Mayhem

I have to believe that Richie's agent is using the deals below as comparables. Yanda was 30 when he signed his deal, Iupati was 27 and Franklin was 24. They are all a lot younger than Richie so you could argue for a discount off these but still I would think Incognito gets paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-$24 million on a 4 year deal with about half of it guaranteed. The four-year, $37.4 million extension that Marshal Yanda signed late last week did not make him the highest-paid guard in the NFL, but the anchor of the Ravens’ offense line will get $17.8 million in guaranteed money, including a $9 million signing bonus, and $17.41 million in cash over the first two years of the deal. Yanda’s deal is also worth an average of $8.95 million per year which is a higher annual value than what the top free agent guards – the Arizona Cardinals’ Mike Iupati and the San Diego Chargers’ Orlando Franklin – signed for this past offseason. Iupati’s five-year, $40 million contract included $22.5 million guaranteed and an annual value of $8 million. Franklin’s five-year, $36.5 million contract includes $20 million guaranteed and an annual value of $7.3 million. Over the first two years of their deal, Iupati and Franklin could make $16 and $16.5 million respectively, both slightly lower than Yanda.

It isn't just selling the tickets either. It is the Corporate Sponsorship deals. Look at all the signs for different Companies at the stadium. All the commercials on the Jumbotron. Every gate at the stadium now has a sponsor. The official this of the Bills and the official that of the Bills. All the advertising at St. John Fisher during training camp. It isn't easy selling all of that and also keeping those corporate sponsors happy while trying to keep up with Jerry Jones, Dan Snyder and the like.

I really wish they would give the ball to Fred more often. He has a lot fewer negative plays than Spiller. Spiller has the game breaker speed and every time he touches the ball he could get a TD but how often does he?

It seems as if it is a problem with the NFL way more than any other league. You don't constantly read about NHL or MLB or NBA players being suspended for DWI or Domestic Violence etc. Why do you think that is? Do the other leagues not discipline players for the same actions or do these things occur much more often among football players.

Per tweet by Steve Tasker

3.8% or even 5% return on a billion dollars is a pretty lousy rate of return and would keep out anyone who looks at it purely as a business opportunity or who isn't cash flow positive enough to not need the billion dollars to produce current cash flow for them. The appreciation of the team isn't something most buyers would realize in their life time (assuming they keep the team until they die). And if they are forced to sell it unexpectedly they are not likely to get the same kind of premium as in a non-distressed situation. It truly is the ultimate exclusive hobby for ultra wealthy people.

I think this might be the quote John Wawrow was talking about, particularly the last sentence: But on Friday, Sports Business Journal reported that Leiweke talked up Toronto at the Sports Entertainment & Venues Tomorrow conference in Columbia, S.C. “The NFL game on Thursday night [saints-Falcons] outdrew the NHL in Canada. Nothing outdraws the NHL in Canada, except Rob Ford on the nightly news,” Leiweke said in a keynote address. “They love the NFL up there. It’s unbelievable. Toronto is a vibrant, deep market. People talk about the great marketplaces in the world for live entertainment and sports. No. 1 gross in hockey? Toronto. Top-10 gross still today in the NBA? Toronto. Top-five gross in Major League Soccer? Toronto. Music – there’s the O2 in London, Madison Square Garden, maybe Staples Center and then Air Canada Centre, which had 60 shows last year, all sold out. There’s so much money up there. But we’ve got to find a stadium, got to find owners and got to find a team.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/when-it-comes-to-the-nfl-tim-leiweke-has-history/article15599690/

Here is a link to what I think people are referring to. In the last paragraph Nix says "We’re going to be a player probably in free agency at some point. It may not be the first day or two, but we’ll be looking for guys that can come in and help us and take some pressure off the draft. We think we can be active and go places.” http://www.afceastdaily.com/2013/02/bills-plans-with-impending-free-agents.html

It is also Fleet Week at the harbor downtown. It should be hopping down at Canalside. http://www.buffalonavalpark.org/BuffaloNavalPark_FleetWeek_2012.pdf

If you are a fan of microbrews this is going on Saturday from 4pm-8pm at the Baseball stadium downtown. You could walk to this from the Adams Mark. http://www.consumersbeverages.com/ballpark/brewbash.html

I sit two rows in front of his box and he was defintitely there. In fact some guys moved down from the upper deck and sat next to us and I pointed Ralph out to them. I'm assuming at this point his black eye was no big deal or we would have heard about it. Just makes you nervous to see someone of his age look like that.

I was at the game yesterday and our seats are right near Ralph's box. I think something happened (like he fell) because he had one hell of a black eye and it seemed to be swelling up worse as the game went on. He was putting ice on it and was wearing sunglasses in the second half (in the pouring rain). Has anyone heard anything about that?