ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — After it was reported that one fan was told it would cost $400,000 to keep his eight seasons tickets at the new Buffalo Bills stadium, anger and confusion with the personal seat license issue continues to grow.
Not only with Bills fans but also with Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
"The modern NFL really doesn't care about smaller markets. It is a business, I've been saying it for years, " Poloncarz said. "They love you as much as the amount of money you bring to the table, what you're willing to pay for a ticket."
Poloncarz addressed his concerns with how the Bills and Legends Hospitality have handled the PSLs during a press conference Friday.
"I found it, first off, very upsetting that they would not announce what the PSL prices were for all of the seats," Poloncarz said. "I'm just disappointed that it's gotten to this point."
Erie County has no say in the PSL pricing conversation. Once the new Bills stadium is completed, the Erie County government will be out of the stadium business altogether, as New York State will be the new owner.
Poloncarz mentioned that he was blunt with Bills' leadership during a recent tour of the Bills Experience office, where season ticket holders are being brought in waves to purchase their PSL.
"I think they thought it was going to be, 'Oh, the county executives would come in, we're going to wine and dine him, show him this,' " Poloncarz said. "They got more than an earful from me to the point where I got calls afterward saying, 'Man, you are not in a good mood.' "
Poloncarz speculated that he believes the Bills, along with Legends Hospitality — the company tasked with selling the PSLs — is trying to find out how many club and suite level PSLs can be sold, and will then adjust the pricing of the PSLs for the rest of the stadium.
"That's wrong," Poloncarz said. "We should know now what are the costs associated with every PSL that's going to be sold."
A Facebook group of Bills season ticket holders started last Friday now has more than 2,500 members.
They're trying to crowd-source information with those season ticket holders who have gone through the process.
"I had been asking for months up until that point, the Bills, and hadn't really gotten the answer," Orlando said. "So [I] figured the best way to kind of get some answers, bring everybody together in the same room and just open up a discussion board."
Orlando hasn't had his Bills Experience yet to discuss his potential PSL seats. He's been told by a representative that it could still be several weeks
The anxiety and frustration, however, are not an original story when it comes to PSLs and the sticker shock associated with them.
"This is not a unique experience in Buffalo," said Marc Gannis.
Gannis is the founder of Sportscorp LTD, and has decades of experience on the business side of the sports industry.
"This is, unfortunately, standard operating procedure," Gannis said. "The reason for it is because the teams have to generate significant money from the best seats."
Gannis said club and suite level seats, which are the types of seats the season ticket holders are currently being contacted about, are priced elastically--meaning at other stadiums those seats are often purchased by businesses.
"That's never a happy story," Gannis said. "It's never something that is desired by the team, but it's something that almost always happens when new stadiums are built."
The one part of the story that is different, according to Gannis, is the lack of information the Bills have provided the public regarding the PSLs.
"Other teams have announced all the pricing at once and excluded just the most expensive for their highest-price customers, that's doesn't appear to be the direction the bills went here," Gannis said. "I think that's why there's more so much consternation right now."
2 On Your Side reached out to the Bills multiple times with questions regarding the PSL pricing, but did not get a response.
WGRZ also reached out to Governor Hochul's office about the matter, since the state will be the owner of the new stadium.
In a statement provided by Hochul's office, the governor "has communicated to the Bills leadership the need to prioritize ensuring as many fans from all walks of life are able to attend games and cheer on the Bills in the new stadium."