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MLSE & Bon Jovi to Pursue NFL/Buffalo Bills

ehlow said:
Strange.. what if they "don't intend to" now, but they change their mind after 2023? ;) I guess the question is can they ever do it.

I don't follow NFL much, but I was reading up on this and it's insane that LA has no team.
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well how did ralph Wilson get permission to play any games in Canada at all... if the league let some games be played in Canada. could the majority play in Canada?
 
My understanding is the local government have no legal right to prevent a move of a sports team as that is only within the remit of the NFL and franchise owners to decide. Where government has leverage is with the terms of the lease where breaking the 2023 lease involves a $400mil fine. That being said, there's a one time clause that allows the owner to break the lease early during a particular window in 2019-2020 for a lesser fine of $28mil, which is frankly chump change for these groups.

As for there being any animosity against the team should they play in stadiums after moving the team, its worth keeping in mind that the NFL has already had 5 hostile franchise relocations. Much more vocal than what's happening in Buffalo right now, particularly the Baltimore scenario. When NFL teams relocate however, their fans rarely create any sort of commotion at games simply for the fact that the team will no longer play in that city, ever.
 
ehlow said:
Strange.. what if they "don't intend to" now, but they change their mind after 2023? ;) I guess the question is can they ever do it.

I don't follow NFL much, but I was reading up on this and it's insane that LA has no team.
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Sure...but if they acquired land in 2015....started building in 2017 and had an NFL stadium ready in 2019/20.....that would show what they were intending all along......the state and county would seek the courts authority to block that move.
 
sixrings said:
well how did ralph Wilson get permission to play any games in Canada at all... if the league let some games be played in Canada. could the majority play in Canada?
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Those were games being relocated.....not the franchise being relocated.
 
TOareaFan said:
Sure...but if they acquired land in 2015....started building in 2017 and had an NFL stadium ready in 2019/20.....that would show what they were intending all along......the state and county would seek the courts authority to block that move.
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If Canada is successful in its pursuit of a World Cup bid then there would many stakeholders financing a multi-use domed stadium capable of hosting NFL anyway (the NFL has a smaller field than CFL). There seems to be a lot of momentum there and Canada appears to be the most visible candidate for 2026 thus far.
 
Here is a pretty good summary of the clause I was speaking of:

http://www.syracuse.com/axeman/inde...nty_forbifs_sale_to_owner_who_would_relo.html

I think the key thing here is that it does not make it illegal to buy the team if your intent is to move it but it does make it illegal for the trustees of the estate and, by extension, the merchant bank (Morgan Stanley, I think) to sell the team to someone that they know, or should know, is intending to move it.

I would think both those two parties are loathe to face that sort of scrutiny/action.....if there are two offers identical in price and one has no doubt about location and one has a hint of re-location....guess which offer they accept.
 
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An intersting article from Forbes on how none of the offers seem to be over a Billion dollars.

I think this is really bad looking for the mighty NFL who just saw the NBA LA second banana joke of a franchise get almost double that in their sale. It's obviously the owner not able to even have the leverage to relocate the franchise for over half a decade, it's really making a lot of people thinking it's not worth putting money into it. Especially for a market that doesn't seem to be growing any.

The Bills didn't do the Toronto deal out of charity or loving Toronto. The Bills needed an influx of cash badly. The original deal went for $78 Million for a 5-year deal (quick math that's about 15.6 Million a year, more on this later)

Forbes also ranked the value of NFL teams, the Bills came 30th out of 32 with a value of $870 Million, their operating income is just $12.6 Million, without the Toronto/Rogers money do they even make a profit?
 
StatGeek said:
An intersting article from Forbes on how none of the offers seem to be over a Billion dollars.

I think this is really bad looking for the mighty NFL who just saw the NBA LA second banana joke of a franchise get almost double that in their sale. It's obviously the owner not able to even have the leverage to relocate the franchise for over half a decade, it's really making a lot of people thinking it's not worth putting money into it. Especially for a market that doesn't seem to be growing any.

The Bills didn't do the Toronto deal out of charity or loving Toronto. The Bills needed an influx of cash badly. The original deal went for $78 Million for a 5-year deal (quick math that's about 15.6 Million a year, more on this later)

Forbes also ranked the value of NFL teams, the Bills came 30th out of 32 with a value of $870 Million, their operating income is just $12.6 Million, without the Toronto/Rogers money do they even make a profit?
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The clippers sale stunned me too. But you can't compare the clippers to the bills. Yes, the Clippers have been a perennial joke, but they're actually good these days. Also, as you mentioned , the Clippers are in LA (cha Ching!) and the Bills are in Buffalo. Totally different markets.

And ya, the Bills basically break even, it's not the best, but considering how bad they are these days, that ain't bad. Fresh owner, and some luck, they can make much more - throw in some playoff games at home, and there could be serious profit.

I don't think NFL owners need to make money, breaking even and letting inflation go increases the value. Didn't Ralph Wilson start/buy the franchise for 60k?
 
The Bills haven't made the playoffs in years, let alone had a winning record.

Didn't Ralph Wilson start/buy the franchise for 60k?
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That sounds correct. Donald Sterling bought the Clippers for only $12.5 million.
 
Videodrome said:
The Bills haven't made the playoffs in years, let alone had a winning record.



That sounds correct. Donald Sterling bought the Clippers for only $12.5 million.
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Oh I'm well aware how bad the Bills have been. Just as bad as the Jays sadly - no playoffs since their glory days in the 90's for either of them.

I've gone from detesting the Bills to pitying them......

Still like the Jays, just hate watching regular season baseball these days.
 
The Jays play in a big market and have deep pockets in theory. However, they are treated like a small market team with no money.
 
TOareaFan said:
Sure...but if they acquired land in 2015....started building in 2017 and had an NFL stadium ready in 2019/20.....that would show what they were intending all along......the state and county would seek the courts authority to block that move.
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how could it be blocked if they were moving it internationally? how could a US state block a land purchase in Canada?

Jays are roughly 1/2 down the list of "wealthiest MLB teams".
 
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