BuffaloWings Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 I see how this can be a good idea....given Berman's historic affection for the Bills. It may be worth him mentioning it on Gameday or someone on Sportscenter talking about it, but I don't see that happening. ESPN talks about TO, Tony Romo, the Cowboys, Vince Young, Reggie Bush, etc. because they are the "hot" topic subjects that most of the country would like to hear about (at least that's what ESPN would tell you). The majority of the country probably wouldn't give a rat's a$$ if they were talking about the CBA and how it affects the Bills. If Chris Berman brought it up and had the other "experts" talk about it, then I'd be happy. But I don't know if the fans' efforts would be enough to get ESPN to notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nostradamus Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 He has mentioned it, in that he's said he had never thought to much about it, but that he never planned on buying the Sabres either. If Ralph passes, the eyes of the city would turn upon him. He could carve out a legacy for himself in this region were he to purchase the Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drg2021 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Jeremy Jacobs name is often thrown into these conversations. If you talk to any Boston Bruins fans, that's pretty scary. 864662[/snapback] Tommy G is the man.He has taken a finically strapped Sabres team and turned them around.It wasnt too long ago that the NHL was paying the Sabres players.Now this season you cant get tix to the games.I would cross my fingures and hope Mr G would have an interest in the Bills.Tommy G may be richer then the bum chums Snyder/Jones combined.Then we would carry a big stick within the NFL also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nostradamus Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 I know, does anyone have access to him email? Again, I know it would probably go straight to his junk account, but you never know. It would be worth a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyT Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 I heard Billy Graham already bought The Ralph and they're gonna hold daily crusades there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 what would happen to twobillsdrive.com ? 864650[/snapback] Dunno. Maybe SDS would lose his protection of the free press and be indicted by Spitzer for allowing all the things we have said? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drg2021 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 I see how this can be a good idea....given Berman's historic affection for the Bills. It may be worth him mentioning it on Gameday or someone on Sportscenter talking about it, but I don't see that happening. ESPN talks about TO, Tony Romo, the Cowboys, Vince Young, Reggie Bush, etc. because they are the "hot" topic subjects that most of the country would like to hear about (at least that's what ESPN would tell you). The majority of the country probably wouldn't give a rat's a$$ if they were talking about the CBA and how it affects the Bills. If Chris Berman brought it up and had the other "experts" talk about it, then I'd be happy. But I don't know if the fans' efforts would be enough to get ESPN to notice. 864672[/snapback] I know Espn has turned into a joke.The Nfl Network is worse than Espn.Nfl Network is lucky they have the games through the week because they only want to talk about TO,85,Bush,R Lewis.There programming is PUTRID,but i gotta have the channel for the games.When cable/sat systems go to an ala carte,payment the programming will have to inprove or people just wont pay to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACor58 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 If it is someone from outside the region then we are screwed. From a business standpoint they could: A.) Leave the team in the oldest stadium in the league in an are with an ailing economy that cannot sell out all of its home games or luxury boxes. B.) Move to L.A., or any other city that is willing to build a free stadium with tax payers dollars, in a better economy, with gauranteed sell outs for at least 10 yrs and a significantly better revenue stream to help me actually gain a return on my $750MM to $1B investment. Hmmmm..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt in KC Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Yep ... sorry. Bad wording on my part. 864665[/snapback] No problem. Sorry to mock you, but that cracked my up. Seriously, Ralph is doing all he can to say he'd like to keep the Bills in the area and warn he may not be able to. If ever there was a way to solicit local offers.... The only down side is that he is doing so much to stress the financial hardship, he might actually be scaring away potential buyers. If he can sway the league, then he will have hit a home run and I'm sure he'll get offers. Personally, I suspect his family will sell the team shortly after he passes, likely to the highest bidder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 IIRC, Jim Kelly has expressed interest in getting into team ownership Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zulu Cthulhu Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 The problem I have with this "big market" is that how many more such "big market" cities are there that do not have an NFL team. When I mean "big market" it has to be a substantial revenue stream....For example the Redskins made about 100M more in revenue than the Bills. Is there another city that can generate a disparate revenue or even half of that. I think the answer is no. The next in line cities other than LA are may be a San Antonio or a Portland. However I don't think any of those cities can provide that kind of revenue stream and are more likely to be in the side where Buffalo belongs. It is also going to be hard for any team to move to LA considering the # of potential issues to face from lawsuits from Al Davis to building a new stadium, to multiple other franchises wanting to move there (San Diego, Jacksonville). 864567[/snapback] The biggest obstacle to the Bills moving, i think, is the actual dearth of viable markets for future nfl teams. I studied this problem the past year in my Sports Law class at UB Law. It was the opinion of many (including my professor's) that the west coast market (including LA) is incapable of supporting another franchise. The past LA teams failed to generate sustained interest, the (real) people just stopped going. Move up the coast (portland) and there is even less clamor for a team. Also, the majority of the league (east coast) hates going over there. The texas market is dominated by the cowboys with their national fan base, so i don't think san antonio is a viable option. Sure our economy sucks here, but even in "hot" economic zones in the sun / bible belt, the teams there (titans, panthers) are marketed as regional teams to generate interest, much like new england. Best case, the team stays put and eventually we get some stadium money as well, at least enough for renovations to generate more revenue. Worst case, I see the Bills perhaps attempting to embrace that sort of "regional" identity that more and more teams are using. They could move somewhere closer to the center of the regional fanbase, i.e. Hamilton, St. catharines or even toronto. Who knows what you would call the team then, but the southern ontario peninsula seems like a "buzz" area right now for sports franchises -- remember there is presently talk of also moving a NHL franchise to hamilton as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zulu Cthulhu Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 No problem. Sorry to mock you, but that cracked my up. Seriously, Ralph is doing all he can to say he'd like to keep the Bills in the area and warn he may not be able to. If ever there was a way to solicit local offers.... The only down side is that he is doing so much to stress the financial hardship, he might actually be scaring away potential buyers. If he can sway the league, then he will have hit a home run and I'm sure he'll get offers. Personally, I suspect his family will sell the team shortly after he passes, likely to the highest bidder. 864693[/snapback] Luckily it isn't as simple as all that. There are numerous costly hoops a potential buyer must jump through before the league as a whole will sign off on an ownership sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalobillsfootball Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 THE COUNTY WILL PUT A BAILOUT ON THE BALLOT AND THE PEOPLE WHO PAY NO PROPERTY TAX OR ANY OTHER TAX WILL VOTE FOR IT IN LARGE NUMBERS AFTER ALL IT IS NO SKIN OFF THEIR NOSE IF OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY WILL HAVE TO GO TO AND PAY RANSOM TO A PRIVATE BUSINESS AND PUT THE COUNTY IN FURTHER DEBT THAT IS HOW IT IS DONE THESE DAYS. 864399[/snapback] What are you worried about? You're stuck in Cincy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2020 Our Year For Sure Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 It's ok. They're just going away to live on a nice farm where they can run around and play with other nice football teams. 864600[/snapback] They always liked open spaces... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 YAY MOD's.....thanks for combining..makes reading the wall that much easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 YAY MOD's.....thanks for combining..makes reading the wall that much easier 864776[/snapback] Makes me seasick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Let's take this thread in another stupid direction, after the ten witless roads it's already gone into. Try this one on for size... Name all the teams that have signed players for huge bonuses and what has it done for them. The one that immediately come to mind are the Redskins. These big bonuses have done squat for them, and in fact, made the team worse. How about the best team in the last 5-6 years, the Patsies. They signed one guy to a huge bonus, Brady, and maybe two if you count Seymour to the detriment of the rest of the team. I am not saying Brady isnt great, I am saying that they paid him a huge amount and cannot afford other high paid players because of it. The same thing happened to the Colts. They had to pay the huge bonus to Peyton and the receivers and they are getting killed on defense and couldn't resign the Edge. How many huge free agents have the two best teams in the league signed to huge bonuses, the Chargers and the Bears? Yes, they both have a couple homegrown players with very good contracts but they are the best players in the league at their positions and they are not being paid outrageous. Look what happened to the Browns who paid a huge bonus and contract to LeCharles Bentley. He immediately got hurt and out for the season. How about the Vikings for Steve Hutchinson? They promptly went as far as they went last year without him. How about the World Champs, the Steelers? Their claim to fame is not to sign guys to big contracts and let them leave to other teams through free agency. Ken Lucas got an enormous signing bonus. Quick, what team does he play for again? Surely there are exceptions and good contracts but frankly, I don't see it as being a boon to hardly any of these teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalobillsfootball Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 I am not too familiar with the region's tremenously wealthy, outside of golisano, so I don't really have any ideas for future owners. I do have a question however: Does anybody know of / heard of Golisano ever expressing (in public) any level of interest in buying the bills? I only ask because it would seem that he would be an ideal owner for the team as far as keeping them in the area. 864670[/snapback] Tom Golisano's thoughts on the Bills from the Buffalo News on 12/03/06: PT: Did you ever think of buying the Bills? TG: The Bills, like the Sabres - even more so - are a huge asset to this community. I'd hate to see them leave. On the other side of the coin, I've seen no activity at all to indicate they are available to anybody, so I don't spend any time thinking about it. I'm sure Ralph Wilson has his plans under control, and if they ever become available and people want to talk about it, I'm sure I'd talk about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFLstyle Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 You don't think Ralph's statements are his way of "marketing" the 6,800 tickets still available for the game against the Bills perennial division rival? 864121[/snapback] I don't see how it would help though, wouldn't it only make things worse for the fan base? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 If they HAD to move, I think the first Canadian franchise in Toronto would be a better long term bet than LA. You keep many of the Western New York and Ontario base, and build on the Toronto metro area. I'm going to find it very difficult to root for a team that is not the "Buffalo" Bills, but I'd still be interested in the team if it had to move to Toronto. 864111[/snapback] Id say F the team if they are the Toronto Bills. That would be disgusting.Tragically disgusting.--I'm not saying we should bomb Toronto in that circumstance--but I'm not saying we shouldnt bomb them either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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