130 million renovation project at Ralph Wilson Stadium will make the facility more fan
Like a football player at age 40, Ralph Wilson Stadium needs reconstructive surgery. That operation is coming in the next 10 months, part of the $130 million renovation project that gathers steam after the season and should be completed for the season opener in 2014.
The changes are designed to make the aging facility more fan friendly, increase advertising and sponsorship revenue and thus keep the stadium as a viable home for the Bills for at least the next nine years.
Bills fans won have any trouble recognizing the Orchard Park stadium next August, but Cheap Wholesale Sunglasses they also won be able to miss the many changes coming to the playpen.
Entrance gates will be pushed out toward the street, creating a much bigger exterior concourse outside the stadium walls and allowing for live entertainment. Six new gates down from the current nine will have more Wholesale Bags entry lanes, and each gate will have a video board to show pregame shows and highlights.
A huge new Bills Store will be built behind the scoreboard, off Abbott Road, with a glass exterior and a big Bills logo creating the stadium signature look on its new door. The current scoreboard will stay about the same size, but its video screen will be about 60 feet wider, because the stationary ads will be removed. The picture also will be crisper, thanks to technological advances.
Fans sitting in front of that scoreboard will be able to see, without turning completely around, two smaller video scoreboards at the opposite end.
Other changes include a new Bills themed East End Lounge with food and drink; moving the press box to the current Red Zone Club in the corner of the tunnel end zone; a vast rewiring to expand Wi Fi and Das capabilities; the building of a new commissary building for Delaware North; a up of the lower bowl concourse; a refurbishing of concession stands to provide more variety, more local flavor and more permanent space; and 22 percent more restroom space.
The $130 million renovation project jointly funded by New York State, Erie County and the Bills includes dozens of changes. While many involve behind the scenes structural work, there a common denominator for the most noticeable improvements.
renovation is geared toward the fan, Bills President and CEO Russ Brandon said. significantly enhances the fans game day experience. is a far different project from the last major renovation, starting in 1998. That $63 million project added new suites and club seats, so that the stadium could compete, revenue wise, in the new National Football League.
Now, with the Bills facing possible television blackouts for the last four games in Ralph Wilson Stadium this season, the new renovation project aims to increase fans comfort levels and access to game day information, while also providing the team with extra revenue potential. That will come from the expanded Bills store and more sponsorship opportunities on video boards, scoreboards and concession areas.
The obvious question is: How long Ralph Wilson Stadium can remain a viable NFL facility?
The stadium, which cost $22 million to build in 1973 dollars, will celebrate its 50th birthday at the end of the current lease.
years ago, Cheap Handbags in 1998, a majority of the community thought this was probably the last lease in this building, Brandon said. we added another 10 years. There nothing saying we can do that going into the future. no easy answer here.
Under a new 10 year lease that begins this season and extends through the 2022 season, Erie County and New York State have virtually an ironclad guarantee that the team will remain here for seven seasons, including this one. Any time before the 2019 season, the team would have to pay $400 million to break the lease.
But after that seventh year, between the 2019 and 2020 seasons, the team could buy out the last three years for $28.4 million, considered a relative pittance, compared with the cost of someone buying the team and building a new stadium in another city.
Assuming the Bills stay here the full 10 years, through 2022, can Ralph Wilson Stadium, with more renovations, remain the Bills home after that?
That depends largely on two factors, the stadium physical condition and its ability to drive enough ticket sales, sponsorships Wholesale Fake Sunglasses and advertising revenue.
think time will tell, Brandon said. the league continues to grow, can we keep pace with generating that type of revenue through this stadium, as long as the bones and the structure continue to be strong? while hesitant to talk about the prospects of a new stadium, doesn seem enamored with the idea of such a silver bullet to solve this franchise challenges.
He is quick to note that Buffalo currently is tied, with Louisville, for the 56th largest market in the United States, and the lack of Fortune 500 companies to support premium seats and sponsorships has been well documented.
In addition, a shiny new stadium clearly would come with higher prices for tickets, premium seats and sponsorships, in a market that has trouble supporting the current price structure.
The Bills top executive also cited two elements of Ralph Wilson Stadium that may not have a peer throughout the NFL: the stadium in bowl sight lines and its tailgating venue.
Brandon isn shy about emphasizing the commitment from all parties, especially owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr., to keep the team here. He and others have stressed that Wilson could have fled for greener pastures any time in the last few years, at a buyout figure as low as a few million dollars.
is motivated to keep this franchise viable here for generations to come, Brandon said. lease spotlights the commitment of all the parties. are more details on some key elements of the renovation project:
Moving the entry gates out farther from the stadium outer walls.
The average NFL stadium, inside the entry gates, has some 1.4 million square feet, while Buffalo has about 900,000. The renovation will increase Ralph Wilson Stadium to about 1.2 million square feet, and the exterior concourse will grow by 83 percent.
significantly changes Wholesale Replica Handbags the footprint, Brandon said.
He and Marc Honan, senior vice president of marketing and broadcasting, noted the additional breathing space and comfort for fans entering the exterior concourse.
Like a football player at age 40, Ralph Wilson Stadium needs reconstructive surgery. That operation is coming in the next 10 months, part of the $130 million renovation project that gathers steam after the season and should be completed for the season opener in 2014.
The changes are designed to make the aging facility more fan friendly, increase advertising and sponsorship revenue and thus keep the stadium as a viable home for the Bills for at least the next nine years.
Bills fans won have any trouble recognizing the Orchard Park stadium next August, but Cheap Wholesale Sunglasses they also won be able to miss the many changes coming to the playpen.
Entrance gates will be pushed out toward the street, creating a much bigger exterior concourse outside the stadium walls and allowing for live entertainment. Six new gates down from the current nine will have more Wholesale Bags entry lanes, and each gate will have a video board to show pregame shows and highlights.
A huge new Bills Store will be built behind the scoreboard, off Abbott Road, with a glass exterior and a big Bills logo creating the stadium signature look on its new door. The current scoreboard will stay about the same size, but its video screen will be about 60 feet wider, because the stationary ads will be removed. The picture also will be crisper, thanks to technological advances.
Fans sitting in front of that scoreboard will be able to see, without turning completely around, two smaller video scoreboards at the opposite end.
Other changes include a new Bills themed East End Lounge with food and drink; moving the press box to the current Red Zone Club in the corner of the tunnel end zone; a vast rewiring to expand Wi Fi and Das capabilities; the building of a new commissary building for Delaware North; a up of the lower bowl concourse; a refurbishing of concession stands to provide more variety, more local flavor and more permanent space; and 22 percent more restroom space.
The $130 million renovation project jointly funded by New York State, Erie County and the Bills includes dozens of changes. While many involve behind the scenes structural work, there a common denominator for the most noticeable improvements.
renovation is geared toward the fan, Bills President and CEO Russ Brandon said. significantly enhances the fans game day experience. is a far different project from the last major renovation, starting in 1998. That $63 million project added new suites and club seats, so that the stadium could compete, revenue wise, in the new National Football League.
Now, with the Bills facing possible television blackouts for the last four games in Ralph Wilson Stadium this season, the new renovation project aims to increase fans comfort levels and access to game day information, while also providing the team with extra revenue potential. That will come from the expanded Bills store and more sponsorship opportunities on video boards, scoreboards and concession areas.
The obvious question is: How long Ralph Wilson Stadium can remain a viable NFL facility?
The stadium, which cost $22 million to build in 1973 dollars, will celebrate its 50th birthday at the end of the current lease.
years ago, Cheap Handbags in 1998, a majority of the community thought this was probably the last lease in this building, Brandon said. we added another 10 years. There nothing saying we can do that going into the future. no easy answer here.
Under a new 10 year lease that begins this season and extends through the 2022 season, Erie County and New York State have virtually an ironclad guarantee that the team will remain here for seven seasons, including this one. Any time before the 2019 season, the team would have to pay $400 million to break the lease.
But after that seventh year, between the 2019 and 2020 seasons, the team could buy out the last three years for $28.4 million, considered a relative pittance, compared with the cost of someone buying the team and building a new stadium in another city.
Assuming the Bills stay here the full 10 years, through 2022, can Ralph Wilson Stadium, with more renovations, remain the Bills home after that?
That depends largely on two factors, the stadium physical condition and its ability to drive enough ticket sales, sponsorships Wholesale Fake Sunglasses and advertising revenue.
think time will tell, Brandon said. the league continues to grow, can we keep pace with generating that type of revenue through this stadium, as long as the bones and the structure continue to be strong? while hesitant to talk about the prospects of a new stadium, doesn seem enamored with the idea of such a silver bullet to solve this franchise challenges.
He is quick to note that Buffalo currently is tied, with Louisville, for the 56th largest market in the United States, and the lack of Fortune 500 companies to support premium seats and sponsorships has been well documented.
In addition, a shiny new stadium clearly would come with higher prices for tickets, premium seats and sponsorships, in a market that has trouble supporting the current price structure.
The Bills top executive also cited two elements of Ralph Wilson Stadium that may not have a peer throughout the NFL: the stadium in bowl sight lines and its tailgating venue.
Brandon isn shy about emphasizing the commitment from all parties, especially owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr., to keep the team here. He and others have stressed that Wilson could have fled for greener pastures any time in the last few years, at a buyout figure as low as a few million dollars.
is motivated to keep this franchise viable here for generations to come, Brandon said. lease spotlights the commitment of all the parties. are more details on some key elements of the renovation project:
Moving the entry gates out farther from the stadium outer walls.
The average NFL stadium, inside the entry gates, has some 1.4 million square feet, while Buffalo has about 900,000. The renovation will increase Ralph Wilson Stadium to about 1.2 million square feet, and the exterior concourse will grow by 83 percent.
significantly changes Wholesale Replica Handbags the footprint, Brandon said.
He and Marc Honan, senior vice president of marketing and broadcasting, noted the additional breathing space and comfort for fans entering the exterior concourse.
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