YardRat
10-30-2011, 09:17 AM
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article612849.ece
The Buffalo Bills would be willing to sign a restrictive lease tying the team to Western New York -- if they get a satisfactory agreement with New York State and Erie County, team sources tell The News.
Serious negotiations on extending the current lease, which runs through July 2013, have not yet begun. The Bills want significant upgrades to Ralph Wilson Stadium, paid for by New York State and Erie County, in order to sign an extension.
The current lease, signed in 1997, cost the state roughly $120 million. It's safe to say the Bills are likely to seek considerably more this time.
How can the state and county be protected if Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson, who just turned 93, does not survive the length of the lease and the team is sold?
An obvious solution is for the inclusion of a repayment protection clause, stipulating the state and county would be repaid the full amount of their investment if the team moved during the term of the lease. The Bills view this sort of clause as reasonable, The News' sources say, presuming the stadium upgrades are acceptable to the team.
The Buffalo Bills would be willing to sign a restrictive lease tying the team to Western New York -- if they get a satisfactory agreement with New York State and Erie County, team sources tell The News.
Serious negotiations on extending the current lease, which runs through July 2013, have not yet begun. The Bills want significant upgrades to Ralph Wilson Stadium, paid for by New York State and Erie County, in order to sign an extension.
The current lease, signed in 1997, cost the state roughly $120 million. It's safe to say the Bills are likely to seek considerably more this time.
How can the state and county be protected if Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson, who just turned 93, does not survive the length of the lease and the team is sold?
An obvious solution is for the inclusion of a repayment protection clause, stipulating the state and county would be repaid the full amount of their investment if the team moved during the term of the lease. The Bills view this sort of clause as reasonable, The News' sources say, presuming the stadium upgrades are acceptable to the team.