NFL teams near borders look to expand fan base
By RACHEL COHEN/
Associated Press
Buffalo Bills executives started looking east a decade ago, conscious that the small market couldn’t sustain an NFL franchise unless they expanded the fan base to Rochester.
That helped, but it wasn’t enough.
“We dried up that market,” owner Ralph Wilson said. “We turned over every stone.”
So the Bills shifted their gaze north, crossing not just city lines but international borders. Wilson believes that the franchise’s increased success at attracting Canadian fans is critical to its continued viability.
For NFL teams near Canada and Mexico, the proximity to another country offers unique opportunities to augment not only game attendance, but merchandise sales, broadcasting revenues and corporate sponsorships.
Bills ticket sales in Canada are up 18 percent this season, Wilson said, boosted by the greater parity between the American and Canadian dollars.
About 100 miles away, the Toronto metropolitan area has a population of 4.68 million — compared with 1.15 million in the Buffalo area.
The potential impact for the Bills comes not just from the size of the city but the economic makeup: Toronto boasts many affluent consumers willing and able to buy tickets, Wilson said.
“It’s no secret that western New York is declining in population and businesses,” he said.
For clubs close to Mexico, marketing across the border goes hand in hand with appealing to burgeoning Hispanic communities in their own cities.
“They get almost a double benefit,” said Mark Waller, the NFL’s senior vice president of marketing and sales. “They grow the fan base in the local market. At the same time, they build a second fan base in the international market.”
So many people travel back and forth between the U.S. and Mexico and have family and friends in both places that when a resident of either country starts rooting for an NFL team, it can resonate across the border.
Consider how someone in Mexico may become a Cowboys fan.
“If there are family and relatives living in Dallas, then obviously there is a connection,” Waller said. “They start communicating, visiting, coming back wearing Dallas Cowboys shirts and talking about them.”
That fluidity is evident in San Diego. Jim Steeg, the Chargers’ executive vice president and chief operating officer, said measuring the number of Mexican season ticket-holders is difficult because many own homes in both countries. Steeg estimated that 10 percent of the crowd at a typical Chargers game is bilingual.
Associated Press
Buffalo Bills executives started looking east a decade ago, conscious that the small market couldn’t sustain an NFL franchise unless they expanded the fan base to Rochester.
That helped, but it wasn’t enough.
“We dried up that market,” owner Ralph Wilson said. “We turned over every stone.”
So the Bills shifted their gaze north, crossing not just city lines but international borders. Wilson believes that the franchise’s increased success at attracting Canadian fans is critical to its continued viability.
For NFL teams near Canada and Mexico, the proximity to another country offers unique opportunities to augment not only game attendance, but merchandise sales, broadcasting revenues and corporate sponsorships.
Bills ticket sales in Canada are up 18 percent this season, Wilson said, boosted by the greater parity between the American and Canadian dollars.
About 100 miles away, the Toronto metropolitan area has a population of 4.68 million — compared with 1.15 million in the Buffalo area.
The potential impact for the Bills comes not just from the size of the city but the economic makeup: Toronto boasts many affluent consumers willing and able to buy tickets, Wilson said.
“It’s no secret that western New York is declining in population and businesses,” he said.
For clubs close to Mexico, marketing across the border goes hand in hand with appealing to burgeoning Hispanic communities in their own cities.
“They get almost a double benefit,” said Mark Waller, the NFL’s senior vice president of marketing and sales. “They grow the fan base in the local market. At the same time, they build a second fan base in the international market.”
So many people travel back and forth between the U.S. and Mexico and have family and friends in both places that when a resident of either country starts rooting for an NFL team, it can resonate across the border.
Consider how someone in Mexico may become a Cowboys fan.
“If there are family and relatives living in Dallas, then obviously there is a connection,” Waller said. “They start communicating, visiting, coming back wearing Dallas Cowboys shirts and talking about them.”
That fluidity is evident in San Diego. Jim Steeg, the Chargers’ executive vice president and chief operating officer, said measuring the number of Mexican season ticket-holders is difficult because many own homes in both countries. Steeg estimated that 10 percent of the crowd at a typical Chargers game is bilingual.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:53 AM
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