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Ralph Wilson Stadium improvements?


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Saturday Morning One-Liners

Posted by Josh Alper on March 28, 2009, 9:24 a.m.

 

The Bills are still waiting on $2.9 million owed by Erie County for improvements to Ralph Wilson Stadium in 2009, and are also owed $2 million for 2008.

 

per pro football talk

 

and

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/buff...ory/620624.html

 

Can you say new sound and speakers on all sides of the stadium? Doubt it <_<

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Ralph has huge balls. He can afford a few paltry million to gussy up the place where he prints tens of millions per year. The County is broke.

 

Wow. Stop watching your old MTV videos of Michael Jackson and Duran Duran and come back to us here in the 21st Century. Ralph Wilson is a modern day hero for not selling this franchise to the highest bidder or moving it to a richer city that resides in a County that isn't broke anytime over the past 20 years or so. The County is broke? No kidding. Do you think that's why Wilson and his marketing guru Brandon are now considering adding a second regular season home game to Toronto, under the guise of keeping the franchise viable for Western New York?

 

Actually, Ralph is most likely kicking himself for being so loyal to Buffalo all these years. Now that the entire American economy is in the tank, he can only envision tens of millions of dollars lost for his heirs when the team is finally sold. For all he knows, he may live to see the day that the entire NFL goes broke under the weight of the economy sinking any further towards a depression. He may be thinking: "If I only would have taken a trip to Baltimore before my old buddy Modell got there?....or Nashville before my old buddy Adams got there...!"

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Wow. Stop watching your old MTV videos of Michael Jackson and Duran Duran and come back to us here in the 21st Century. Ralph Wilson is a modern day hero for not selling this franchise to the highest bidder or moving it to a richer city that resides in a County that isn't broke anytime over the past 20 years or so. The County is broke? No kidding. Do you think that's why Wilson and his marketing guru Brandon are now considering adding a second regular season home game to Toronto, under the guise of keeping the franchise viable for Western New York?

that poll was conducted by the Bills In Toronto people...not the Buffalo Bills organization

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Kinda curious what they plan on doing to Lot 1
Hopefully pave it. Although I'm hoping some of that money goes towards emergency lighting for the bathrooms.

That would be nice. Otherwise, the potholes by Pole 5 might be deep enough to swallow small children by next season.

 

For those of you ripping on Ralph Wilson and the Bills, they're merely asking the county to live up to the terms of the lease it willfully signed in 1998. And Philster is correct about the survey, which was performed by the Logit Group (a marketing research firm in Toronto) for the Rogers/MLSE partnership.

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Wow. Stop watching your old MTV videos of Michael Jackson and Duran Duran and come back to us here in the 21st Century. Ralph Wilson is a modern day hero for not selling this franchise to the highest bidder or moving it to a richer city that resides in a County that isn't broke anytime over the past 20 years or so. The County is broke? No kidding. Do you think that's why Wilson and his marketing guru Brandon are now considering adding a second regular season home game to Toronto, under the guise of keeping the franchise viable for Western New York?

 

Actually, Ralph is most likely kicking himself for being so loyal to Buffalo all these years. Now that the entire American economy is in the tank, he can only envision tens of millions of dollars lost for his heirs when the team is finally sold. For all he knows, he may live to see the day that the entire NFL goes broke under the weight of the economy sinking any further towards a depression. He may be thinking: "If I only would have taken a trip to Baltimore before my old buddy Modell got there?....or Nashville before my old buddy Adams got there...!"

 

Are you joking?. Why on earth would Ralph ever leave Buffalo?? It would cost him a TON of money.

 

Ralph has made a boatloads of money in poor old Buffalo because he has a fairly unique situation. He has no stadium debt. He has no debt from purchasing the team. His expenses are salaries and rent. Although his team is in the bottom half in revenue, it does very well in profits. He has profitted $100 million over he past 4-5 seasons, after expenses, before taxes. His tossing a few games to Toronto netted him another $78 million---which he does not share with the rest of the league. On top of inheriting the $100 million+ in the bank, the family will get another massive windfall when they sell the team.

 

Exactly what is Ralph missing out on? Moving to Baltimore or Tennesse were never considered. There were rumors about Houston, but that move would have cost Ralph hundreds of millions in contributions to new a new stadium and a league moving fee.

 

Selling to the highest bidder? Why---when his $25,000 investment is still earning him 1000 times that per year? The buyers are always going to be there when he sells (or dies)----and the value of the team never goes down.

 

To recap: low investment long ago paid off, no real debt, huge profits every year, low risk ($120 million free money from the NFL TV contract each year, guaranteed; rabid fans who sell-out stadium even when team sucks-and even with local economy in shambles), and you can name your price when you are ready to sell.

 

Hmmmm. Gonna have to think about this a little more?

 

The NFL may go broke due "the depression"?? Is that what happened during the actual depression beginning in 1929---professional sports "went broke" and disappeared?? If the NFL went broke today, Ralph would walk away as one of the richest owners in the league, while guys like Jones, Kraft and Snyder would be financially ruined.

 

This may be one of the greatest sports-related investments ever. Yeah, ol' Ralph's kicking himself all right----or pinching himself to see if he has been dreaming all these years.

 

The Bills have been very good to Ralph over the years. But has that "modern day hero" been good to the Bills while he has pocketed over $200 million over the past 10 years?

 

Lori, about the lease--I agree that the Bills are holding the County to it. But not sure what their recourse is if the money is not there--other than suing the county, which will carry on beyond the term of the lease, and the repairs will still not get done.

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The NFL may go broke due "the depression"?? Is that what happened during the actual depression beginning in 1929---professional sports "went broke" and disappeared?? If the NFL went broke today, Ralph would walk away as one of the richest owners in the league, while guys like Jones, Kraft and Snyder would be financially ruined.

 

This may be one of the greatest sports-related investments ever. Yeah, ol' Ralph's kicking himself all right----or pinching himself to see if he has been dreaming all these years.

 

The Bills have been very good to Ralph over the years. But has that "modern day hero" been good to the Bills while he has pocketed over $200 million over the past 10 years?

 

Lori, about the lease--I agree that the Bills are holding the County to it. But not sure what their recourse is if the money is not there--other than suing the county, which will carry on beyond the term of the lease, and the repairs will still not get done.

They could theoretically claim that the county is breaking the lease, but you're correct, that would merely end up in court.

 

Disagree about the NFL's health during the Great Depression, though. Multiple teams, including the Frankford Yellow Jackets and Providence Steam Roller, went out of business due to the financial meltdown. By 1932, a league which listed 22 franchises in their standings six years earlier was down to just eight, before fluctuating between nine and 10 for the rest of the decade.

 

(If you're interested in that era, I suggest you check out the Professional Football Researchers Association site. You can direct any questions to KRC, the Assistant Executive Director and webmaster.)

 

That was a different era, of course, with teams coming and going seemingly every season even before the depression took hold. I share your doubt that the current NFL would do the same ... unless we get to the point where the TV networks default on their contracts, and I think we're still a long way from that happening.

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They could theoretically claim that the county is breaking the lease, but you're correct, that would merely end up in court.

 

Disagree about the NFL's health during the Great Depression, though. Multiple teams, including the Frankford Yellow Jackets and Providence Steam Roller, went out of business due to the financial meltdown. By 1932, a league which listed 22 franchises in their standings six years earlier was down to just eight, before fluctuating between nine and 10 for the rest of the decade.

 

(If you're interested in that era, I suggest you check out the Professional Football Researchers Association site. You can direct any questions to KRC, the Assistant Executive Director and webmaster.)

 

That was a different era, of course, with teams coming and going seemingly every season even before the depression took hold. I share your doubt that the current NFL would do the same ... unless we get to the point where the TV networks default on their contracts, and I think we're still a long way from that happening.

But as you mentioned Lori, the NFL all ready has a Mega contract with the TV Networks and Direct TV that will pay them out gauranteed money for years. So, I would have to say the teams of today are much better equipped to sustain this downturn. They are no where near as reliant on gameday revenues the way they were before.

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For those of you ripping on Ralph Wilson and the Bills, they're merely asking the county to live up to the terms of the lease it willfully signed in 1998. And Philster is correct about the survey, which was performed by the Logit Group (a marketing research firm in Toronto) for the Rogers/MLSE partnership.

 

$5 mil sounds like a deal breaker to this amature. This will sound hollow from an ex-WNY patriot, but try to turn the debt on an aged structure lease into a more contempory & suitable venue in the Niagara region -like re-doing a contract for a PB LT under contract but comparatively overly underpaid.. 1 of those Collapsable roof babies that also eccentuate the Falls and international border.

 

Regular season is about to extend deep into January.

 

You'd have my donation.

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...Hmmmm. Gonna have to think about this a little more?....

 

Sure, I'll think about it a little more. You know how much Ralph Wilson earns "after expenses?" How is that? Oh wait, I know, you work for the Bills - in fact you are in the accounting department, and are privy to all the Bills numbers, right? You must be, since "after expenses" means after items that fans don't really know much about, such as workers compensation (that must be a doozy), air travel (no small expense there) and countless others we don't even think about.

 

Wow. $200 Million over the past 10 years, $20 million a year. You think Jerry Jones is jealous of that number, even if you were close to being accurate, which I highly doubt? Jones spends $20 million a year on signing bonuses for players that don't even play for him anymore. I bet Jim Irsay laughs at the thought of only earning $20 million a year in Indy, now that the Colts are playing in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

Typical small minded bitter Bills fan-speak. Sure, Ralph Wilson is the richest owner in all of sports. Why don't you give Ralph a call and tell him he would be the only owner to walk away wealthy if the NFL shut down today? He could use a good laugh since some idiot was telling the world he died this morning. :nana:

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Ralph has huge balls. He can afford a few paltry million to gussy up the place where he prints tens of millions per year. The County is broke.

Erie County bends over backwards all the time. Another nail for the Bills leaving the region.

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Erie County bends over backwards all the time. Another nail for the Bills leaving the region.

 

Erie County bends over backwards. Erie County is broke. Poor poor Erie County. (Pun intended.)

 

Why not take your case to the next NFL owners' meeting? Walk in there and tell the other 31 owners that evil Ralph Wilson won't give poor Erie County that bends over backwards a decent break. They might be able to hold off their uncontrolled laughter in before you leave, but I doubt it. Then, after you leave, and they compose themselves, they will tell Wilson how crazy he has been for keeping the team in Buffalo all these years to begin with.

 

Come on, even the most revenue challanged of the other 31 teams have new stadiums that were built with taxpayer money today. Who is left with stadiums as old as the Ralph? Not Green Bay anymore. The shell of Lambeau might still exist, but there's 300 Million of improvements on top of it now. Same with Soldier Field, same story with Arrowhead as 300 Million of improvements are being done to it as we write. I don't know for sure, but with the Jets/Giants new stadium coming along and the new palace in Dallas being built, I think Miami might have the oldest stadium in the league that has not had major improvements, and it is only about 20 or so. (I could be wrong.)

 

I suggest Erie County find the 3 Million dollars and get the damned improvements done, already.

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Erie County bends over backwards. Erie County is broke. Poor poor Erie County. (Pun intended.)

 

Why not take your case to the next NFL owners' meeting? Walk in there and tell the other 31 owners that evil Ralph Wilson won't give poor Erie County that bends over backwards a decent break. They might be able to hold off their uncontrolled laughter in before you leave, but I doubt it. Then, after you leave, and they compose themselves, they will tell Wilson how crazy he has been for keeping the team in Buffalo all these years to begin with.

 

Come on, even the most revenue challanged of the other 31 teams have new stadiums that were built with taxpayer money today. Who is left with stadiums as old as the Ralph? Not Green Bay anymore. The shell of Lambeau might still exist, but there's 300 Million of improvements on top of it now. Same with Soldier Field, same story with Arrowhead as 300 Million of improvements are being done to it as we write. I don't know for sure, but with the Jets/Giants new stadium coming along and the new palace in Dallas being built, I think Miami might have the oldest stadium in the league that has not had major improvements, and it is only about 20 or so. (I could be wrong.)

 

I suggest Erie County find the 3 Million dollars and get the damned improvements done, already.

 

All 3 California teams.

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