YardRat
05-20-2008, 06:09 AM
http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/350831.html
Buffalo Bills fans should hope the team’s venture into Toronto is a colossal success. That looks like the best hope for the long-term survival of the Bills in Buffalo.
The odds are not great that the Bills will remain in Buffalo when the estate of owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr., 89, puts the franchise up for sale, given the current economic landscape in the NFL.
It’s easy to see how someone from one of the biggest markets in North America –Los Angeles or Toronto –could pay upwards of $1 billion for the Bills in an open auction and make the investment work.
It’s hard to see how someone who wants to keep the team in Buffalo could make a winning bid for the franchise –unless the Toronto experiment helps the Bills shake off their small-market burden.
A financially strong franchise would give some of the Bills’ most powerful supporters –in particular NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and U. S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer –more leverage in trying to influence an outcome in Buffalo’s favor.
“If the franchise is viable, I will fight to keep it in Buffalo,” Goodell told The News.
The key to that statement, of course, is the qualifier “if the franchise is viable.”
Buffalo Bills fans should hope the team’s venture into Toronto is a colossal success. That looks like the best hope for the long-term survival of the Bills in Buffalo.
The odds are not great that the Bills will remain in Buffalo when the estate of owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr., 89, puts the franchise up for sale, given the current economic landscape in the NFL.
It’s easy to see how someone from one of the biggest markets in North America –Los Angeles or Toronto –could pay upwards of $1 billion for the Bills in an open auction and make the investment work.
It’s hard to see how someone who wants to keep the team in Buffalo could make a winning bid for the franchise –unless the Toronto experiment helps the Bills shake off their small-market burden.
A financially strong franchise would give some of the Bills’ most powerful supporters –in particular NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and U. S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer –more leverage in trying to influence an outcome in Buffalo’s favor.
“If the franchise is viable, I will fight to keep it in Buffalo,” Goodell told The News.
The key to that statement, of course, is the qualifier “if the franchise is viable.”