John Wawrow on the Howard Simon Show

[Ginger Vitis]

John Wawrow(AP) was on the Howard Simon show this morning and put the chances the Bills would stay in Buffalo after Ralphs Wilson death at "65% to 70%".. He alluded to RW over the years voting against relocation every time and the league office would always want a team in the Buffalo/Toronto market and so much history with the several Bills who are currently in the Hall of Fame.. John didn't give any specifics but believes there is a plan in place once WIlson passes away to keep the team in Buffalo( Jim Kellys group of investors?)

[Forward_Lateral]

Someone needs to buy the team from him before he dies, then it's a non-issue. I don't trust his Polian firing daughter as far as I can throw her. She'd probably sell the team to the highest bidder and laugh all the way to the barn.

[Ginger Vitis]

I don't trust his Polian firing daughter

I think your referring to Linda Bogdan who passed away a year ago.. But there are 2 other daughters? And a wife that are in the mix

[malo]

All speculation. Wawrow doesn't know anything.

[Canadian'eh!]

Fact: The NFL likes money.
Fact: The NFL would make far more money with a team in LA.
Fact: The NFL prefers relocation to expansion.
Fact: Buffalo is a small market team and brings in less money than most.
Fact: The Bills play in an older, lower end building and there is no money for a new one.
Fact: The Toronto experiment has gone poorly.


Don't kid yourself. Moving a team from Buffalo to LA is a dream scenario for the NFL.

[PromoTheRobot]

Fact: The NFL likes money.
Fact: The Toronto experiment has gone poorly.

Like L.A. would flock to see this piece of crap team? Sorry, the Toronto experiment only proves Canadians are not as gullible as Ted Rogers thought.

PTR

[trapezeus]

Canadian experiment isn't over.

Yes, canadians aren't going to pay $250 vs. $45 to skip an hour and a half commute.

if there was not buffalo football, then yes, perhaps those people would pay a higher price for their own name on the jersey. My guess is that the NFL knows that the experiment was flawed in execution.

[mrbojanglezs]

Someone needs to buy the team from him before he dies, then it's a non-issue. I don't trust his Polian firing daughter as far as I can throw her. She'd probably sell the team to the highest bidder and laugh all the way to the barn.

its a tax issue idk how the numbers work but if ralph sells now he gets docked income tax then there will be estate tax on top of the income tax after he passes.


maybe its cheaper for him to pass the team on then have them sell it, might result in less taxes.


when your dealing with big sums of capital tax is a very big deal and can be the difference of tens of millions

[Historian]

Don't forget Wilson's Grandaughter....

[trapezeus]

65-70%? That's an odd guesstimate figure. it gives him a low enough percentage to not worry if they leave, and if they stay, "I predicted it."

[stuckincincy]

its a tax issue idk how the numbers work but if ralph sells now he gets docked income tax then there will be estate tax on top of the income tax after he passes.


maybe its cheaper for him to pass the team on then have them sell it, might result in less taxes.


when your dealing with big sums of capital tax is a very big deal and can be the difference of tens of millions

A tip for the common man - OH imposes a hefty tax on any estate over 300K, far less than the tax-free Federal maximum. Don't ever retire to OH.

[Jan Reimers]

A tip for the common man - OH imposes a hefty tax on any estate over 300K, far less than the tax-free Federal maximum. Don't ever retire to OH.
That's been my life long goal.l

[TrEd FTW]

I don't trust his Polian firing daughter as far as I can throw her.

You don't trust the dead, eh? Do you fear a zombiepocalypse?

[Mad Max]

Fact: The NFL likes money.
Fact: The NFL would make far more money with a team in LA.
Fact: The NFL prefers relocation to expansion.
Fact: Buffalo is a small market team and brings in less money than most.
Fact: The Bills play in an older, lower end building and there is no money for a new one.
Fact: The Toronto experiment has gone poorly.


Don't kid yourself. Moving a team from Buffalo to LA is a dream scenario for the NFL.

I think L.A. is a boogeyman that owners of lower tier franchises plant in the heads of their fans and local municipalities.

If it were such a fabulous NFL market,

A.) A team would already be there
B.) Not one but TWO teams wouldn't have already left there

[Canadian'eh!]

I think L.A. is a boogeyman that owners of lower tier franchises plant in the heads of their fans and local municipalities.

If it were such a fabulous NFL market,

A.) A team would already be there
B.) Not one but TWO teams wouldn't have already left there

My understanding is that it was a lack of a quality building that killed the teams in LA previously.

There is so much money and so many people in LA, a team there is a no-brainer.

There is no way you can possibly convince me that the second largest maker in the US can't support a team.

[Mad Max]

My understanding is that it was a lack of a quality building that killed the teams in LA previously.

There is so much money and so many people in LA, a team there is a no-brainer.

There is no way you can possibly convince me that the second largest maker in the US can't support a team.

We'll see. I lived in L.A. for a year, it's pretty much about the Lakers when it comes to pro sports.

Besides they already have a HUGELY popular and profitable pro football franchise there, USC. (not to mention a halfway decent semi-pro team in UCLA).

[hydro]

My understanding is that it was a lack of a quality building that killed the teams in LA previously.

There is so much money and so many people in LA, a team there is a no-brainer.

There is no way you can possibly convince me that the second largest maker in the US can't support a team.

Yeah and that huge market of NFL fans are most likely fans of another California team. Not to mention the fact that the California teams don't even get that great of attendance. Chargers can't even sell out a game. And I know for sure their stadium is a POS. If there is so much money why don't they have a new stadium?

The LA talk for me just seems stupid. Not sure how you "tap" into a market when most likely that market is already a fan of another team.

[dannyek71]

IF they really did have investors lined up, then why not say so. Why all the secrecy? Let all fans sleep easier at night knowing the team is here to stay. Or how about saying "Upon my death, the team will be sold to xyz person for xyz amount (plus inflation)"

What is so hard about that?

[jamze132]

IF they really did have investors lined up, then why not say so. Why all the secrecy? Let all fans sleep easier at night knowing the team is here to stay. Or how about saying "Upon my death, the team will be sold to xyz person for xyz amount (plus inflation)"

What is so hard about that?
Yeah, I don't get all the secrecy either. I still think Jimbo and Co. are trying to convince the old man to sell to them.

[trapezeus]

i bet if nys is throwing money at this, california will not be able to, hence helping the local buyers (if they exist).

i think there are a lot of different things that are moving that prevent an answer from being said right now. Ralph should have put a succession plan together by the late 70's like any normal corporation would have done. but we are where we are now.

[Ed]

Yeah, I don't get all the secrecy either. I still think Jimbo and Co. are trying to convince the old man to sell to them.
I think you have secrecy because there's nothing really concrete to report. I'm sure the sale of a billion dollar NFL franchise is very complicated, and it's a whole lot more complicated if any deal is contingent upon the death of a person. As much as it would upset some people here, it's entirely possible that Ralph could live another 8 years or so. How can you have a business deal in place that will have to involve a number of different people when the date of Ralph's demise is so up in the air? A lot could change over the next few years. We live in very unpredictable times right now where involved parties could end up losing money or backing out or whatever.

I know fans are really impatient and curious as to what is going to happen, but it would be foolish for Ralph to try to come out and say ok when I die I think this this and this is going to happen, but we don't know when that will be, so everyone just hang on tight, but don't worry about anything. You can't really expect him to come out and try to make promises about the future when there are so many factors involved, a lot of which may be out of his control.

I'm sure Ralph is just focusing on enjoying what time he has left then trying to ease the minds of every anxious Bills fan. I think if Ralph had something concrete to tell the fans he would. All Ralph can do is guarantee that the Bills will be in Buffalo as long as he's alive and he's kept that promise. He has no control over what people choose to do years after he's dead.