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Go to page 2 and look to the far right under Operating Income. Do the Bills look like a team that can barely make ends meet ? No debt, tax breaks out the rear in WNY.
Ralph is correct in his long term concerns of the CBA but we have more operating income than half the teams in the League, at present.
Go ahead and click on Operating Income. Suddenly,the Bills appear on Page 1.
If he sold to a local group, chances are they may actualy wish to stay here for a while. That's a pretty nice chunk of change, plus the team value seems to be rising an an acceptable rate.
Interesting read.
Anonymity is an abused privilege, abused most by people who mistake vitriol for wisdom and cynicism for wit
Today they can be above water but for how long? look at signing bonuses. Players are getting huge signing bonuses spread over many yearsand that can eat up your profits very quickly. The cost of a good coaching staff is going up dramatically. How long can the Bills pay at the bottom of the league to fill its staff and still compete?
Today they can be above water but for how long? look at signing bonuses. Players are getting huge signing bonuses spread over many yearsand that can eat up your profits very quickly. The cost of a good coaching staff is going up dramatically. How long can the Bills pay at the bottom of the league to fill its staff and still compete?
The rich always cry broke, the richer they are the louder they cry.
Today they can be above water but for how long? look at signing bonuses. Players are getting huge signing bonuses spread over many yearsand that can eat up your profits very quickly. The cost of a good coaching staff is going up dramatically. How long can the Bills pay at the bottom of the league to fill its staff and still compete?
How are we paying at the bottom of the league? If we are near the cap every year, we are paying damn well.
The problem is to WHO we are paying. If we draft a TE at #8 or even a safety, what did that do to shore up our lines? Nothing. So the lines still suck but we have a highly paid TE that runs great routes but the QB is on his ass before he can get the ball off!
Ralph Wilsons complaint is he can't match Signing bonuses. Paying the actual salaries is pretty much covered in the TV contracts. Ralph doesnt have the money to bid against the top money making owners.
Being 14th is deceptive though since Buffalo did not shell out big signing bonuses last year. Imagine if during last summer TD signed Clements to a long term contract with a 12MM signing bonus. That would of dropped Buffalo to the bottom tier last year as far as revenue. The league is trnding towards players getting more money upfront with bigger bonuses. Buffalo and smaller market teams can not compete in the long term based on this. He can compete today but for how much longer before he loses money?
Ralph's big issue is the new agreement... it makes it very difficult for clubs like Buffalo to continue to stay competitive on the field as it completely ****s with operating costs. As with any business, costs are rising, players think they're worth more than any citizen and their job, and the new deal isn't condusive to helping the smaller clubs mind the gap.
If the NFL really wanted to be fair it would cap all player costs... contracts, bonuses, etc... but certain owners will never go for it.
By doing that, it could level everybody's operating costs and even out the playing field...
Again, certain owners wouldn't like that because they'd be making less money. Remember, when you are rich, you always want more. There's a big difference between having 58 million and 58.6 million to some of these guys. Plain and simple, the NFL has become all about money and less about the game.
The problem is to WHO we are paying. If we draft a TE at #8 or even a safety, what did that do to shore up our lines? Nothing. So the lines still suck but we have a highly paid TE that runs great routes but the QB is on his ass before he can get the ball off!
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RIP Tommy D! 12/25/1978-9/9/2008
If you make something "Idiot-proof", they'll only make better idiots!
Operating Income..14th with an asterisk (5-Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) I'd be interested to see OI calculated with at least taxes taken into account, especially in NYS.
1yr Value change...21st. Bottom 40%.
Debt/value ratio is most likely a result of having a 35-yr old stadium that was built, maintained, and upgraded through public funds.
YardRat Wall of Fame #56 DARRYL TALLEY #29 DERRICK BURROUGHS#22 FRED JACKSON #95 KYLE WILLIAMS
1.) The operating revenue figure is a pre-tax number, so you have to subtract taxes from that and those taxes are not reduced by depreciation or loan interest. That will take a certain amount out of that figure.
2.) Since 2004 the salary cap number has increased dramatically ($ 25-30 million) and while much of that is offset by additional shared revenues from TV, etc., the amounts being paid to coaches and in signing bonuses have gone up dramatically along with the salary cap. That may or may not reduce the available operating revenue, but it does alter the percentage of operating revenue that has to be committed to each contract.
There's no way that I will argue that Ralph is poor--but it is a matter of comparison. As was pointed out, either by Ralph or one of the other small market owners during the discussions prior to the finalizing of the new CBA, the difference comes down to this: If Ralph has, let's say, $ 30 million in operating revenue after taxes, and he can afford to sign one big free agent with a $ 10 million bonus, two with $ 5 million bonuses, and a max of five with $ 2 million bonuses before he has used up all of his excess cash; while Daniel Snyder or Jerry Jones can afford to sign three players with $ 10 million bonuses, two with $ 5 million bonuses, 5 with $ 2 million bonuses before they use up their excess cash. The difference is in the number of premium players that they can afford to bring in each year--which will certainly impact the competiveness of their respective teams over time.
Question: What is it that so many people here have been screaming about all off-season? Answer: That the Bills have not signed any top free agents like Bentley, Hutchinson, etc. Well, look at the signing bonuses that the top free agents got and calculate how many of those bonuses the Bills could have paid out before they used up their operating revenue (keep in mind that they also had to pay out some money to the coaches that they let go and to Marv and all of the coaches that they hired out of that operating revenue--now do you see why they manoevered M.Mularkey into resigning instead of firing him?). Also, remember that signing bonuses that were paid to guys, like Adams, Milloy and Moulds, etc. that are gone are not refundable and have yet to be amortized off of the books against the salary cap--so there is no savings there in terms of their signing bonus money.
Several people have made the point that the Bills have squandered their money on the young players that they have signed. Maybe. And, maybe not. The signings that they have made represent a tactical decision by the front office (Marv and Ralph and probably Jauron) to use their money to turn over and fill multiple positions with young players that they feel are on the verge of having breakout seasons and, then, fill in around them with even cheaper players later, rather than go for the one big signing that they could afford (although you can argue that Tripplett was that big signing) and have to fill more positions with cheaper free agents down the road. Whether it is the right strategy or not, whether it will work or not, is certainly a question that Bills fans can disagree with and debate, but, like it or not, it is the strategy that they have chosen to adopt. However, when your team is 5-11, there is a lot wrong with it and it makes sense to think that it is going to take more than one or two older players looking for a ring or a big payday to turn things around, so why not go with some younger players that you think have the potential to become part of the core of a winning team a couple of years down the road?
Now, you can argue that it is the cheap route and that Ralph and Marv have chosen to go this route because Ralph is simply a cheap guy who doesn't want to dip into his own pockets to front money to the team to pay for the signing bonuses for top flight free agents and coaches like D.Snyder and J.Jones will. O.K. Having lived through some of the worst of Ralph's cheapness with regard to the Bills, I certainly won't rule that out as a definite possibility. But, as I have pointed out in several previous posts, Ralph's age and family situation puts him in a very different situation than a J.Jones or D.Snyder or many of the other younger and richer owners in the league. If Jerry Jones wants to dip into his own pocket so that he can sign five free agents to contracts with signing bonuses over $ 10 million apiece this off-season, he's in a better position to do so: he's a lot less concerned about dying soon that Ralph, realistically, has to be, he's got more personal wealth than Ralph has, and he doesn't have the same concerns at his age about taking care of his family that Ralph has at his age, etc. So, yeah, if you want to call Ralph cheap or a bad owner for having those concerns, I suppose that you can, but I consider them to be understandable concerns and think that it is a tad unfair to demand that Ralph put the needs of his team and wishes of the team's fans above those of his family. And, I would be willing to bet that most of the people who want Ralph to do just that would be the first ones to tell anyone who suggested that they do the same if they were in Ralph's shoes to "Go to hell!"
No, the Bills aren't broke. And, Ralph Wilson isn't a poor man. But, in terms of what they are able to do in free agency and in the pursuit of coaches, etc., the Bills are and will continue to be at a competitive disadvantage in comparison to many of the teams in the NFL so long as Ralph Wilson continues to be the sole owner of the team and the team remains in a WNY region that is economically depressed. That means that, unless there is an infusion of cash into the team from a new owner or partner with deep pockets or an economic revival in the region Bills fans will have to temper their expectations and hope that the front office and coaching staff of the team are able to select the right young, still-developing free agents, draft talent that will blossom into stardom in the NFL, and mold them into a quality team. As things stand with the CBA, it is unlikely that we will ever again see a flurry of big-name free agent signings by the Bills as long as Ralph Wilson is the owner. There are some very understandable reasons why he can't and won't do that. So, you're either going to have to get used to it or find another team to root for because, as much as I hate to see it, that's almost certainly the way things are going to be.
Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. And, thus it was that they surrendered their freedom; not with a bang, but without even a whimper.
Nice post man! Well put, a lot of Bills fans are blinded by either their loyalty or lack of knowledge. The fact that Buffalo makes X amount of dollars or has X amount of debt...etc is irrelevant. Because in L.A. with new ownership the team will be a cash cow. As its been stated before like it or not unless the state or a new owner steps up, the Bills to L.A. is a very real possibility.
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