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WGR reports 10 year lease


tito1

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I am not so sure this is good news or not because everything that the Bills do always have some sort black cloud hanging over it so Iam not very excited over this lease at all. Only time will tell if the Bills leave town or not so I will just wait and see. :mellow:

I view this as Good News / Bad News

The Good news is we have the Bills for at least seven more years!

The Bad news is we have the Bills for at least seven more years!

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Thinking positively, 7 years also allows for the team to have a new stadium built in Niagara County or even in Erie County without County ownership without crazy penalty. The 29 million dollar fee at that time likely aligns nicely with what the county is kicking into the current stadium in years 1-6.

 

If it lines up with an estate tax situation then Mrs. RW will hold the team and sell in in year 7. From RW's point of view it gives his family one shot at an out if situations change between now and then and he's no longer around. Realistically, RW also knows that in order to get anything accomplished re: a new stadium there has to be some sort of opt out otherwise they lose all of their leverage and the state, county, etc. will suddenly forget where their wallets are. Sort of like what happened to Art Modell in Cleveland - they promised him a stadium forever watched the old stadium crumble around him then basically told him to piss off.

 

I see this as a 6 year window to get the long term stadium situation sorted out. Once THAT is sorted out then we can come back to the Bills with the very long very iron clad lease. Ideally it's done and ready to open in year 7 so the lease for the new bldg gets done in year 6, they move to the new bldg in year 7 (cutting a check to Erie Co if necessary) and we move on.

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The cynic in me says it takes six years to build a new NFL stadium in LA, Ralph's 94......this lease takes Ralph to 100....seems like it's a lease only creates a few years breathing space to create some type of succession plan, which hopefully would put an ownership groups with Buffalo ties in.

I knew someone would find the negative in this. This is good news for Bills fans. Enjoy it. They ain't going anywhere, particularly not LA.
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Buffalo better hope that the new owners are big WNY supporters that are fully committed and have ties to the area. If the highest bidders are not committed to the area, they will surely be gone after year seven (that is if Ralph does pass on before then.) Ralph made $$ on this team because he had no overhead and could charge the lowest prices for tickets in the league. Attendance is not good for the Bills lately and there is zero corporate presence in the area, and that stadium is the pits. We can't sell out 2-3 games a year now with low prices, the new owners will have to raise prices significantly to make profit. There would definitely be temptations to move if the owners didn't have some kind of sentimental tie to the area.

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Great news boys.

 

So if I renew my season tix next year, I assume the Bills will not be sending out another "thug" ballcap....they got some renovations to make.

 

"Thug ballcap" eh? Oh my, this post is awful WASPy

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