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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.

I'm not going to get in the political mud... That should go to another board. I will say however that I would *prefer* a less controversial owner, but I'd take Trump if he leaves the team in Buffalo and I would not stop following the team even if he acts like an a** constantly... As long as most of that was non football related. However if someone considers him such a reprehensible racist then I respect their right to change teams. If the Bills had made Vick the face of the franchise I would have reduced or withdrawn my support. Everyone has their limits, I suppose.

A couple more thoughts on Trump. First of all, if you look into his background (for example on Wikipedia), he actually lost most of his stake in the casinos and they probably are not that profitable. Gambling in general is experiencing much more competition as multiple states legalize gambling. So I don't doubt he can easily get out of any gambling related involvement. According to what's out there, he gets a lot of his money from licensing his brand (ie "Trump") to real estate developments and other ventures. Nice work if you can get it; someone else does the development and takes most of the risk, and you get free cash for letting them use the name "Trump". So... any time he generates publicity, as long as it is not outrageously negative, he is going to end up increasing his brand value and therefore his future earnings potential. Ridiculous but there you have it. He's already gotten publicity out of this and of course he says he wants to keep the Bills in Buffalo because that portrays him, and the Trump brand, in the best possible light. Not only is that great for his ego, but let's face it... the more times the word "Trump" is said, posted, or written about, he's enhancing his brand. I might as well be working for him by writing this post! So from here... he can do a couple of things: 1) Just drop out of the process after other groups come to light. This is possible and he can easily back out at any point by saying they couldn't make the numbers work. He still wins since he just got free press. 2) Put in a lowball bid and then when someone else buys it, claim they paid too much and he is too smart for that. This is a mixed result, he doesn't take a credibility hit by not following through, but it makes him appear less wealthy and powerful. I don't know if this is likely. 3) Make a serious bid, but lose out intentionally or otherwise. This is a net positive result for Trump, he can easily use the "they paid too much" argument but he gets maximum publicity during the process. 4) Make a serious bid but get rejected by the NFL. This is a BAD scenario for Trump (ego and brand-wise) and back channels will be used to ensure that this will not happen. If the owners are not open to a Trump bid, either #1 or #2 will happen. 5) Make a winning bid. Can't be ruled out and gives him a lot of credibility as a rich guy which he craves. In this scenario, in my opinion, he keeps the bills here through the 7 year period regardless. If NYS etc give him good tax breaks he stays because it is easy, safe money ... otherwise he looks at Toronto, London, or selling to a group in one of those areas. There's nothing IO can see preventing a new owner from holding the team in Buffalo for the duration of the lease agreement, then selling to a non-local group near the end (as long as they do not "intend to relocate during the term of the agreement"). Holding onto the team for 7 years may bring Trump enough "side benefits" in terms of publicity and branding to make any "not profitable enough annually" issues go away.

A new owner would be smart to say they would strongly prefer to keep the Bills in Buffalo, but that long term it would depend on progress in the stadium working group. This allows them to negotiate on the amount of subsidies. We don't know how much the state and county are willing to kick in for a new stadium, but we know that number is not $0 (since they kicked in money for the improvements in the last lease). The higher that number is the better chance we have to keep the Bills. You may feel taxpayers should not pay, but objectively the more money put up by NYS the greater the chance the Bills stay. Since Trump already said he would keep them here I am guessing he is not really serious but just looking for good PR.

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