Bills Bidding Isn't Ebay

[Night Train]

They can sell to whoever they please, with the best interests of Ralphs' legacy in mind.

You think Mary Wilson and Jeff Littman are worried about the extra couple dollars Bon Jovi may offer over a local group that has zero intention of moving the team ?

Seriously ?

[YardRat]

In all reality, a Toronto-JBJ group probably has a better chance of luring corporate money than Pegula or Golisano.

[Jry44]

They can sell to whoever they please, with the best interests of Ralphs' legacy in mind.

You think Mary Wilson and Jeff Littman are worried about the extra couple dollars Bon Jovi may offer over a local group that has zero intention of moving the team ?

Seriously ?

True.... they can sell to whoever they want. However, the rest of the leagues owners have to approve the new owner. Potential league approval is just as big a part as who the Wilson's select a bid from.

[DraftBoy]

They can sell to whoever they please, with the best interests of Ralphs' legacy in mind.

You think Mary Wilson and Jeff Littman are worried about the extra couple dollars Bon Jovi may offer over a local group that has zero intention of moving the team ?

Seriously ?

I'm not sure the bolded is accurate. A couple of the people who post here who are well versed in the law state that the trust may be bound by some instructions as part of the estate?

Not sure exactly. Cookie or Illumi have explained it fair better than I can.

[jimmifli]

I'm not sure the bolded is accurate. A couple of the people who post here who are well versed in the law state that the trust may be bound by some instructions as part of the estate?

Not sure exactly. Cookie or Illumi have explained it fair better than I can.
The IRS wants taxes based on a fair price, so there is some obligation to sell to the highest bidder or the estate would face a tax liability based on the difference between a fair price and the hometown discount. Since Ralph structured this transaction to minimize his heirs' tax liabilities, it's reasonable to think he would not want the IRS to rule the sale price wasn't a fair market value.

The counter to that is there are lots of ways to stack the deck and discourage out of town bidders. The lease is a big one, we don't know if there are others.

If it's going to the highest bidder, that lease will put the ROI off for 5 years. And $30 million (mostly from spending below the cap and hiring cheap coaches - something new ownership is unlikely to do) is a terrible ROI. Adding a 5 year waiting period will price out most out of town bidders looking for a quick profit.

But I think the real value of an NFL franchise is not it's ability to generate ROI, instead it's a VERY large store of value. An investor has a reasonable expectation that their money will outpace inflation for the term of ownership. In other words, it's a good place to park a billion dollars for a really long period of time. Plus it's more fun than owning an insurance company or some other $1billion dollar investment.

If you add in some synergies with other corporate assets, you might be able project a decent ROI. The Toronto group is a real risk.

[Skooby]

There's actually a whole tax recapture of previous expenses based on everything Ralph's done to recapture all of his previous expenditures, I do it all the time to increase the seller's yields during the sale. Every lightbulb, every drain can be broken down into individual one-time expenses, many miss it but considering Ralph has a $25,000 basis it's pretty huge.

I have many older owners down here I deal with, they use their normal accountant and hope for the best until I get done with them. When you have a $999,975,000.00 gain, you better shoot for everything you ever did. Mind you, my average deal is 100 times less than this but still pertinent.

[better days]

In all reality, a Toronto-JBJ group probably has a better chance of luring corporate money than Pegula or Golisano.

Yeah, in Toronto.

SCREW THAT.

[Fletch]

Can someone explain to the class why the interest of the trust is not the heirs, which presumably is the Wilson family?

Secondly, where does Mary Wilson, Ralph's widow, live? I'm guessing that since Ralph lived in Detroit that so does she.

I've never heard anything, not to say that it isn't true, simply saying I've never read/heard anything about Mary or the rest of the Wilson family's interest in things related to Buffalo apart from the organization itself and things indirectly related to that, and apart from say Ralph's niece Mary Owen being employed by the team in a high capacity. But I cannot imagine that any stipulation of sale could possibly be that she continues to have a job with the organization. It's unimaginable that a future owner would be saddled with the burden of having to continue to employ former family members of the prior owner and to have to deal with the emotions and other baggage there.

What did Ralph do in Buffalo besides simply own the team and of course Bills related charities and that kind of stuff? I don't recall ever reading about anything.

Just bringing this up because everyone seems to treat Ralph, and in a lesser and indirect sense, his family members, both immediate and extended, as if they were highly involved in the Buffalo community, apart from the team, when Ralph and his wife Mary lived in Detroit.

As I've said in the past, the only reason why Ralph chose Buffalo is because Detroit already had a team. Otherwise I see his allegiance more to Detroit than here. If that's true, then why would or should his family members care more? But that's the logic being applied by many people here.

[Fletch]

They can sell to whoever they please, with the best interests of Ralphs' legacy in mind.

You think Mary Wilson and Jeff Littman are worried about the extra couple dollars Bon Jovi may offer over a local group that has zero intention of moving the team ?

Seriously ?

They have to do whatever the trust says. If there's any lattitude, then they'll have to do what the board decides as a board.

[YardRat]

Can someone explain to the class why the interest of the trust is not the heirs, which presumably is the Wilson family?

Secondly, where does Mary Wilson, Ralph's widow, live? I'm guessing that since Ralph lived in Detroit that so does she.

I've never heard anything, not to say that it isn't true, simply saying I've never read/heard anything about Mary or the rest of the Wilson family's interest in things related to Buffalo apart from the organization itself and things indirectly related to that, and apart from say Ralph's niece Mary Owen being employed by the team in a high capacity. But I cannot imagine that any stipulation of sale could possibly be that she continues to have a job with the organization. It's unimaginable that a future owner would be saddled with the burden of having to continue to employ former family members of the prior owner and to have to deal with the emotions and other baggage there.

What did Ralph do in Buffalo besides simply own the team and of course Bills related charities and that kind of stuff? I don't recall ever reading about anything.

Just bringing this up because everyone seems to treat Ralph, and in a lesser and indirect sense, his family members, both immediate and extended, as if they were highly involved in the Buffalo community, apart from the team, when Ralph and his wife Mary lived in Detroit.

As I've said in the past, the only reason why Ralph chose Buffalo is because Detroit already had a team. Otherwise I see his allegiance more to Detroit than here. If that's true, then why would or should his family members care more? But that's the logic being applied by many people here.

http://ralphwilsonfoundation.org/

http://www.wgrz.com/story/sports/nfl/bills/2014/03/25/ralph-wilson-impact-on-wny-community/6877277/

http://www.wkbw.com/video/Ralph-C-Wilson-Jr-Charitable-Contributions--252343911.html

http://wivb.com/2014/03/26/wilson-legacy-goes-beyond-stadium/

[BLeonard]

You think Mary Wilson and Jeff Littman are worried about the extra couple dollars Bon Jovi may offer over a local group that has zero intention of moving the team ?

Well, I don't know about Mary, but one of the prevailing thoughts of the Super Bowl years is that Bill Polian left because of an argument with Littman over spending money... Ralph Wilson sided with Littman.

Does Mary Wilson care where the team ends up? That, I don't know... But, I would be wary of hinging your hopes on the team remaining in Buffalo on Jeff Littman...

Not saying they'll sell to a group wanting to relocate, not saying they won't... In short, from what I've read and heard, I simply don't trust Jeff Littman. As far as I'm concerned, he's been a big part of the problem the past 14 years, if not longer, if he truly did cause Bill Polian to leave.

-Bill

[OpIv37]

They can sell to whoever they please, with the best interests of Ralphs' legacy in mind.

You think Mary Wilson and Jeff Littman are worried about the extra couple dollars Bon Jovi may offer over a local group that has zero intention of moving the team ?

Seriously ?
If Mary Wilson had the best interest of Ralph Wilson's legacy in mind, he could have transferred the team to her years ago and she could have kept it in Buffalo herself.

She values the money more than she values the team.

Any comment on the degree to which she values money vs how she values Ralph's legacy is nothing but speculation.

[Fletch]

If Mary Wilson had the best interest of Ralph Wilson's legacy in mind, he could have transferred the team to her years ago and she could have kept it in Buffalo herself.

She values the money more than she values the team.

Any comment on the degree to which she values money vs how she values Ralph's legacy is nothing but speculation.

She clearly doesn't value the team, it would be unimaginable if she doesn't value money. That suggests that money is the priority.

[Fletch]

http://ralphwilsonfoundation.org/

http://www.wgrz.com/story/sports/nfl/bills/2014/03/25/ralph-wilson-impact-on-wny-community/6877277/

http://www.wkbw.com/video/Ralph-C-Wilson-Jr-Charitable-Contributions--252343911.html

http://wivb.com/2014/03/26/wilson-legacy-goes-beyond-stadium/

Well that was a waste of my time. All you did was prove my point. None of those things will necessarily be supported now that he's gone.

The new owner may continue it, but that would be independent from Wilson.

He has no roots here beyond the team. At least I don't see any.

[jamze132]

What's worrying is that Jerry Jones is a huge Bon Jovi as owner fan. It's no secret that both of those bastards want the team out of Buffalo and into a larger market.

[OpIv37]

What's worrying is that Jerry Jones is a huge Bon Jovi as owner fan. It's no secret that both of those bastards want the team out of Buffalo and into a larger market.

I really don't think Bon Jovi cares what market it's in. But he wants Jerry Jones's backing, and I'm sure that's conditional on him moving the team. He appears to be the leader but he's the puppet in this. He has the dollars and the name recognition so Jones and whatever corporate interests are part of his buying group are using him.

And I'm sure he knows it. He just doesn't care if the end result is him getting a team and making a powerful friend in Jones.

[stuckincincy]

I really don't think Bon Jovi cares what market it's in. But he wants Jerry Jones's backing, and I'm sure that's conditional on him moving the team. He appears to be the leader but he's the puppet in this. He has the dollars and the name recognition so Jones and whatever corporate interests are part of his buying group are using him.

And I'm sure he knows it. He just doesn't care if the end result is him getting a team and making a powerful friend in Jones.

You can't read the mind of Bon Jovi. How do you know that he cares about?