Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

[Skooby]

Ballmer could decide that since he can't spend his $2 Billion on the LA Clippers, maybe he could focus attempts of those funds on a future NFL team for LA. The NFL is drastically more profitable than NBA basketball, it's not even close actually. I'd be most worried about someone like him gaining interest in the NFL & simply waiting out the time on the lease, he obviously has a market there in LA that would bring a much larger return in the long run to his legacy / estate.


Would anyone in Buffalo pay $2 Billion for the Bills right now ? By the time the lease expires, this would considered inexpensive via future TV escalators & revenues for the NFL. Especially so if you go back 7-10 years & look at right now, we're talking a ~400-~500% growth during that time (after reviewing the 2004 TV contracts & extrapolating).

[nolimit]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

You want your bottle now or later?

[Skooby]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

You want your bottle now or later?

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

[BertSquirtgum]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

Take a step back from the internet for a week. We all need a break from your threads.

[OpIv37]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

Ballmer is rich.

He didn't get that way by spending $2 billion on something worth no more than half that amount.

[Skooby]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

Ballmer is rich.

He didn't get that way by spending $2 billion on something worth no more than half that amount.

Cuban thought they'd sell for over $1 Billion, $2 Billion is much more than that. Forbes valued them at $550 Million so it's either ~ 4 times Forbes or ~double Cuban who had a huge financial interest in making his claim. Which one makes sense again ?

[jamze132]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

I still don't get how the flippin Clippers were worth $2B.

[Skooby]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

I still don't get how the flippin Clippers were worth $2B.

This is exactly what scared me the most & their owner doesn't want to sell.

[trapezeus]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

ballmer, to me, was looking to do some PR work, and be in the largest market aside from NY. The TV is established, the team is good, it's a long term investment that would have earned him a lot of respect in the NBA (helping them put the story to bed quickly).

I've never seen ballmer in the running when other nfl teams were for sale. so in general it struck me as a guy who loves basketball spending a small amount of his net worth for a team he'd be earning a stream to get the money back. it was a big hobby purchase for him.

don't think he's a rabid rich guy just looking for any sports team. I could be wrong, but that's what i think about his play on the clippers.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

I've seen it reported somewhere that profit from the Bills is somewhere in the $40M range. If the team sold for $2B, that translates to an anemic ~2% return on investment yearly as it stands in 2014. It would be 50 years before the $2B would be re-cooped... And that's without figuring in income taxes (~50%). On top of all that... The owners would probably require a large relocation fee even after the lease is free and clear.

I understand that the NFL revenues are projected to increase... But the players will get a large chunk of that in salary cap increase. I also understand that LA is a bigger market and thus preceived as more lucrative... But that same market lost the Rams, Raiders and, to some degree, fails to support the Chargers.

Bottom line...
1) I could see Terry Pegula (and company) putting a $1.5M offer on the table with the intention to stay in WNY.
2) I can't see any other entity making that same offer with the added costs associated with pulling up stakes.

IMO... Terry Pegula is the front runner... And it's not even close.

[OpIv37]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

Yeah, it would be crazy for someone to pay $2 bn for the Bills, but I could see Balllmer or someone else bidding way over the estimated value if they thought they could get better profits elsewhere.

Say he pays $1.3 billion and the team makes $75 million a year in LA. Suddenly that time frame to recoup his money becomes far less.

Also, I don't think people who can afford to buy the team think in terms of recouping the money they put in. It's an asset, so they think in terms of increasing the asset's value so eventually they can sell for a profit.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

People don't buy sports franchises for the profit. There are many, many, many more profitable ways to spend 10 figures. They buy franchises for the prestige of owning one. You are a immediately and publicly a part of one of the most exclusive clubs on earth.

[Skooby]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

$2 Billion sale closed:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/12/us/ste...mer/index.html

[sukie]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

ballmer, to me, was looking to do some PR work, and be in the largest market aside from NY. The TV is established, the team is good, it's a long term investment that would have earned him a lot of respect in the NBA (helping them put the story to bed quickly).

I've never seen ballmer in the running when other nfl teams were for sale. so in general it struck me as a guy who loves basketball spending a small amount of his net worth for a team he'd be earning a stream to get the money back. it was a big hobby purchase for him.

don't think he's a rabid rich guy just looking for any sports team. I could be wrong, but that's what i think about his play on the clippers.

Ballmer just recently became unemployed

[Jry44]

Re: Steve Ballmer is the biggest threat to buying the Buffalo Bills

By the time the next owner is ready to sell the franchise, there will already be a team in LA.