Bills Owner Dies at 95

[Majingir]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10...-owner-dies-95

Quote:

Buffalo Bills longtime owner Ralph Wilson has died, the team announced Tuesday. Wilson, 95, owned the Bills for 54 years. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. Wilson was one of the founding owners of the American Football League in 1959 and was instrumental in helping to keep the league afloat in the 1960s.

Crazy to hear that. But sad part is that by the end of the day, you know the first thing on a number of peoples mind will be "What does the future hold for the Bills?" since many people have been saying for years that it was in his will that the Bills can't be moved from Buffalo after he dies or something like that.

[Seymour Scagnetti]

Quote: Originally Posted by Majingir

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10...-owner-dies-95 Crazy to hear that. But sad part is that by the end of the day, you know the first thing on a number of peoples mind will be "What does the future hold for the Bills?" since many people have been saying for years that it was in his will that the Bills can't be moved from Buffalo after he dies or something like that.

I've never heard that and I don't think a will has the power to dictate that. All I know is his children said that they want no part of the team (severe tax hit) and will be put up for sale immediately. Once it goes to the ownership of the children, whether or not the will states it can't be moved means nothing.

In other words they will be moving to Toronto in the next 12-18 months. The heirs will sell to the highest bidder and there are very few corporate entities that have the type of money that MLSE does and MLSE wants a team badly. The NFL doesn't care about the Buffalo market and prefer they not be there and this is the most convenient way of allowing that by having the heirs sell and stating that it's out of the league's hands and can't do anything about it. Everybody wins except the city of Buffalo.

MLSE chairmanTim Lieweke has a hard on to bring the NFL to Toronto and they already have Larry Tanenbaum ready to take the reins with MLSE backing as only a small % of NFL team ownership can be owned by corporations.

[ranman1982]

This is truly an end of era. My heart goes out to the family.

Quote: Originally Posted by Seymour Scagnetti

In other words they will be moving to Toronto in the next 12-18 months.

I doubt that it's going to be that quick, whom ever takes control of the Bills has a lot of huddles to jump. I'm very sure that the Bills have a lease agreement with the city that would keep the team in Buffalo. Red McCombs wanted to move the Vikings to San Antonio and that never happened.

[Majingir]

They won't be going to Toronto, where would they play? MLSE wants to buy the Toronto Argos(CFL team) and move them to BMO Field(home of MLS Toronto FC), and Jays getting real grass within next 3-4 years for the latest(could be as early as next year depending on when Argos leave), so they won't be able to have a NFL team at Rogers Centre for sure. And BMO Field is only expanding to around 30,000 or so people I believe, not nearly enough for NFL.

[canesfins]

Even as a division opponent I always had a soft spot for the Bills and their fans. Tough week for Bills fans, Owner passes away and Jim Kelly's cancer isn't looking good.

[JayBee74]

Isn't the lease buyout $372 million for the next 6 years? Doesn't it go down to $28 million in 6 years?

How can they sell the team anytime soon, unless the new owners decide to stay in Buffalo or are willing to pay the $372 million?

[SPTO]

The Bills aren't moving to Toronto any time soon. As someone says there's a lease agreement in place until 2023 with a 400 million dollar penalty for breaking the lease early. There is a one time 28.4 mil buyout option after year seven but I think by that time the Bills will have a new stadium deal in place as there's been talk of a deal to build a stadium in downtown Buffalo.

As for ownership, again it's not so cut and dried. The NFL has a policy that the team has to be principally owned by one person (75% ownership) so if Rogers even thinks of getting their hands on it than Edward Rogers would have to spend a huge chunk of his own money. I know Wilson's will stipulates that there's to be an auction like process where interested parties put in bids with the highest bidder most likely getting it but he made it clear that he wants the team to stay in Buffalo.

As Majingir says Toronto doesn't even have an NFL facility in place anyways what with the Rogers Centre being too small and the Blue Jays wanting to have it for themselves so they can put in natural turf. Rob Ford however has made it known he'd do anything he can to get an NFL stadium built but I don't see how that's possible as it would clash against his "fiscally responsible" image that he portrays to Torontonians.

[muggins]

As has been said they have a lease agreement for a number of years with a huge buyout. The team is being controlled by a trust. Ralph Wilson stepped down as president last year so it is business as usual.

I'm not sure where "the NFL doesn't care about Buffalo people" comes from. Roger Goodell has strong ties to the Buffalo area. Governor Cuomo and Chuck Schumer are working on how to keep them there. Goodell has come out in the past saying he'd like to keep them there.

And yeah, it is sad that dude isn't even in the ground yet and the media has to speculate, but we now live in the era of the 24 hour sports news cycle and talking heads that think they know a lot.