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New sale of team thread


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Stupid question here but what exactly has Pegula's ownership of the Sabre's done for them? I ask because that may give some indication of what he'd do as the Bills owner. I mean, I hope like hell the team stays in WNY but at some point the owner needs to spend the cash to help the team on the road to winning. If the team is going to continue on the current path I'm not so sure fans will continue to support them....

I think a point that many people miss is that even the best owners make mistakes , or even if they aren't making big mistakes, you don't always win. I think the Sabres are on the right track now, but even that is no guarantee of a cup. I think the Bills are way ahead of the Sabres in terms of playoff quality, but still no guarantee of anything. Sometimes, you need some luck on your side.
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It could be anything. I sell small businesses for a living now and we see all kinds of stuff on transactions that may only be a couple hundred grand. I can't imagine what will come into play here. Most everything will be resolved in due diligence. They will cover any contracts, concession deals, receivables, payables, liabilities, etc... Any contingencies will come from things discovered there I would imagine. As an example the buyer may exclude certain assets from their bid to try to keep the cost down. We see this from time to time but I can't imagine that at this level there will be too much nickel and diming with other interested parties. Pretty much everything will be transferred which is why the process takes so long. The due diligence on a transaction of this magnitude is insane.

Having been on either side of buy or sell transactions I would normally agree with you. However, when it comes to sports franchises there is a big element of ego that overrides dollars. People that buy franchises do not do so because they believe it is the best investment of their money. They do so for largess and notoriety. Pegula has big balls and apparently big money hence he leads the pack here.

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Having been on either side of buy or sell transactions I would normally agree with you. However, when it comes to sports franchises there is a big element of ego that overrides dollars. People that buy franchises do not do so because they believe it is the best investment of their money. They do so for largess and notoriety. Pegula has big balls and apparently big money hence he leads the pack here.

It could be ego or it could be the big picture. Pegula is investing heavily in downtown. The Bill's could enhance that investment greatly. Not to mention favors it could earn him politically.

Edited by PromoTheRobot
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Having been on either side of buy or sell transactions I would normally agree with you. However, when it comes to sports franchises there is a big element of ego that overrides dollars. People that buy franchises do not do so because they believe it is the best investment of their money. They do so for largess and notoriety. Pegula has big balls and apparently big money hence he leads the pack here.

Home town discount is a big factor here. Many bidders locked out of the process once it became clear the team could not be moved to a better market. Gotta give Ralph credit, he engineered it so the team could not be bid on by anyone other than homers. Pegs is overbidding big time relative to the value of the team, but as BB says, its not about the money to Pegs. All good . Go Bills.

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Courtesy of John Kryk and the Toronto Sun, the best story I have ever read!

 

Toronto group can't match Pegula's first bid on Bills: Sources

 

http://www.torontosu...n-bills-sources

 

It also be that they might not want to try and match bids.

 

Think about it this way; Those guys clearly want an NFL team. They know it's unlikely they will get this one, so why get into an unwinnable biffing war that will only drive up the sale price of the next available team? Doing so is against their own best interests.

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It also be that they might not want to try and match bids.

 

Think about it this way; Those guys clearly want an NFL team. They know it's unlikely they will get this one, so why get into an unwinnable biffing war that will only drive up the sale price of the next available team? Doing so is against their own best interests.

I couldn't care less if this is the reason, as long as it means they aren't getting OUR team.

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It also be that they might not want to try and match bids.

 

Think about it this way; Those guys clearly want an NFL team. They know it's unlikely they will get this one, so why get into an unwinnable biffing war that will only drive up the sale price of the next available team? Doing so is against their own best interests.

 

Bulldog had an interesting theory yestersday:

 

@Bulldogwgr: Optimistic thought for the morning. Assuming only 3 bids is accurate, others stayed away bc they can't compete w Pegula and know he'll win.

 

 

@Bulldogwgr: Bon Jovi group is running the race to carry favor w NFL for future consideration. They make for good leverage piece driving price up.

 

 

@Bulldogwgr: It's not bulletproof, as I don't know exactly how a team in Toronto that's not the Bills works for Buffalo from an attendance standpoint.

 

 

@Bulldogwgr: But I could see Goodell telling JBJ "sure, we'll consider you in the future. I just need you to do this one thing for me."

 

 

@Bulldogwgr: NFL has let the threat of LA work for them for years to drive stadium construction. They know all about leverage and perceived threats.

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GR reporting (speculation from Toronto Star) that the TO groups inability to match the offer, revolves around Bon Jovi's intent to be the principle owner...he doesn't have enough of that 1.3 billion dollars, to meet primary owner requirements.

 

Still...!@#$ Bon Jovi!

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GR reporting (speculation from Toronto Star) that the TO groups inability to match the offer, revolves around Bon Jovi's intent to be the principle owner...he doesn't have enough of that 1.3 billion dollars, to meet primary owner requirements.

 

Still...!@#$ Bon Jovi!

 

At least some of us know when we don't fit in. Yes, he may be a "legendary" rocker. But he will never match dollar for dollar with those Business Tycoons and those are the types that can afford Prime Time Sports Franchises.

 

He needs to hold his head high, get off the diving board and head back to the kiddie pool where he belongs!!!

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I don't buy the "the Toronto group is driving up the price to curry favor with the NFL" thing, because it works against them as long as BJ is the principle owner. He only has so much money to spend and the Bills are one of the cheapest teams in the NFL (only the Jags and Raiders are cheaper, and they're probably not going to be sold for awhile). The next team up for sale is going to go for more than the Bills, and thus still more than BJ's group can afford.

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I don't buy the "the Toronto group is driving up the price to curry favor with the NFL" thing, because it works against them as long as BJ is the principle owner. He only has so much money to spend and the Bills are one of the cheapest teams in the NFL (only the Jags and Raiders are cheaper, and they're probably not going to be sold for awhile). The next team up for sale is going to go for more than the Bills, and thus still more than BJ's group can afford.

I'm with you Doc. They looked at this as their chance, have been serious players, and took their best swing. As that group is currently constructed they can't afford it. JBJ can't be the controlling owner in all likelihood and word has it that he has no interest in any other role. Despite what many of the "doomsday preppers" here wanted to believe they were always a long shot to land the team.

 

MAYBE if they ever expand he will get an opportunity to bring a team to Toronto. It is certainly not in his best interest to drive up franchise values though.

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Bulldog had an interesting theory yestersday:

 

@Bulldogwgr: Optimistic thought for the morning. Assuming only 3 bids is accurate, others stayed away bc they can't compete w Pegula and know he'll win.

 

 

@Bulldogwgr: Bon Jovi group is running the race to carry favor w NFL for future consideration. They make for good leverage piece driving price up.

 

 

@Bulldogwgr: It's not bulletproof, as I don't know exactly how a team in Toronto that's not the Bills works for Buffalo from an attendance standpoint.

 

 

@Bulldogwgr: But I could see Goodell telling JBJ "sure, we'll consider you in the future. I just need you to do this one thing for me."

 

TNT

@Bulldogwgr: NFL has let the threat of LA work for them for years to drive stadium construction. They know all about leverage and perceived threats.

 

This is an obvious pint and one with which I completely agree. The trust NEEDS JBJ and trump to create demand, just as the NFL needs those bidders to inflate the price. I suspect this deal will get done VERY quickly now bc Pegula has seemingly offered offered the trust everything it could want - a great price in what I'm assuming is a cash bid that will allow the deal to close before the end of this tax year. Assuming the bid info is correct (and I'm skeptical of the accuracy of all of the reported bids), there is a serious game of poker going on. The trust can probably extort a little more from pegula through the JBJ threat, but it has to ask itself whether the potential gain is worth the risk of pegula reducing his bid.

 

What I also wonder is whether this massare guy has been groomed for this moment. As the theory goes, his source is littmans kid, who is Ralph's grandson. What if they've been feeding this guy all along to establish his credibility and now at the very end use him to reinforce the idea that the JBJ group increases its bid past pegulas 1.3b after e books are opened? Couple that leak with one to someone like to graham or Jim fink and the trust could easily create an incentive for pegula to move beyond 1.3B. I'd be stunned if we don't see that kind of story sometime soon, but I'll be equally stunned if pegula doesn't close the deal. Like I said it will happen fast., and probably for a "little" more than 1.3B.

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I found it interesting listening to WGR this morning, and hearing Jeremy and Howard claim the one major obstacle is that the NFL and the other league owners don't know anything about Pegula.

They don't have any idea what they are talking about. They seem like nice enough guys but they aren't informed at all.
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