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For years, there has been uneasiness around Western New York about the future of the Buffalo Bills. The good people there know there are plenty of reasons to worry: the economy, shrinking population, other cities that might be more attractive to the NFL.

Every now and then, hard data is presented that captures the anxiety in stark terms.

For "The Fifth Down" blog at NYTimes.com, analyst KC Joyner has tabulated some numbers that won't encourage Bills fans.

In a study of stadium capacities and population densities in the various NFL markets, Joyner found that while it's generally easy to sell NFL tickets, the Bills must work twice as hard to achieve a sellout as they did 40 years ago and twice as hard to generate their Forbes-estimated $40 million in gate revenue compared to other teams.

"If there is one team that has a genuine claim on sellout hardship as compared to the rest of the league, it is the Buffalo Bills," Joyner writes.

That's why the Bills must outsource games to Toronto, hold their training camp in suburban Rochester and offer bargain-basement ticket prices.

Folks in Western New York are aware of these vague concepts, but Joyner's breakdown provides clarity on what the Bills marketing department must deal with to keep up with the rest of the NFL.