Buffchester Posted January 30, 2010 Posted January 30, 2010 Instead of trying to come up with a new owner that might keep the team in Buffalo, why can't we, and our politicians that have gotten involved (Schumer?) put a lot of heat on the NFL to change their rules a little and allow the Bills to be purchased by a non-profit, community-owned partnership just like Green Bay is. The NFL stopped allowing this after Green Bay. I am sure that a situation like this would probably net Wilson and his heirs more than any individual would pay, many Fans in Buffalo/WNY would jump at the chance to be a stock holder/owner for a few hundred dollars, and someone like Bob Rich could own a big piece and be the Chairman of the Board. This setup is probably the only reason Green Bay has been able to keep a team and Buffalo is a similar, small market team. Just think how great it would be for our rabid great fans to own the team like Green Bay's loyal fans and know that it could never be stolen from us.
SDS Posted January 30, 2010 Posted January 30, 2010 this has been brought up ad nauseum for 12 years. Do a search.
Buffalo_Stampede Posted January 30, 2010 Posted January 30, 2010 lol, imagine the threads if that happened.
KD in CA Posted January 30, 2010 Posted January 30, 2010 lol, imagine the threads if that happened. I say we pay Jason Peters whatever he wants, and I'M A SHAREHOLDER, DAMMIT!!!
DarthICE Posted January 30, 2010 Posted January 30, 2010 Instead of trying to come up with a new owner that might keep the team in Buffalo, why can't we, and our politicians that have gotten involved (Schumer?) put a lot of heat on the NFL to change their rules a little and allow the Bills to be purchased by a non-profit, community-owned partnership just like Green Bay is. The NFL stopped allowing this after Green Bay. I am sure that a situation like this would probably net Wilson and his heirs more than any individual would pay, many Fans in Buffalo/WNY would jump at the chance to be a stock holder/owner for a few hundred dollars, and someone like Bob Rich could own a big piece and be the Chairman of the Board. This setup is probably the only reason Green Bay has been able to keep a team and Buffalo is a similar, small market team. Just think how great it would be for our rabid great fans to own the team like Green Bay's loyal fans and know that it could never be stolen from us. How old are you? How many years have you followed the NFL? The NFL ruled YEARS Ago its not possible.
sfladave Posted January 30, 2010 Posted January 30, 2010 The owner's box at the stadium would be a lot more crowded. Same thing with the teams plane.
ofiba Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 I'd move us to LA so we can really start to make some $$.
May Day 10 Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 it will all come down to how serious the NFL is (if at all) about keeping a franchise in Buffalo. They would have to make an exception to the rules and someone with money and power would have to put the effort into organizing this. The NFL rule now is something like a team has to have no more than 30 or 35 owners and 1 of the owners has to own a majority... something like that.
KD in CA Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 How old are you? How many years have you followed the NFL? The NFL ruled YEARS Ago its not possible. Maybe if we asked again and said 'please'... it will all come down to how serious the NFL is (if at all) about keeping a franchise in Buffalo. The NFL doesn't give a rat's ass about Buffalo. They are only serious about one thing: locating franchises where they will make the most money.
CarolinaBill Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 Dude, Green Bay was grandfathered in, you can't do that anymore
/dev/null Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 this has been brought up ad nauseum for 12 years. Do a search. Doing a search would require effort And they don't have time to run a search because they are so smrt to come up with an idea that nobody had thought of before
Just Jack Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 I say we pay Jason Peters whatever he wants, and I'M A SHAREHOLDER, DAMMIT!!! Well my 3 shares say NO!
Ghost of Rob Johnson Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 I'd move us to LA so we can really start to make some $$. hahahahaha
EndZoneCrew Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 hahahahaha Whatcha gonna do about that? You gonna stop us, Stein? Ha. You're gonna look pretty funny tryin' to eat corn on the cob with no fukin' teeth!
Mike in Horseheads Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 Instead of trying to come up with a new owner that might keep the team in Buffalo, why can't we, and our politicians that have gotten involved (Schumer?) put a lot of heat on the NFL to change their rules a little and allow the Bills to be purchased by a non-profit, community-owned partnership just like Green Bay is. The NFL stopped allowing this after Green Bay. I am sure that a situation like this would probably net Wilson and his heirs more than any individual would pay, many Fans in Buffalo/WNY would jump at the chance to be a stock holder/owner for a few hundred dollars, and someone like Bob Rich could own a big piece and be the Chairman of the Board. This setup is probably the only reason Green Bay has been able to keep a team and Buffalo is a similar, small market team. Just think how great it would be for our rabid great fans to own the team like Green Bay's loyal fans and know that it could never be stolen from us. ..I still believe that Ralphie is going to leave the team to WNY in his will and screw the the NFL. Of course I still believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa and that Jenna Jamison lost my phone number!
BillsZubaz Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 this has been brought up ad nauseum for 12 years. Do a search. Thank you.
GrudginglyPessimistic Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 How old are you? How many years have you followed the NFL? The NFL ruled YEARS Ago its not possible. If there is anything that has proved to be flexible (particularly when there are dollars involved) it is NFL rules. How many years have you followed the NFL if you have any belief that NFL rules are inviolate. A better argument (still fairly fact free but better than ranting this is against NFL rules which were made under a pretty different set of circumstances that exists now) would be to simply point out there has been no discussion at all of this as a direction of Mr. Ralph interest or activity. Yet, on the other side: 1. The counterargument that this seems pretty appropriate for another small market team that depends upon regional appeal as GB makes sense for an exception for Buffalo. 2. It actually is a fair unknown after the market meltdown whether banks would be willing or able to extend the huge loan needed to pay for the Bills to anyone or whether an individual would be in a position in the current market to get leveraged the way even the billionaires would have to in order to come up with the substantial market value of an NFL team. My sense is that if Mr. Ralph kicks the bucket anytime soon for immediate purposes the NFL itself may end up becoming the owner since I think most package of folks I have heard about are likely going to have trouble getting the approval of the vast super vast super majority of owners which will determined qualified bidders from which the highest bidder will emerge. 3. It was shown when even the stupid pols who lead Cleveland (one of the few cities which actually is more poor fiscally poor than Buffalo according to federal census wealth measures) faced off against the NFL when Modell ran off to get cash from Baltimore that they beat the NFL and got the Browns name and franchise rights back. A big part of the threat which won the day for Ohio pols was threatening the NFLs partial antitrust exemption. Schumer has already hinted at unsheathing this cudgel if the only team which plays its home games in NYS tries to leave. I would not be surprised if even if Mr. Ralph's bill specifically says that the team will be sold to the highest bidder, that this will actually be to the highest qualified bidder (does anyone out there really think if the Ayatollah of Iran, Rush Limbaugh or some else deemed undesirable by a key NFL stakeholder was the high bidder that they would have to get the team? Nope). If the NFL were only to declare that the qualified bidder must keep the team in NYS and meet other criteria they set to maintain the NFL business then these will be the only qualified bidders from which the highest bidder can be found. From past events if the league's partial antitust exemption is at risk then the high bidder will have to come from here and a GB like system could well produce the highest bid for the team.
KRC Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 If there is anything that has proved to be flexible (particularly when there are dollars involved) it is NFL rules. How many years have you followed the NFL if you have any belief that NFL rules are inviolate. It is not just a rule. It is in the NFL corporate constitution. There is a reason why it has been in place for almost 50 years.
Nanker Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 Anybody got a linky for the Campbell's Chunky Soup Cans Kontest? I hear we're falling behind Green Bay.
Recommended Posts