Pinkerton Security
08-15-2008, 10:02 AM
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3533730
THIS JUST IN
If the NFL steps up, the Bills could earn their biggest W.
by Luke Russert
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In May, The Buffalo News pondered the future of the Bills when 89-year-old owner Ralph Wilson passes away. "The likeliest scenario is that a billionaire from Toronto or Los Angeles will move them out of Buffalo," the paper wrote. Even if you've never set foot on a mound of lake-effect snow, that line has to give you the chills. The city's been bleeding for decades. In the first half of the 20th century, Buffalo was a boomtown, overflowing with steel plants, textile mills and tycoon money. When the AFL set up shop in 1960, the city's population was 530,000. Then industrial jobs dried up. The latest figures show Buffalo's population is nearly 272,000. That's where the Bills come in. While they've yet to win it all, they've achieved something greater: Eight Sundays a year, they make Buffalo forget just how bad things are.
Make that six Sundays and a Monday this season, since the Bills will play a home game 98 miles away in Toronto, a wealthy urban center of five million people. They'll play seven more north of the border by 2012, pocketing a total of roughly $78 million, twice the franchise's operating income last year. That's much-needed cash for a team that's 24th in the league in revenue. Bills COO Russ Brandon says the experiment is an effort to "bring the brand to a new fan base" and claims the extra cash will make the Bills financially viable in Buffalo. But to many, that sounds like the beginning of the end.
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THIS JUST IN
If the NFL steps up, the Bills could earn their biggest W.
by Luke Russert
<!-- template inline --><!-- photo wide photo -->
http://assets.espn.go.com/i/mag/blog/russert1.jpg
Getty Images
<!-- end wide photo -->
In May, The Buffalo News pondered the future of the Bills when 89-year-old owner Ralph Wilson passes away. "The likeliest scenario is that a billionaire from Toronto or Los Angeles will move them out of Buffalo," the paper wrote. Even if you've never set foot on a mound of lake-effect snow, that line has to give you the chills. The city's been bleeding for decades. In the first half of the 20th century, Buffalo was a boomtown, overflowing with steel plants, textile mills and tycoon money. When the AFL set up shop in 1960, the city's population was 530,000. Then industrial jobs dried up. The latest figures show Buffalo's population is nearly 272,000. That's where the Bills come in. While they've yet to win it all, they've achieved something greater: Eight Sundays a year, they make Buffalo forget just how bad things are.
Make that six Sundays and a Monday this season, since the Bills will play a home game 98 miles away in Toronto, a wealthy urban center of five million people. They'll play seven more north of the border by 2012, pocketing a total of roughly $78 million, twice the franchise's operating income last year. That's much-needed cash for a team that's 24th in the league in revenue. Bills COO Russ Brandon says the experiment is an effort to "bring the brand to a new fan base" and claims the extra cash will make the Bills financially viable in Buffalo. But to many, that sounds like the beginning of the end.
.....