loyal2dagame Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Plus Cleveland had an owner willing to put a team there. How many people would buy the rights for a team in Buffalo before LA, and other larger cities? true, but the cleveland team was an expansion team by default. the league did not offer a franchise bid to any other cities, just cleveland. this could be our only advantage as it relates to the bills. the owner/investor's location may not be the main issue funding for a stadium could be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyal2dagame Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 i guess expansion team is a bad term. i should have said cleveland was awarded re-entry to the league by default Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Oklahoma City isn't the mecca of a booming economy. Yeah, I hear the oil industry's having a hard time of it.... If there's a scary aspect to this move, it's the realization that the Oklahoma City economy is 20% larger than the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metro area ($46.6 billion vs. $39 billion--and that was in 2005, before the oil boom really heated up). Hence the absolute need for the TO and Rochester regionalization efforts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 The sad thing is that Ralph Wilson can just end all this talk by selling the damn team. I love Mr. Wilson and will always defend him. But I have no idea why he isn't setting something up for the long-term stability of this team. As for the Sonics, I know they were struggling to get a new lease for an arena, but this is like if the Toronto Blue Jays moved to Buffalo. Oklahoma City isn't the mecca of a booming economy. Why should Ralph sell the team when he is old enough to know there are no guarantees in life? Ralph could sell the team to someone 30-40 years younger than him and make some people happy, yet the new owner may die before Ralph. (How many of the Wilson death watch squad had Tim Russert going before Ralph?) The only way to set up the long term stability of the team is to sell to a group that 1)Is big enough to withstand multiple deaths of its members without causing the group's corporate demise 2)Is structured in a way that the team can't be sold within a few years to out of town buyers 3) Is willing to sign an iron clad long term lease in Orchard Park or build their own stadium with things written in that prohibit the team from moving. A lot easier said than done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Philster Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 The sad thing is that Ralph Wilson can just end all this talk by selling the damn team. I love Mr. Wilson and will always defend him. But I have no idea why he isn't setting something up for the long-term stability of this team. As for the Sonics, I know they were struggling to get a new lease for an arena, but this is like if the Toronto Blue Jays moved to Buffalo. Oklahoma City isn't the mecca of a booming economy. You have no proof that he has not done this. this bears repeating. I think it's almost funny that people ass-u-me that they know everything that's going on behind the scenes and are insistent that because it's not being reported as happening, it can't be happening. It's especially funny since I heard a rumor a few months ago that things are already set up to keep the Bills here in Buffalo. Considering how confident Jim Kelly is in keeping the team here, it's a rumor I really have to believe...that Ralph will pass the team on to his wife (no inheritance tax) who will then sell to Kelly's group of investors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 You're right about the similarities to the BRAVES. John Y Brown was a First Class A-hole! Out of town/out of area "owners" are bad news! There is no vested interest in keeping a team at it's original location. A new owner will immediately see all the problems and look to someone else to fix them. The fixes will either not happen or happen too slowly to suit the new owner and the team will move. Both the Seahawks & Mariners have been in trouble, at various times, due to absentee owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...nicsmove_080702 As a Buffalo Bills fan, here are a few lessons I'm taking from this situation (none of which I suppose are shockingly new to the hardened cynics among us): 1. 40+ years of tradition aren't enough to keep a sports team in town. 2. Don't trust new owners from outside the state (or in our case, the nation). 3. Don't expect league commissioners or other franchise owners to stand in the way of a better opportunity to make money (in spite of whatever PR BS they spew). 4. Worst case scenarios can and do happen; prepare accordingly. Your thoughts? I'm sure there are a few Buffalo Braves fans lurking around with some heated opinions right now. Well, almost, but unfortunately those type of parallels just can't be made between the 2 leagues... 1) NFL basically gives the teams free money to spend on their players based on TV revenues. It costs little to no money out of these owners pockets to pay their players, other than signing bonuses... 2) The Sonics had a HORRIBLE lease...perhaps the worst in pro sports. The Bills are in no such predicament. Factor in the county gives the Bills money each year for playing here, and it is a vastly different situation... 3) Sonics were losing upwards of $10 million a year---Bills make $15-25 million in profit each year, probably more that is not accounted for by Forbes... 4) Sonics attendance and passion for the NBA were lukewarm at best...never seemed like Seattle REALLY cared if they left or not the way Buffalo can and does, to the point of it becoming an obsession... I mean the best you can say about the comparisons is that they both involve teams moving to another city, and that is about the extent of the comparison---everything else is so far opposite, the validity of the comparison isn't there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 But when were the Sonics last in attendance, the last few years when these OKC rumors started, can you blame them? And the team was putrid. yeah good point. If the Bills were lame duck--and people knew it--Bills attendance would go in the toilet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts