CodeMonkey

I guess that right there is the difference. I don't consider it cutting my throat. If I felt that way I could see your viewpoint.

Oh I disagree completely about this. The owners are all businessmen and as such would look at the long term gain of having a team in a larger and considerably more affluent market, particularly if it was an international market. Ten million is not a particularly large investment for them considering the possible benefits. Not unrealistic at all in my opinion.

Agreed. My wife is into antiques and from my watching what goes on there it is easy to see that most of the items have no intrinsic value at all. Yet it sells for sometimes insane amounts of money. It 100% depends upon how many different people want it and how deep their pockets are.

The odds of that happening would be about the same as hitting the powerball. The best Bills fans can hope for is that he is part of a ownership group. He would not be the owner, he would most likely have a PR job. He simply does not have the resources or experience to be an owner. He does, however, have the full backing and unwavering support of Bills fans everywhere and would be an awesome face of the team for any ownership group that desires to keep the team in Buffalo.

I have several relatives in the Cleveland area and after they got another team they all went so far as to say as long as the Browns beat the Ravens they could lose out the rest of the season and they would be forgiven. They were also proud of the fact that the Cleveland police apparently told Modell they could not guarantee his safety if he went to Cleveland for the games.

Unless one of us becomes a mind reader and taps into Whaley's thoughts we will never know. But I strongly believe if there was a QB in this draft that Whaley thought was a slam dunk quality long term starter, he would pull the trigger. He would be a fool not to.

Any good GM is going to be "all in" with any current starter ... until they can upgrade at that position.

Whew man. The NFL sure loves making things complicated don't they. So knowing they would be gone in 5 or 6 years would not allow you to enjoy going to a game now? Is your reason for going supporting the team financially or having a good time and cheering for them? I get being disappointed and even pissed off about a move. But if you enjoy going, why not continue as long as you can? I guess this is all rhetorical. I just don't get it. For example, i don't go to games now but I do enjoy watching the games on TV with my family. I strongly suspect we would stop watching the games when the team moved, but we still would watch until then because we enjoy it.

I guess the point would be what it always is. To go and have a good time at the game or the sports bar or at home or whatever your preference.

Yup he sure seems to be doing everything he can to try and improve. Plus as you said all the leadership feel good intangible stuff seems to be in place as well. No one can call him a slacker that's for sure. Time will tell if all of this leads to a better performance on the field or if it is just some more lipstick on a pig.

Credibility with whom? Trump is a businessman who even has experience with sports team ownership. Jim Kelly was a QB for a football team. As far as the NFL is concerned, Trump does not need JK. As far as the fans go, JK would be a big help to Trump. But Trump will have all the fan support he needs so long as the team stays put. Trump does not need JK at all. However JK absolutely needs someone with business experience and a boatload of cash.

Yes very surprising. Particularly this quote: That's a lot of groups!

Oh you are considering people that would ignore the NFL as a whole if the Bills left. Even if every season ticket holder did this, the impact on the Buffalo areas economy would be negligible. But there are far more NFL fans around than strictly Bills fans. For economic analysis, Google is your friend. Google "impact of nfl team on a cities economy" to get started.

A big blow? It's 8 days a year. 2 preseason games that really don't count. Decent teams might get a playoff game and good teams get multiple. Buffalo has had none for 15 years. Even if those businesses showed a HUGE increase on game days, there are simply too few of them to make a significant difference to any store or shops bottom line for the year. And if by some miracle some business did show a significant impact on their bottom line from those few days, they would be insignificant compared to all the businesses in the Buffalo area. A NFL team is a "nice to have" for the minority of people who are hard core fans, but certainly not a big blow to a city.

No city needs a NFL team. A subset of a cities population really wants and enjoys the team. Some cities have a higher percentage than others, but no cities economy depends upon the NFL and it's 8 home games a season.

We do disagree and that's fine. But if you know someone with experience in these matters, ask them to look at the lease and related documents on the county web site and see if you still think it is impossible to move the team before the end of the current lease. Never said it would be easy or cheap, but possible. And they could decide it's best to run out the lease while building a stadium. All a city would need is a commitment for after the current lease. You really believe that cannot happen? The new owner could decide to build their own stadium as well and not leech off of taxpayers. The Toronto group for example seems to own their facilities. Lots of possibilities. As far as Senator Chuck, he cannot by himself change the anti-trust status of the NFL. The other politicians will not effectively kill the NFL along with any hope of their reelection simply to keep a team in Buffalo NY. The NFL knows this, as does Senator Chuck I'm sure. Nothing happens but some noise. Chuckles saves his job because he is seen as at least trying to keep the team in the area. Politics as usual. It doesn't take much imagination at all. Just logic and the willingness to see all the possibilities, not just the one you prefer. Again, what you are saying is also a possibility. My crystal ball is in the shop so I cannot see into the future. But nothing wrong with a little healthy disagreement.

A complete and total narcissist yes, but a moron no.

No it's really not. They may let the lease run out while they build a new stadium, or break it if that is economically feasible for them. This would probably not be a quick sale because it's not like Mr. Wilson's passing was a complete surprise. Any potential buyers as well as the NFL has had years to get things lined up. And Senator Chuck is irrelevant in this process. He will make noise I'm sure, but at the end of the day that's all it will be, I still think we have not even heard the name of the next Bills owner yet. But the scenario you cannot envision is certainly possible.

That's a good point. But maybe if they announce their intentions to move the team to Toronto in X years that's OK?

Everything is at this point.

Rumor has it he is in with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the group that owns most of Toronto's professional sports teams. That group certainly has experience. I suppose them being approved would depend upon how much the NFL wanted to expand outside of the US.

Forbes valued the Bills at 870 million this past August so 1 billion should be a reasonably strong bid I would think (15% over valuation).

That makes a lot more sense than "one strike away".

And I'm saying that 32 Billionaires in different industries in different states have their own hooks into the state and federal governments to the point that they could, through their lobbies and/or directly, tell Senator Chuck to sit down and shut up and he would do it. Or do you think the power of 1 Senator is greater in the national government than 32 Billionaires? At the end of the day Chuck wants to keep his job. Putting up a public fight for Bills fans is good politics for him. Until he pisses off 32 people who collectively could alter his job status.

I suspect the collective wealth and contacts the 32 owners (counting the to-be-determined Bills owner) have, they are not very worried about Senator Chuck