How Long Do You Believe that the Bills will be in Buffalo?

[Wys Guy]

Just curious what the breakdown is here.

[Devin]

I think 3-5. I only anticipate 1-2 years after his death tops. I suspect things will move quickly after that.

[camelcowboy]

I think 3-5. I only anticipate 1-2 years after his death tops. I suspect things will move quickly after that. Unfortuantely i agree, once the team goes on the open market they will be gone.

[THATHURMANATOR]

They will stay

[SABURZFAN]

I think 3-5. I only anticipate 1-2 years after his death tops. I suspect things will move quickly after that.


i hope you're wrong.

[SABURZFAN]

Unfortuantely i agree, once the team goes on the open market they will be gone.


i hope you're wrong too.

[SABURZFAN]

They will stay


i hope you're right.

[paladin warrior]

If he die.. Buffalo Bills will never forget him and put the picture the stone wall or statue. IT might help to keep Buffalo Bills place for long long long time...

[YardRat]

My heart says they stay...My head says they go shortly after Wilson's death and ownership is transferred. A lot depends on how the Toronto deal goes.

[Typ0]

with no plans in place for a new stadium it's hard to think they will stay. And Wilson refuses to negotiate with anyone and then says "no one will do it" so he doesn't want to be the bad guy. He's going to kick off and then the team will be sold to someone somewhere else unless there is a very proactive team of people that act and are able to get all this done and keep the team here.

[Night Train]

With the Erie County buyout being so cheap ( 20 Mil, I believe ), I'd say 1-2 years after Wilson dies. I just believe this area has reached it's pricing ceiling and cannot ask for more, based on the average income of the local fan.

Other cities would need to have an NFL ready stadium, (proper size and suites) to be approved. I look around and see no one qualifying as of now, including Toronto.

The NFL killed the medium to small market teams long term with that bad agreement last year. Look at all the factors that trigger a larger cap. That opened my eyes.

No way in hell will large markets continue a welfare system for the smaller markets without some sort of backlash, legal action.

[Pondslider]

When is the lease up? 2010?

[Mitchy moo]

They are not going anywhere with these new toronto ties, lol.

[Wys Guy]

with no plans in place for a new stadium it's hard to think they will stay. And Wilson refuses to negotiate with anyone and then says "no one will do it" so he doesn't want to be the bad guy. He's going to kick off and then the team will be sold to someone somewhere else unless there is a very proactive team of people that act and are able to get all this done and keep the team here.

You bring up a good point about the stadium Typ0. I'm not sure how this one continues to meet standards, but one has to think that the way the NFL pushes new stadiums, and frankly how places that do offer them (would be Toronto) have a huge edge in getting a team moved there, that the stadium is a huge factor too not boding well for the team sticking around.

In all fairness to Wilson however, we have no idea what's going on in the "backrooms" of the NFL. We only hear what's reported and that means what they want out for info on this.

While we know that the owners, most anyway, don't like the team in Buffalo as one of its bottom producers, we can't say that there are in fact people, either individually or a group of investors, that have expressed an interest in buying the team.

Think about it for a second, and this is a notion that I keep trying to hammer in, but suppose you had the money to buy this team. OK, fine, you say "you'd do anything to keep the team in Buffalo including sell your kids and knock your mom over to hit the ground and put her into a coma on the way to sign the paperwork," but the reality is that as an invester you too would make only a shrewd investment. You're going to want to make money just as much as any other businessman. This isn't the same as buying a $1K fountain for your front yard and saying it's something that you really want so "screw it." People just don't throw a billion dollars around in que sera sera fashion.

The math simply doesn't add up for keeping the Bills in this region. For any investor. There are issues and battles that must be fought in keeping the team in Buffalo that simply don't exist elsewhere, including Toronto.

Anyway, while Wilson has insisted that the team will be sold when he dies, it's his business and he has a right to do with it what he wants. IMO it doesn't say much for a reputation that he supposedly has of a "fans first" variety, but still, he should do what's best for him and his heirs/family. No one can fault him for that. We would all do the same in spite of suggestions otherwise.

I don't care for Wilson as an owner and began hoisting the BS flag on him about a decade ago. But he may truly not have any options here. I suspect that he's frustrated in a veritable standoff with the other owners who are simply waiting him out "humoring the old man" with the explicit intention of seeing to it that the team does move when he passes. Perhaps that's why Wilson came out and stated that he will sell the team when he passes. Perhaps that's his way of preparing the fans for the inevitable in an environment in which he fully understands that the odds are stacked against us on all sides; economically in the region, competitively from a regional economic standpoint with Toronto, a city that we cannot compete with in that way, and with the owners who must approve every step including a sale to would-be owners desirous of keeping the team in the Buffalo region.

What I will say is that things could have been done in the past to perhaps keep the team here although even those are questionable. I'm in the process of penning a piece on that. But the time to have acted on those would have been years ago.

Regardless, I think there's more going on "behind closed doors" than we realize.

[Wys Guy]

With the Erie County buyout being so cheap ( 20 Mil, I believe ), I'd say 1-2 years after Wilson dies. I just believe this area has reached it's pricing ceiling and cannot ask for more, based on the average income of the local fan.

Other cities would need to have an NFL ready stadium, (proper size and suites) to be approved. I look around and see no one qualifying as of now, including Toronto.

The NFL killed the medium to small market teams long term with that bad agreement last year. Look at all the factors that trigger a larger cap. That opened my eyes.

No way in hell will large markets continue a welfare system for the smaller markets without some sort of backlash, legal action.

More good points!

[camelcowboy]

Doesn't LA have a stadium

[Typ0]

I agree we don't know. That's why I'm just going to be one to annoint him a saint without any knowledge just because he owns the team and spouts off how he's only concerned with WNY and the fans...the guy doesn't even live here.


You bring up a good point about the stadium Typ0. I'm not sure how this one continues to meet standards, but one has to think that the way the NFL pushes new stadiums, and frankly how places that do offer them (would be Toronto) have a huge edge in getting a team moved there, that the stadium is a huge factor too not boding well for the team sticking around.

In all fairness to Wilson however, we have no idea what's going on in the "backrooms" of the NFL. We only hear what's reported and that means what they want out for info on this.

While we know that the owners, most anyway, don't like the team in Buffalo as one of its bottom producers, we can't say that there are in fact people, either individually or a group of investors, that have expressed an interest in buying the team.

Think about it for a second, and this is a notion that I keep trying to hammer in, but suppose you had the money to buy this team. OK, fine, you say "you'd do anything to keep the team in Buffalo including sell your kids and knock your mom over to hit the ground and put her into a coma on the way to sign the paperwork," but the reality is that as an invester you too would make only a shrewd investment. You're going to want to make money just as much as any other businessman. This isn't the same as buying a $1K fountain for your front yard and saying it's something that you really want so "screw it." People just don't throw a billion dollars around in que sera sera fashion.

The math simply doesn't add up for keeping the Bills in this region. For any investor. There are issues and battles that must be fought in keeping the team in Buffalo that simply don't exist elsewhere, including Toronto.

Anyway, while Wilson has insisted that the team will be sold when he dies, it's his business and he has a right to do with it what he wants. IMO it doesn't say much for a reputation that he supposedly has of a "fans first" variety, but still, he should do what's best for him and his heirs/family. No one can fault him for that. We would all do the same in spite of suggestions otherwise.

I don't care for Wilson as an owner and began hoisting the BS flag on him about a decade ago. But he may truly not have any options here. I suspect that he's frustrated in a veritable standoff with the other owners who are simply waiting him out "humoring the old man" with the explicit intention of seeing to it that the team does move when he passes. Perhaps that's why Wilson came out and stated that he will sell the team when he passes. Perhaps that's his way of preparing the fans for the inevitable in an environment in which he fully understands that the odds are stacked against us on all sides; economically in the region, competitively from a regional economic standpoint with Toronto, a city that we cannot compete with in that way, and with the owners who must approve every step including a sale to would-be owners desirous of keeping the team in the Buffalo region.

What I will say is that things could have been done in the past to perhaps keep the team here although even those are questionable. I'm in the process of penning a piece on that. But the time to have acted on those would have been years ago.

Regardless, I think there's more going on "behind closed doors" than we realize.

[Typ0]

and yes the stadium is a big issue. Now we are going to play in Toronto and they can use that fact to push for a stadium along with a guarantee to get a superbowl...then they will be wanting a team all to themselves.

[PECKERWOOD]

They will be here beyond Wilson and for the foreseeable future.

Questions? Once again read my user title.

[Wys Guy]

They will be here beyond Wilson and for the foreseeable future.

Questions? Once again read my user title.

LOL

Indeed, it truly is bliss.

[Ebenezer]

gone the first finished season after RW dies. We will sit in torment knowing the team is leaving.