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....when Ralph Wilson is called home, the Bills will go to auction and be sold to the highest bidder, maximizing the return to his heirs. And at that moment, whenever it might come, some cruel realities will dawn on the loyal, long-suffering football fans of the Niagara Frontier.
The Bills are worth a king's ransom anywhere, but they're worth a whole lot more somewhere other than Buffalo. No prospective owner could pay the going rate for the franchise and then hope to finance, let alone recoup, his investment in that city.
It is true that the NFL's great, collectivist revenue-sharing policy, especially when it comes to television, allows small-market franchises such as Green Bay to survive next to giants such as the ones in New York.
But in order to justify that kind of purchase price, an owner is going to have to max out on other, unshared revenue as well. That's simply not possible in a small, shrinking, economically challenged city, with a stadium that is a relic of a bygone time.
Barring the appearance of a true philanthropist, someone who is willing to outbid all competition and then underwrite the franchise for years to come just to keep it in Buffalo (Sabres owner Tom Golisano's name is the one that keeps popping up), it seems certain that the Bills will be sold, at a price that provides the maximum return to Wilson's estate, and inevitably moved.
Which brings us, of course, to Toronto.
Ted Rogers is 74 years old. Paul Godfrey is a youthful 68. Larry Tanenbaum will turn 62 next month.
All of them are up to their necks in the pursuit of an NFL franchise (Godfrey has been for eons now). All of them are operating as individuals and not for the benefit of a corporate entity that might reap benefits long after they're gone.
The Bills are worth a king's ransom anywhere, but they're worth a whole lot more somewhere other than Buffalo. No prospective owner could pay the going rate for the franchise and then hope to finance, let alone recoup, his investment in that city.
It is true that the NFL's great, collectivist revenue-sharing policy, especially when it comes to television, allows small-market franchises such as Green Bay to survive next to giants such as the ones in New York.
But in order to justify that kind of purchase price, an owner is going to have to max out on other, unshared revenue as well. That's simply not possible in a small, shrinking, economically challenged city, with a stadium that is a relic of a bygone time.
Barring the appearance of a true philanthropist, someone who is willing to outbid all competition and then underwrite the franchise for years to come just to keep it in Buffalo (Sabres owner Tom Golisano's name is the one that keeps popping up), it seems certain that the Bills will be sold, at a price that provides the maximum return to Wilson's estate, and inevitably moved.
Which brings us, of course, to Toronto.
Ted Rogers is 74 years old. Paul Godfrey is a youthful 68. Larry Tanenbaum will turn 62 next month.
All of them are up to their necks in the pursuit of an NFL franchise (Godfrey has been for eons now). All of them are operating as individuals and not for the benefit of a corporate entity that might reap benefits long after they're gone.
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Pretty harsh words about Buffalo, but the author is Canadian, eh?
i hate reading
like this. What are the odds that Golisano can step up and buy the Bills? i don't want them to move out of Buffalo.
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