My first day at the Times Herald was Jan. 2, 1973.
But, to get acclimated, over three weeks prior I was in Buffalo for a sports overnighter with the man who would be replaced by me, managing-editor-to-be Chuck Ward.
Back then, the TH covered the home games of both Canisius and Niagara, and on Saturday evening “The Aud” hosted a season-opening basketball doubleheader. The feature game, after Niagara played Bowling Green, was the Griffs against Maryland, then the No. 3 team in the country, coached by Lefty Driesell with three bona fide national stars: Len Elmore, John Lucas and Tom McMillen.
The Terps won easily, 107-80, but the five-figure crowd impressed me.
Next up, the following day, was the Bills final home game of the ’72 season and the last ever at decrepit War Memorial Stadium, a meaningless meeting with Detroit.
As Chuck and I took our seats in the cramped, drafty press box it occurred to me that, “All my life I’ve wanted to cover pro sports … and THIS is it?”
Buffalo and the Lions played to a 21-21 tie and, mercifully, there was no overtime. But it was hard not to notice the Bills’ feature running back, O.J. Simpson, who after three years of limited use, would rush for 1,250 yards in 14 games that season.
A gaggle of reporters gathered around him in the hot, dank, sweaty locker room, celebrating the fact they would never have to conduct another interview in such a disgusting dressing area … except, of course, at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.
Five years later when defensive end Ron McDole, who had left the Bills for Washington, was back in Buffalo at his former team’s new stadium, he famously allowed, “I actually never minded playing at War Memorial … because I knew which shower worked.”
THAT FIRST year, I spent a lot of time writing about the Bills new facility in Orchard Park. After all, back then, the NFL Draft was held in late January and there was no free agency in that era so stories were hard to come by until training camp in July.
The big question was what business would earn the naming rights to the $22 million facility — $3 million less than Tom Brady will earn this season — and $15 million more than the spartan stadium the Patriots had built two years earlier in Foxborough.
Rich Products won the bidding, paying $1.5 million over 25 years — $60,000 per season, which doesn’t buy you an equipment manager these days — and the refrigerated food products company took the stadium’s name, one of the first businesses in American sports to pay for such rights.
In 1998, when the contract expired, it became Ralph Wilson Stadium — aka “The Ralph” — in honor of the team owner.
That lasted until 2016 when the New Era Cap Company signed a seven-year, $35 million naming rights contract with the Bills. But this summer, having reduced its presence in Western New York and reeling from the lost revenue created by the coronavirus, New Era asked out of the deal.
Five days ago, the team announced its home will temporarily be known as “Bills Stadium” until it can find a new naming rights partner.
HOWEVER, there’s been a push from fans — via petition — to desert the naming rights approach and call it “Marv Levy Stadium.” The sentiment is apt in that it honors a coach of class, dignity and character who also happens to have led the franchise to the greatest success in its 61-year history.
Marv turned 95 earlier this month and, after his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001, he would undoubtedly see a stadium named in his honor as the second-greatest tribute of his career … though, true to form, he would be both humbled and embarrassed.
Of course, it would buck the NFL trend.
There are 30 stadiums in the league, with two of them shared: the Giants and Jets at MetLife in East Rutherford, N.J. and the Rams and Chargers at SoFi in Inglewood, Calif.
Twenty-five of those facilities have sold naming rights, headed by the Cowboys who get between $17 and $19 million annually from AT&T.
Five stadiums currently have no naming rights, including the Bills.
The other four: Green Bay’s Lambeau Field honors the franchise’s founder as does Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium, Chicago’s Soldier Field pays tribute to the country’s military war dead and Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium recognizes the team logo.
It will be interesting to see whether the Bills accede to the fans wishes, though it’s worth noting that virtually all of owners Terry and Kim Pegula’s properties, including the oil and gas holdings, have been affected by the pandemic. Still, while Pegula Sports & Entertainment has incorporated some across-the-board money-saving measures, Bills insiders maintain the team hasn’t been affected by cuts. But, in fairness, a generous naming-rights fee might be difficult to turn down.
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
