Schumer: NFL Committed to Buffalo

[homeslice5484]

On Thursday, a planned 75,000 seat NFL stadium in Los Angeles took a big step forward when the Governor signed a bill clearing the way for construction to begin on the stadium.
And so L.A., without an NFL team for 15 years is on the prowl for a team.
The developer of the L.A. stadium has named seven teams as possible targets to move, including Buffalo.
But Peter King of Sports Illustrated, one of the most respected NFL reporters in the country has a column on the L.A. stadium this week, where he pretty much discounts Buffalo moving because of Ralph Wilson's ownership and the team's partnering with Toronto.
Here are King's four most likely teams to move:

The St. Louis Rams who are up for sale
The Oakland Raiders whose lease is up next year
The San Diego Charges whose owner is good friends with the L.A. developer
The Jacksonville Jaguars who are having severe attendance problems.And Friday's New York Times speculates that San Diego is the most likely team to move.
Scott Brown: "Does it surprise you that we're talking about teams moving, and Buffalo's not really being mentioned?"
Senator Chuck Schumer: "Well this is really good news because we've worked hard over the last couple of years to strengthen the Bills Toronto game, and not just because it's another market, but because Toronto people are coming to Buffalo."
Scott Brown: "Have you spoken to (NFL) Commissioner Goodell recently?" "
Senator Schumer: "I have spoken to Commissioner Goodell, he remains committed as ever as a Western New Yorker, himself from Chautauqua County, and everyone's quite optimistic now."

wgrz

http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=71299&catid=37

[BuffaloBlitz83]

great to read that!

[BillsWin]

I love you for posting that. lol

[Jaybird]

i like it!

[WeAreArthurMoates]

What a lot people don't realize is that the NFL does realize they need these small market teams with strong fan bases, sure the Jerry Jones and Dan Snyders don't but there whacko. The NFL wouldn't be the same without the Buffalo's, KC, GB, Cleveland's. Hence why they gave Cleveland another team.

[Jeff1220]

I didn't realize Goodell was a WNYer! That could turn out to be great for the Bills - we all know Tagliabue loved large markets and was bent on gettting a team into LA, and likely on getting the Bills out of Buffalo.

[yordad]

He was born in Jamestown NY, not far from Lucille Ball.

[Demon]

Great to hear. Glad Schumer is getting involved. However, for the life of me, i just don't trust Roger Goddell. He just seems to me a bit sketchy. Idk, maybe it's just because our franchise is on a list i wouldn't want it to be on so i'm all sketched out, but i just don't have good feeling about Goddell. And, i won't be sleeping happy until Wilson sells the team to local people who are committed to staying local. That's another guy i just can not trust.

But this is def the best news we could have heard after hearing about the developments that came out of Los Angeles yesterday.

ps. San Diego does seem like the most logical team though. Already out west, fan base doesn't have to move too much, owner is friends with the dousch developer who's trying to steal a team and SD got their team from LA like 50 years ago.... and there is no way SD will build a new football stadium since they just lost tons of money on Petco Park (for the Padres). It just makes too much sense to me.

[jamze132]

If Goodell had say in Buffalo staying or going and he let them leave, he would have sold his soul to the devil. No way does he "let" Buffalo leave.

[BertSquirtgum]

hopefully this will shut some of the nay sayers up for awhile. i don't know if living in western new york automatically makes people negative but it sure seems that way. i don't foresee the bills leaving anytime soon.

[SABuffalo786]

Good news. I'll feel better when the team's passed to a Buffalo ownership group with plans of keeping them here.

[DynaPaul]

Ralph might have a heart attack reading that. I hope the Bills stay in Buffalo because if they move to L.A. I can't root for em. In my opinion the Jaguars are the team that should be moving. When you field a decent team and still cant sell out you got problems.

[Jan Reimers]

I think Schumer will exert a lot of political pressure to keep the Bills in Buffalo even after Ralph passes, including playing the antitrust exemption card. It's good to have him on our side, but we really need a qualified local ownership group to give him something to fight for.

[Nighthawk]

I think Schumer will exert a lot of political pressure to keep the Bills in Buffalo even after Ralph passes, including playing the antitrust exemption card. It's good to have him on our side, but we really need a qualified local ownership group to give him something to fight for.

I agree with everything, but the local ownership suggestion. Many professional sports owners don't live in the city they own franchises for. If the right owner came in here and ran this organization correctly, they would have an absolute money maker of a franchise. This area is crazy about the Bills and if an owner actually capitalized on that, this could be a top line organization.

[HAMMER]

I agree that the Chargers are the most likely team to move to LA. They have a lot of flexibility in their existing lease and would have the added advantage of the regional fan base already in place. "The Chargers' lease expires in 2020, but the team has a window from Feb. 1 until May 1 each year to notify the city of its intent to relocate. The Chargers' cost to get out of the lease goes down each year: It would be $54.6 million in 2010 and would dip to $25.8 million in 2011. "

The true Charger fans, of which there are many, will be devastated just like Bills fans would be. I would be bummed as I live 5 minutes from Qualcomm and really enjoy going to a couple games a year. Tailgating here is great too, with no ****ty weather.

[dannyek71]

Good to hear. However, Schumer is a politician and they always lie and blow smoke up our butts. (Not a personal knock on Schumer or any party because both parties do it)

Ill believe it when I see it

[ddaryl]

I was never worried about the Bill moving to LA...

but I'm still worried about the Bills moving

[Griff]

Goodell is a turncoat, he's from WNY but in the Pat's pocket.

[Mudflap1]

Couple things:

1. I posted an article a few weeks ago that stated that there was a chance that one or two teams might be in the works to move as quickly as next season. Obviously, the Bills are not one of them. The reason that we don't know is that no team wants to tell their fans they are leaving early in the season. It's going to happen fast, like the Rams, Raiders, and Colts.

2. I think San Diego is a likely candidate. From what I hear, the county has NO money for a stadium. They are trying to run around all over S.D. County for a stadium, but the public will not approve it anywhere. Apparently, private funding is out of the question. Couple that with the fact that the owner and L.A. developer are friends, there could be a handshake agreement in place if S.D. can't get a stadium in place by early next year.

3. One question I have is -- doesn't the L.A. developer want to own the team? If so, why would the Chargers or Raiders make sense? Is Spanos gong to sell the team? Al Davis? I don't think so. The only thing I can think of is that the developer is content to build the complex (which will include restaurants, shopping, office buildings, etc.), and then perhaps buy a second team to move to L.A. This was mentioned recently.

I do NOT want to see the Bills move under any circumstances. And I don't think they will, so it is a moot point. However, color me curious about the whole L.A. thing, since the stadium is going to be built literally 5 minutes away from me.

[trapezeus]

mudflap. my thought on your 3rd question is that perhaps the stadium developer is ok with getting a current owner to move and put in place a schedule to buy minority rights over a period of time. This allows him to recoup his stadium costs first, and then slowly get into the NFL.

Especially if they are friends like you said.

[Mudflap1]

mudflap. my thought on your 3rd question is that perhaps the stadium developer is ok with getting a current owner to move and put in place a schedule to buy minority rights over a period of time. This allows him to recoup his stadium costs first, and then slowly get into the NFL.

Especially if they are friends like you said.

Yeah, I guess. I think the L.A. guy would like to own the team if he could, but if he can't, I guess he is content to own the property with all of the other things going on in the complex, charge a fat lease to the tenant, and perhaps have a minority stake.