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The wealth comes significantly from people living outside the city limits so this study is a bit misleading. The city is relatively small population wise. Do you believe 26% of people in the suburbs live below the poverty line? Thanks. To everyone else who says the market can't afford PSLs... If the team overprices them, they won't sell, and the price will come down until it hits the market value. As long as taxpayers are not on the hook for PSL sale failure what's the issue? As long as they are locked in for a longer period let them try to raise revenue. If everyone who says the area is too poor is right they will fail. However if we give up without trying and the team moves failure is guaranteed. If the team ends up moving I believe all the taxpayers will get in return is $28M.

Do you think the community would raise $1B to buy the team if it was allowed?

It would be interesting to know if an irrevocable trust can own an NFL team. After all, if you followed this strategy, you would no longer be the legal owner, the trust would be. If there's any previous examples where a team had been transferred to a trust before the owner's death, that would be a sure sign. If not... maybe it's not allowed? If you read the non-relocation agreement (not just the lease) you will see that it specifically requires the team to play their games there and that compliance is spelled out in the number of games played per season. It's not just a lease.

Of course the NFL can refuse to accept any bid. So such a lawsuit could be fruitless based on the fact that the highest bid is worth $0 if the NFL likes another bid better.

That would be fine with me too, as long as he gets 7+ sacks again this year.

Just pretend that "Niagara" is a middle name. I am OK with Buffalo/Niagara Bills if that somehow increases the value. Or, Buffalo Niagara Bills... Just like the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. As long as they do not move out of the area.. and no they shouldn't dump Buffalo out of the name.

In most complex sales there is some grey area over the "best" bid. If two bids come in relatively close to each other, there is probably a ton of leeway to accept the lower offer. If there's a huge separation, not so much. That's why putting a solid stadium plan for the WNY area together is so important. If there is an expectation of $300M in public financing here, vs $0M in Toronto, it absolutely factors into the bids different groups will offer. The "Ballmer paid $2B" scenario only applies to a few multi-billionaires over $10B... some of those people are already out of the running.

How much did they charge Art Modell? So - if LA is more profitable, and raises the value of a franchise so much - why haven't any of the other teams whose leases have come up moved? How about people who could (supposedly) just break their lease? Aren't there at least 10 franchises that would immediately see an increase and value, and start making more money, by moving to LA? Why? More difficult than breaking the lease/non-relocation agreement? Or more difficult than letting the franchise linger in limbo for 6 years then moving it? So, there are at least 10 teams who would benefit more from relocation than the Bills, right? $400M (if dedicated to WNY, not NYS as a whole) might be enough to get taxpayers to support a buyout, $1.5B is way overpaying.

Because he was out racing?

That is correct. Example (4-year period): http://www.panthers.com/tickets/psl-club-seats.html

A little issue here: tickets cost on a per game basis. You took 70K*$100 = $7M. However, based on an average season ticket cost of $500 that is 70K*$500 = $35M per season. http://www.buffalobills.com/tickets/season-ticket-pricing.html Also, the average revenue per seat is probably a little higher. If each person spends $15/game on associated costs (parking, concessions, whatever) then they could easily see revenue of $1M/game = $8M/season on top of that from the "regular fans". The luxury boxes are all-inclusive up to a certain point, I am sure there is some associated additional revenue but given there are fewer people, it probably isn't too much.

Hey, it's probably available CHEAP.

Looking at the map, I stumbled across a similar area, off Transit between Genesee and the 90. Looks like wasted space at least from the air. And, I've heard of it. Git 'er done.

If by "dome" you mean "roof" then I agree. But I thought you were firmly in the "they are leaving" category. So why build a stadium if the team is leaving?

Or they can skip the lease buyout and pocket $300M over 15 years. I am not sure what type of income this can offset, capital gains tax rates would be 23.8% (+ state tax) whereas federal for someone at those levels is 39.6%. The vast majority of income for the ultra wealthy is likely to be capital gains related. I'm unclear on whether the state tax is NY state tax or state tax in the owner's state of residency, but it makes a big difference. Nevertheless, the writeoff is likely to be at least 23.8% and could be as high as ~48.5% (39.6% federal income tax + 8.97% NYS tax)... assuming this credit can be taken at the state level. Moral of the story: This writeoff is not a trivial consideration, and substantially mitigates the cost of the team over the 15 years.

I don't like the trade. We get a 4th next year - not a lot of value. If it becomes a 3rd I'd feel a little better. But not much. I don't see Mike Williams as a viable replacement, and in fact there's reason for concern that he may flame out in one way or another. In which case, we just lost one of our top receivers because we were "too crowded" at the position. Watkins may be great, but many rookie receivers take until year 3 to break out. I have to wonder if Stevie was looking to go back to SF for personal reasons. Anyhow, I don't think we are taking big steps forward this offseason so far.

They are censoring it to hide the raw sewage.

Don't forget that police sometimes overcharge on the arrest report. Will have to wait for court / DA to see what the final charges are.

If a free stadium in NYS is offered (in exchange for a long term lock in), the owner (whomever it is) will keep the team in NYS. Owners interested in moving the team would naturally be outbid by those who want to stay and take the incredible giveaway. However, I do not believe that the taxpayers will be THAT generous. If they are, it's the Buffalo Bills for the next 20 years for sure. Unfortunately the more likely scenario is that there will be a reasonable, but not outrageous, incentive package available in New York. Whether that incentive is enough to balance out the economic benefits of moving remains to be seen. A lot of residents would be likely to oppose a complete gift of $500M+ to the new Bills owner. Depending on the length of the lock-in period, I think you could see $20-30M/year ponied up by the government as an initial incentive, plus relatively modest tax breaks or other annual benefits on an ongoing basis... If it is more than that I will be surprised.

You don't need to make back $1 billion. You own an asset that is worth approximately $1 billion. If you want the money back you can probably cash it in. It's similar to buying real estate or even gold. In my opinion less risky than gold however. There is a chance that it will increase in value and a small chance it will decrease. There is virtually no chance of losing the $1 billion. Also the $1 billion is worthless anyhow unless you invest it or buy something. So whomever has $1 billion can own some other business, a bunch of buildings, or the Bills. The Bills may not be the highest performing investment but you don't have to be completely uncaring about money to select them. You may lose $30m/year in opportunity cost compared to a better investment, but you do become an NFL owner.

I'd take that over never winning. "Leave the trophy and get out."

^ This.

Let's bring him in for a tryout at TE. While we are at it we should also give tryouts to Tim Tebow and Mike Jasper. (Both at TE of course). Question, can Manuel play TE?

We couldn't cut him since with TBD as GM we traded him last year for a draft pick.

In my opinion it's going to take a sweetheart deal to keep the Bills. In my opinion, voters are not going to want it. However in NYS many of the politicians are insulated from voters so it could still happen. I no longer live in the area so I can't really have an opinion on the "right amount" of tax incentives.