canadian population is growing. That is 1.8 M people within a 40 minute drive to Rich satdium all within the same TV market now add in Hamilton Ontario 1 hr drive (700,000 people) and Rochester NY 1 hr drive (1.1M people) and you have 3.6 M people. That is without counting Toronto or the other 300,000 people in the southern counties of Western NY which are also within a 1.5 hour drive of the stadium. I am not sure what you are trying to prove but Buffalo is a large market and that is why it has two big league sports teams and one of the most successful minor league baseball teams.

Here is an article that talks about cross bvoarder sports attendance. It is old so the figures are not current: http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories.../22/story4.html I will look for more.

It could be from 5 to 20%. That is as many as 16,000 people. It could be more. But they don't just come from Toronto they come from Hamilton Ontario and St. Catherines and Rochester which are all 1hr or less away. The Bills preseason camp is in Rochester. And the fans don't just come to the stadium. They whatch on TV which is more important to the networks. The networks don't want Buffalo to loose its team because the draw is on 9 to 10 Mill not just Buffalo. What is Norfolk's 1.5 hour fan base?

I was responding to a post that asked why Buffalo should have a team and I noted that within an easy 1.5 hour drive the Bills can draw from a population of between 9 and 10M people and that its own immediate metro is approx 1.6M. That ain't chump change.

The Buffalo Bills and also the Buffalo Sabers draw from its Bi National metro population of about 1.6M people. On top of that these teams can also draw on a total of about 9M people within a 1 1/2 hour drive of Rich stadium. That includes nearby major cities such as Toronto, Hamilton and Rochester. Buffalo also draws fans from as far as Syracuse. Buffalo's market size is skewed by the statistics because the Canadian fans are not included. But if you ask either of these Buffalo big league teams you would find that they very much appreciuate their Canadian fans. I do not think Norfolk has anyplace near this size fan base to draw from. So yes they do deserve a team if there is such a right.

Buffalo's old city hall (now county hall ) old and new together

I was surprised to see that Buffalo City Hall was not on here yet. This one is magnificant!! Vintage shot