The Buffalo Bills are off to a good start on ticket sales, even though they are off last

year's wild sales pace.

The team revealed Tuesday it has two home games sold out and a third is close to a sellout.

That news came on the very first day that individual-game tickets went on sale to the general

public.

Tickets are gone for the home-opener against Miami on Sept. 12 and the Week 12 game against

Pittsburgh on Nov. 28. The game against the New York Jets on Oct. 3 has only limited tickets

available, the team said.

That's pretty good news for a franchise that missed the playoffs for a 10th straight season

in 2009 and raised ticket prices by an average of 15.5 percent this year. The Bills also have

not made any blockbuster moves since last year, despite the fact they overhauled their

football operation by hiring General Manager Buddy Nix and coach Chan Gailey.

The Bills' season-ticket total of 55,308 last year was their third best ever.

"Season-ticket sales are pacing below where we were the last two years," said Russ Brandon,

Bills chief executive officer. "But we're also mindful of the fact that we're coming off of

two record-setting years. Having three games essentially off the books right now is positive,

but we also have a lot of work to do with the remaining four games on the schedule."

Coupled with sales of 56,011 in 2008, last year was the first time in franchise history the

total topped 55,000 in back-to-back years.

Brandon would not offer any clue on how much sales were down. However, it's believed the

team will have a hard time hitting the 50,000 mark this year. That's a mark the Bills have hit

seven times in 37 years in Orchard Park.

Nevertheless, given the team's lack of success on the field, the initial sales aren't bad.

(It should be noted that the team holds back a group of seats for continued season-ticket

sales. So season purchasers still can get tickets for the Miami and Pittsburgh games.)

The pace of renewals for the 164 luxury suites at Ralph Wilson Stadium is good. More than a

third of those came up for renewal this year. Last season about 12 of those suites went

unsold, so the team sold them on an individual-game basis. Brandon said the team expects to

sell at least as many suites as last year.

"We had a heavy renewal year in suites premium inventory," Brandon said. "We paced rather

nicely within that space. The premium inventory is always a challenge within the economic

environment. We're pleased with where we stand right now and continue to work on it.

"I would say overall with our fans and our stakeholders, our sponsors, it continues to

resonate how passionate and great our fans and our partners are," Brandon said.

The Bills have been able to create a scarcity of tickets for the most attractive games by

allowing season-ticket holders to purchase extra individual-game tickets and group tickets in

advance. Those sales started last month.

"Season-ticket holders take advantage of the benefit through purchasing their own individual

game tickets and group tickets," Brandon said. "So there was very limited remaining inventory

as we headed into the individual game on-sale."

"Group ticket sales and individual ticket sales are pacing above a year ago," Brandon said.

"Our objective every year is to sell every ticket in the building."

The Bills have a bit longer to sell season tickets this summer because the first preseason

game at Ralph Wilson Stadium isn't until Aug. 28 (against Cincinnati). The Bills go to Toronto

this year for one preseason game (versus Indianapolis on Aug. 19) and one regular-season game (versus Chicago on Nov. 7).

While the Bills increased ticket prices this year for the first time since 2008, the team

still has the third least expensive ticket prices in the 32-team NFL. The Bills' average

ticket price this year is $59.19, up from $51.24 in 2009. The NFL average last year was

$74.99, and that figure will be higher this year.