Poloncarz in search of ironclad Bills lease

[YardRat]

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/erie-county/article948933.ece

Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz wants a new lease that ties the Buffalo Bills to Ralph Wilson Stadium for many years.


But how long the state and county can ensure the Bills stay in Buffalo will depend on several factors:
* The length of the lease, expected to be 10 to 15 years.
* How much of a financial penalty the team would face for leaving.
* Whether the county can get the Bills to agree to clauses like those in the Jacksonville Jaguars' lease, considered perhaps the most ironclad in the National Football League.


Poloncarz isn't tipping his hand, but he's said the county has looked at all the recent lease agreements in the league.
"That's all part of the negotiations," Poloncarz said when asked about assurances that could be part of a lease deal currently being negotiated. "I want to ensure that we have a lease that keeps the Bills here for many years to come."
It might be hard to get an ironclad guarantee that would prevent the Buffalo Bills from leaving town during the duration of their next stadium lease agreement.
But some kind of assurance that the Bills will stay in Buffalo - most likely a hefty financial penalty for leaving - is believed to be key as Erie County, the Bills and New York State work to hammer out a new stadium lease. A framework of the deal could be agreed to in the next couple of weeks.

[Skooby]

$2 Billion penalty should keep the team in town.

[OpIv37]

If the Bills actually agree to an ironclad lease of 10+ years, it would be the first actual sign that this talk of a post-Ralph succession plan is more than just rumors.

While I think Ralph is terrible when it comes to football management, he is a great businessman, and I just can't see any way that he would lock the team into a lease without some kind of plan that wouldn't burn his family when he dies.

[YardRat]

If the Bills actually agree to an ironclad lease of 10+ years, it would be the first actual sign that this talk of a post-Ralph succession plan is more than just rumors.

While I think Ralph is terrible when it comes to football management, he is a great businessman, and I just can't see any way that he would lock the team into a lease without some kind of plan that wouldn't burn his family when he dies.

I believe there are no estate taxes on assets transferred to a spouse upon death, so it's not like the family is going to get 'burned' immediately.

[Jan Reimers]

I believe there are no estate taxes on assets transferred to a spouse upon death, so it's not like the family is going to get 'burned' immediately.

That's why Ralph should leave the team to his wife, Mary, who could then hire a football guy to run the operation along with Brandon. It would keep the asset in the family and avoid huge estate taxes, at least until the entire situation can be evaluated over a reasonable amount of time.

[Extremebillsfan247]

My question is, how many years does RWS have left in it? could that stadium endure another 10 to 15 years without the depreciation effect crippling it to the point where the Bills are eventually forced to play in another stadium? Couldn't a new owner potentially force a renegotiation of the lease if the stadium didn't meet with NFL standards? I guess I'm just searching for an educated answer from someone whose knowledge of such things is greater than my own. I'm just wondering how much the age of RWS will play a part in whether the Bills will agree to a lengthy lease or not.

[DraftBoy]

The question is how dug in is Poloncarz?

Saying he wants an iron-clad lease is one thing but if RW balks at it is he going to back off some given how important the team is in the local economy and citizens?

[BLeonard]

My question is, how many years does RWS have left in it? could that stadium endure another 10 to 15 years without the depreciation effect crippling it to the point where the Bills are eventually forced to play in another stadium? Couldn't a new owner potentially force a renegotiation of the lease if the stadium didn't meet with NFL standards? I guess I'm just searching for an educated answer from someone whose knowledge of such things is greater than my own. I'm just wondering how much the age of RWS will play a part in whether the Bills will agree to a lengthy lease or not.

The thing is, the Bills are looking for $200 million - $220 million in renovations. To get that sort of financial commitment, they're going to have to agree to a lease of no less than 10 years. Otherwise, NYS and Erie County would be risking not getting that money back. You can bet that the lease will be long enough for the county and state to be able to recoup the funds that they put into it.

As for a new owner, they probebly could force a renegotiation if the stadium didn't meet NFL standards, but, my guess is, with the new money, RWS won't get to the point where it doesn't meet NFL standards. Now, even fully renovated, RWS likley won't have some of the anemities that other, newer stadiums do, such as a 40 yard jumbotron or anything of that nature. But, it should be fine to meet standards. I'm relatively sure that anything needed to bring the stadium up to meet the requirements would be among the first things that would be taken care of.

So, long story short, the age of RWS won't matter much, if at all. But, if the Bills are wanting to get between $200-$220 million (which is what I have seen reported) the city and state is going to want a lease long enough to ensure that they "get their money's worth," so to speak. That would mean, at minimum, a 10 year lease and could even be as long as 20 years. If I were to guess, I'd say the lease will likely be 15 years.

After that, my guess would be they'll be looking at a new stadium entirely, especially if new stadiums continue to pop up in different cities as much as they have in the past few years.
-Bill