Mr. WEO Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 If there is anything that has proved to be flexible (particularly when there are dollars involved) it is NFL rules. How many years have you followed the NFL if you have any belief that NFL rules are inviolate. A better argument (still fairly fact free but better than ranting this is against NFL rules which were made under a pretty different set of circumstances that exists now) would be to simply point out there has been no discussion at all of this as a direction of Mr. Ralph interest or activity. Yet, on the other side: 1. The counterargument that this seems pretty appropriate for another small market team that depends upon regional appeal as GB makes sense for an exception for Buffalo. 2. It actually is a fair unknown after the market meltdown whether banks would be willing or able to extend the huge loan needed to pay for the Bills to anyone or whether an individual would be in a position in the current market to get leveraged the way even the billionaires would have to in order to come up with the substantial market value of an NFL team. My sense is that if Mr. Ralph kicks the bucket anytime soon for immediate purposes the NFL itself may end up becoming the owner since I think most package of folks I have heard about are likely going to have trouble getting the approval of the vast super vast super majority of owners which will determined qualified bidders from which the highest bidder will emerge. 3. It was shown when even the stupid pols who lead Cleveland (one of the few cities which actually is more poor fiscally poor than Buffalo according to federal census wealth measures) faced off against the NFL when Modell ran off to get cash from Baltimore that they beat the NFL and got the Browns name and franchise rights back. A big part of the threat which won the day for Ohio pols was threatening the NFLs partial antitrust exemption. Schumer has already hinted at unsheathing this cudgel if the only team which plays its home games in NYS tries to leave. I would not be surprised if even if Mr. Ralph's bill specifically says that the team will be sold to the highest bidder, that this will actually be to the highest qualified bidder (does anyone out there really think if the Ayatollah of Iran, Rush Limbaugh or some else deemed undesirable by a key NFL stakeholder was the high bidder that they would have to get the team? Nope). If the NFL were only to declare that the qualified bidder must keep the team in NYS and meet other criteria they set to maintain the NFL business then these will be the only qualified bidders from which the highest bidder can be found. From past events if the league's partial antitust exemption is at risk then the high bidder will have to come from here and a GB like system could well produce the highest bid for the team. Without the antitrust exemption, the NFL, as we know it wouod change drastically. It would be a quick end for every "small market team" for the simple reason that the $120 million that every team gets from the evenly split TV contract revenue would disappear as each team would be able to independently negotiate its own deals with the networks. How do you think the pricing is going to shake out, say, between the Cowboys and the Bills? No Senator (forget about a majority of Senators) will allow himself to be known as the one who killed football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 ..I still believe that Ralphie is going to leave the team to WNY in his will and screw the the NFL. Of course I still believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa and that Jenna Jamison lost my phone number! She didn't lose it, I saw it on her nightstand and threw it away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in Horseheads Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 She didn't lose it, I saw it on her nightstand and threw it away. Bastard!... Of course I would have done the same thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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