Tim Graham joins me tonight to talk about George Gillett on Bills Now!

[Coach Sal]

Want to know more about George Gillett?

Is he REALLY a potential Bills buyer? What should we know about him?

Buffalo News' Tim Graham joins me to discuss it and fill in some blanks at 9:35pm on Buffalo Bills Now!

NFL Now! begins at 8pm. BOTH at www.Justin.tv/coachsal

[ServoBillieves]

I'll be there coach, and this time I'll be nice :P!

Love the show.

[Ed]

In the past Tim has never seemed too optimistic that the Bills would stay in Buffalo when Ralph passes. I'd be interested to know if he thinks differently now.

[Turf]

I can see Fitzy doing shaving commercials. Might work!

[PromoTheRobot]

I know 99% percent of us think Ralph Wilson is the worst owner in the NFL. Frankly 2/3 of sports fans would say the same thing about their favorite team. But I hope we all realize than a new owner of the Bills could actually be much, much worse than Ralph.

This Gillett guy doesn't exactly have a stellar track record of franchise ownership. He has no ties to WNY. And he made his fortune in a somewhat sleazy way. On first blush I'm a little wary of this guy.

PTR

[BertSquirtgum]

As long as the Bills stay in Buffalo, i don't care who buys them.

[Coach Sal]

If you didn't hear the interview with Tim, you should. He doesn't believe Gillett was there to talk about buying the team, and doesn't believe he even has the capital to do so. But he doesn't totally discount it, either. Tim also gave the same impression many of us already have about Gillett's "business dealings" over the years. Very interesting.

Listen to it here. Starts right at beginning of show. We also talk AFC East football after the Gillett stuff:
http://salsports.com/SalSports/Buffalo_Bills_Now_Podcasts/Entries/2011/10/12_Buffalo_Bills_Now_%2856%29__Tim_Graham_joins_me_to_discuss_rumors_of_George_Gilletts_interest_in_buying_the_Bills.html

[WeAreArthurMoates]

I too do not believe this is the guy. Especially since Goodell seemed to indicate Ralph has a sucession plan and to me, it's not selling the team to a guy who can afford it.

[Canadian'eh!]

I can see Fitzy doing shaving commercials. Might work!


I know 99% percent of us think Ralph Wilson is the worst owner in the NFL. Frankly 2/3 of sports fans would say the same thing about their favorite team. But I hope we all realize than a new owner of the Bills could actually be much, much worse than Ralph.

This Gillett guy doesn't exactly have a stellar track record of franchise ownership. He has no ties to WNY. And he made his fortune in a somewhat sleazy way. On first blush I'm a little wary of this guy.

PTR

Just wanted to clear up a few misconceptions from these posts. Speaking as a HARDCORE Habs fan.

1- Gillett has zero to do with the razor company. Though that is how he got the NHL's attention (the board of governors thought he was). He is self made, through various investments and has had ups and downs there. (not sure how sleazy they were but it's big business so i'm sure there is some)

2- about his track record and ties to area:

When he bought the Habs I was VERY worried. Some American from Illinois (i think) who had to BORROW a boatload of money to raise the 185 mill was buying the team? Yikes. There were even rumors he would MOVE them.

HOWEVER.

Under his ownership the Habs FLOURISHED. They were really in disarray when he bought them. Poor media deals, bad on ice product, poorer management and scouting... so on.

He had bought the Bell Center and Team. He reorganized the whole thing, started the Gillett Entertainment Group to book and promote things in the Bell Center.

He was NOT cheap in terms of paying players or team management. He hired Bob Gainey and then stayed EXTREMELY hands off. He let the Hockey people do what they were paid to do. He was NOT at all interfering.

By all accounts he took very good care of the players and the facilities. He built a brand new state of the art practice facility and upgraded other parts.

He also was VERY classy and respectful in his handling of former players, and the traditions of the team. The 100th Anniversary stuff was handled in a very simple but classy way. No overbearingly long ceremonies and stupid gimmicks.

The team improved a great deal. The profits went way up and he sold them finally for $550 million back to the Molsons last year. He was very well liked and often called "Uncle George" by the fans.

In a city full of hockey nutjobs and even the English hating component. He would DEFINITELY get a standing O anytime he was back at a Habs game right now.


I know when you say "poor track record" you are referring to Liverpool FC. But I don't put the blame on George for that fiasco. That WHOLE thing was about Tom Hicks (the former Dallas Stars owner) and his mess of financial issues and cheap POS ways. They started feuding horribly, and by the time George tried to get out they had lost a lot of money. Gillett actually had a deal to sell all his shares in 2008 to the Dubai group, but Hicks blocked the sale. Anyway, it was a bad situation all around and not his fault in most ways.

But as far as the Habs go, he was a model owner who improved the team and didn't meddle. He had no connection to Montreal at all, but embraced the city completely and gave the fans as much as he possibly could in terms of on ice product, while still making money.

If he bought the Bills and was planning on keeping them there, I really think it would be a great thing.

[RedEyE]

I know being Wikipedia you have to read everything with a grain of salt but there really is some interesting information on the website about him. I wouldn't say he's made the best business decisions but he has made some pretty good ones too. The one thing that does seem to throw up a red flag is that he doesn't seem to hold on to any one business for very long. There is that and the fact that he's 72 years old.

He could be one of many to finance a purchase for Kelly and company but I don't think he is the sole long term answer Bills fans are looking for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_N._Gillett,_Jr.

[PromoTheRobot]

Just wanted to clear up a few misconceptions from these posts. Speaking as a HARDCORE Habs fan.

1- Gillett has zero to do with the razor company. Though that is how he got the NHL's attention (the board of governors thought he was). He is self made, through various investments and has had ups and downs there. (not sure how sleazy they were but it's big business so i'm sure there is some)

2- about his track record and ties to area:

When he bought the Habs I was VERY worried. Some American from Illinois (i think) who had to BORROW a boatload of money to raise the 185 mill was buying the team? Yikes. There were even rumors he would MOVE them.

HOWEVER.

Under his ownership the Habs FLOURISHED. They were really in disarray when he bought them. Poor media deals, bad on ice product, poorer management and scouting... so on.

He had bought the Bell Center and Team. He reorganized the whole thing, started the Gillett Entertainment Group to book and promote things in the Bell Center.

He was NOT cheap in terms of paying players or team management. He hired Bob Gainey and then stayed EXTREMELY hands off. He let the Hockey people do what they were paid to do. He was NOT at all interfering.

By all accounts he took very good care of the players and the facilities. He built a brand new state of the art practice facility and upgraded other parts.

He also was VERY classy and respectful in his handling of former players, and the traditions of the team. The 100th Anniversary stuff was handled in a very simple but classy way. No overbearingly long ceremonies and stupid gimmicks.

The team improved a great deal. The profits went way up and he sold them finally for $550 million back to the Molsons last year. He was very well liked and often called "Uncle George" by the fans.

In a city full of hockey nutjobs and even the English hating component. He would DEFINITELY get a standing O anytime he was back at a Habs game right now.


I know when you say "poor track record" you are referring to Liverpool FC. But I don't put the blame on George for that fiasco. That WHOLE thing was about Tom Hicks (the former Dallas Stars owner) and his mess of financial issues and cheap POS ways. They started feuding horribly, and by the time George tried to get out they had lost a lot of money. Gillett actually had a deal to sell all his shares in 2008 to the Dubai group, but Hicks blocked the sale. Anyway, it was a bad situation all around and not his fault in most ways.

But as far as the Habs go, he was a model owner who improved the team and didn't meddle. He had no connection to Montreal at all, but embraced the city completely and gave the fans as much as he possibly could in terms of on ice product, while still making money.

If he bought the Bills and was planning on keeping them there, I really think it would be a great thing.

Thanks for the insight. If you listen to Sal's podcast with Tim Graham, Tim made it sound like Gillett was pretty shady and wouldn't even be allowed into the NFL as an owner because he gets sued by everyone. So what's closer to the truth?

PTR

[Coach Sal]

Thanks, Canadian!