Golisano "interested" to keep the Bills in Buffalo

[3rdand12]

This sir is a profound statement. And i hope someone here has the wherewithall to forward it to Ralph and his Gang.

I really think the old guy would shed an honest tear. I am not being sarcastic. What a good fan you must be. Go Bills

.... for no other reason than to collect our gratitude...

Thanks

[SDS]

 

As for the Bills, I too am interested in keeping there here - anyone (other than Pegula), have about a billion I can borrow?

 

I can loan you the money. But I'll need that cooler as collateral.

[Red]

If you think about the businessmans way that Golisano ran the Sabres, do we really want more of the same with the Bills?

 

Thanks for your "interest", Tom...but I think we need an ownership group/ owner who loves the team, loves the City, and wants to win a Super Bowl.

 

"Breaking even" doesn't sound like a winning strategy to me.

[purple haze]

maybe he does....

 

It would just be kind of a tragedy for him to receive all the criticism and hatred while he is alive.... then passes..... and when all the layers are peeled away we find out that he has basically gifted us the team in place for the foreseeable future.

 

This is the very reason people should calm down about Mr. Wilson. We can be critical of his ownership at times for good reason. However, when it comes to the future of the Bills we have to think reasonably. The Bills are his legacy. The Buffalo Bills that is. The man named a stadium after himself so he seems to care about that. He is also a successful businessman in general. Put those two things together and I think we wouldn't be wrong to assume that man has a plan of what will come of his businesses, including the Bills. The Bills in Buffalo means Mr. Wilson's name lives on forever. He's not going to detail what his plans are because he doesn't have to. Also because public knowledge could cause something to get off track for whatever reason. I wouldn't worry about the Bills moving anywhere.

 

Give him his gratitude now for bringing a team to B-Lo and keeping it there when he could have moved them years ago. Hasn't always been a perfect product. Been a lot of angst, a lot of heartbreak and some great thrills too. There has been success and there will be again. Mr. Wilson knows what that team means to WNY and what WNY means to that organization.

 

But think about this: the Bills have existed since my father was in fourth grade. He turns 60 in June. Mr. Wilson is still the owner. That is crazy!

Edited February 4, 2011 by purple haze

[Mr_Blizzard]

Golisano is a selfish bastard who only makes investments if its sure to pay out, whether in capital or self-glorification. Football in Buffalo is a lose-money prospect. He will NEVER buy the Bills and I wouldn't want his tight pockets to in the first place. Keep your hopes rooted in reality please.

 

I doubt the Bills have lost a dime in any given year in the past decade.

[The Buffalo Irishman]

for the umpteenth time Kelly has stated numerous times emphatically that money is not the issue.

 

And, if money is not the issue, and Kelly is putting the group together, IS there an issue?

 

Now, if one wants to disbelieve Jimbo - one can. But if you believe him, then one has to think about under what circumstances that Jim would head up a group of investors

that would allow for the team to leave Buffalo.

 

I, myself, cannot think of the circumstances.

 

So, I conclude the Bills are not going anywhere.

Amen!!!

JIMBO

[The Buffalo Irishman]

This is the very reason people should calm down about Mr. Wilson. We can be critical of his ownership at times for good reason. However, when it comes to the future of the Bills we have to think reasonably. The Bills are his legacy. The Buffalo Bills that is. The man named a stadium after himself so he seems to care about that. He is also a successful businessman in general. Put those two things together and I think we wouldn't be wrong to assume that man has a plan of what will come of his businesses, including the Bills. The Bills in Buffalo means Mr. Wilson's name lives on forever. He's not going to detail what his plans are because he doesn't have to. Also because public knowledge could cause something to get off track for whatever reason. I wouldn't worry about the Bills moving anywhere.

 

Give him his gratitude now for bringing a team to B-Lo and keeping it there when he could have moved them years ago. Hasn't always been a perfect product. Been a lot of angst, a lot of heartbreak and some great thrills too. There has been success and there will be again. Mr. Wilson knows what that team means to WNY and what WNY means to that organization.

 

But think about this: the Bills have existed since my father was in fourth grade. He turns 60 in June. Mr. Wilson is still the owner. That is crazy!

I agree. It's so easy for us to criticise Old Ralphie when none of us even know what's going through that old mans head. You are on the money when you say the Bills are his LEGACY. I to think he would want that live on in WNY...

If the team was ever to move though, I wouldn't be a fan of another team. Keep the name in B-Lo just like the Browns did.

ON THAT NOTE, I WILL DRINK TO THAT.

[Big Turk]

Golisano stated that if the Bills go up for sale and there is a doubt that the team would stay in Buffalo, he would be very interested in being part of a package to keep them in Buffalo. This is fantastic news, and the first time I have heard anything concrete. What do you think?

 

He said "The more concerned I am about them possibly leaving, I think the more interested I would become".

 

If this guy wasn't considered Buffalo's knight in shining armor, I think he may have just become that...he has plenty of dollar signs to back that statement up as well...

 

Wouldn't it be something if Golisano and Pegula teamed up to keep the Bills in Buffalo(Pegula CAN do that since he owns another sports team in the same city)? They would put an estimated Net Worth of 6 BILLION behind the Bills, which would put us in pretty good company of the big boys...

 

Actually with a little research, that ownership would make the Bills the second RICHEST team owners in the NFL behind Paul Allen(16.8 Billion), well ahead of 3rd place Malcolm Glazer(2.5 Billion)

Edited February 4, 2011 by matter2003

[bbb]

The writer of this headline on si.com needs to have better reading comprehension skills:

In case they change it it says New Owner Terry Pegula wanted to move Sabres

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Actually with a little research, that ownership would make the Bills the second RICHEST team owners in the NFL behind Paul Allen(16.8 Billion), well ahead of 3rd place Malcolm Glazer(2.5 Billion)

There have been numerous stories about the Glazer family and their troubled ownership of Manchester United. These stories have often been accompanied by references to possible financial difficulties that the family may be having. From the way that they've run the Buccaneers, it would certainly seem that if they're not having financial troubles that they are bottom line type owners…more interested in profit than championships. And that's their prerogative but it also sucks if you're a fan of their team.

Edited February 4, 2011 by San Jose Bills Fan

[PromoTheRobot]

The writer of this headline on si.com needs to have better reading comprehension skills:

In case they change it it says New Owner Terry Pegula wanted to move Sabres

This guy focused on the wrong part of the story. Yes, Golisano put a no-move clause in the contract but I don't believe Pegula was looking for a move. That said, Tommy would not be much of a business man if he knew Pegula could flip the Sabres the next day for a quick $70M profit. That's why he put that in the contract.

 

PTR

[Hplarrm]

Meh, another article about the dangers of Fracking - I think we all know there are issues with the business (though, I wouldn't see any if I sold my company for $4.7 billion). Not sure what that has to do with the guys love of hockey. Also, he's from the area, not Florida. And am I supposed to be shocked that a billionaire gave hundreds of thousands to the Republicans? Nope...

 

Let's give the guy a chance before poo-pooing his ownership of the Sabres...

 

 

As for the Bills, I too am interested in keeping there here - anyone (other than Pegula), have about a billion I can borrow?

Pegula's stance and profiteering of of fracking mat well say a bit about his attitude toward the broader community and this may well be relevant to how he manages the Sabres.

 

One can have whatever opinion one chooses to have about the modern process of hydrofracking (yes, I know we have performed versions of it for as much as 50 years, but even its most ardent proponents have to acknowledge that the way the technology and process are done today are functionally vastly different than what was done historically. If one refuses to acknowledge this then one has to believe that the gas industry could have done this for decades because the technology is old but simply chose to pass on reaping the profits for some reason.

 

Instead the manner in which Pegula pursued hydrofracking to generate huge profits speaks volumes about how he was willing to take risks to do this investment but actually do this in a manner that allowed him to get huge profits but really lay the risk and uncertainty off on taxpayers.

 

What does this mean for the Sabres. We simply have to wait and see. However, careful watch reasonably should be taken by fans to judge whether he is a legend in his own mind (as is often the case for those willing to gain huge profit while passing off risk and uncertainty to the taxpayer or potentially having used his campaign donations to the GOP to gain this low risk high reward scenario with taxpayers really taking on the risk he now feels a need to give back to the public he took advantage of,

 

How he handled the uncetainties of fracking says a lot about how he might deal with spending to win,

[Delete This Account]

i do believe Tom would step in to buy the team if there was a concern that the franchise would move.

it's one of the reasons i said on 'GR a few months back that i'm more confident of the team staying than going. ... and after my interview with Phil Lind in November, i'm more confident that the team stays in western new york. during the 'GR interview i think i said 65-35 the team stays in the region (including Toronto). i'd say that it's about 65-35 maybe even 70-30 that the team doesn't leave WNY.

 

jw

[nucci]

Golisano stated that if the Bills go up for sale and there is a doubt that the team would stay in Buffalo, he would be very interested in being part of a package to keep them in Buffalo. This is fantastic news, and the first time I have heard anything concrete. What do you think?

If he's the only option to keep the Bills in Buffalo then yes, but the press conference showed he cared only about the bottom line and not winning. His most telling quote when he told Quinn and Regier to " try to break even".

[Mr. WEO]

I agree. It's so easy for us to criticise Old Ralphie when none of us even know what's going through that old mans head. You are on the money when you say the Bills are his LEGACY. I to think he would want that live on in WNY... If the team was ever to move though, I wouldn't be a fan of another team. Keep the name in B-Lo just like the Browns did.

ON THAT NOTE, I WILL DRINK TO THAT.

 

His legacy may live in WNY (certainly he doesn't)---but if he was so concerned aboout that, he wouldn't have let his team (legacy) slip into such a sorry state since the glory years of the SB string.

 

There have been numerous stories about the Glazer family and their troubled ownership of Manchester United. These stories have often been accompanied by references to possible financial difficulties that the family may be having. From the way that they've run the Buccaneers, it would certainly seem that if they're not having financial troubles that they are bottom line type owners…more interested in profit than championships. And that's their prerogative but it also sucks if you're a fan of their team.

 

Really?? Take another look at the Bucs--they are a young, talented team on the rise. You must be thinking of a different owner...("more interested in profit than championships").

[papazoid]

Golisano Pro's & Cons:

 

Pro- it's nice to know that if no one else steps forward to keep the team in Buffalo, that Golisano will. Golisano deserves huge credit for keeping the Sabres in Buffalo. At that time the Sabres were in serious financial troubles and at risk for leaving. This doesn't seem to be getting said enough, but Golisano's relocation to Florida is all about his anger with N.Y. State politicians and the amount of individual state income tax.

 

Con- assuming he runs the Bills the same way he ran the Sabres, my biggest concern is that he only spends to 90% of the "cap". The NHL salary cap for 2010-2011 is $59.4 million. that leaves $6 million unspent on a quality player. i have no problem with his mantra to quinn & darcy to "at least break even"....but to improve their chances of winning a championship you need to spend to the cap. so that would mean increased ticket prices, which this community would and could support to put a winner on the ice.

[Ramius]

His legacy may live in WNY (certainly he doesn't)---but if he was so concerned aboout that, he wouldn't have let his team (legacy) slip into such a sorry state since the glory years of the SB string.

 

 

 

Really?? Take another look at the Bucs--they are a young, talented team on the rise. You must be thinking of a different owner...("more interested in profit than championships").

 

In the past, the Glazers have been much more interested in profit. We'll see how they deal with this offseason. The Buccs have a nice core of young talent in place, mainly through the draft, but also have a fair amount of free agents that will need to be re-signed. People were livid down here the last few years of the Gruden regime because the Glazers were reluctant to open their wallets.

[bbb]

i do believe Tom would step in to buy the team if there was a concern that the franchise would move.

it's one of the reasons i said on 'GR a few months back that i'm more confident of the team staying than going. ... and after my interview with Phil Lind in November, i'm more confident that the team stays in western new york. during the 'GR interview i think i said 65-35 the team stays in the region (including Toronto). i'd say that it's about 65-35 maybe even 70-30 that the team doesn't leave WNY.

 

jw

 

Do you have a link to your interview with Phil Lind? I'd like to read that.

[Kelly the Dog]

A little interesting tidbit from a Toronto article I didn't see elsewhere (that's not saying it didn't exist)...

Meanwhile, Golisano becomes the first owner of either of the two major sports teams in Buffalo to willingly sell. Ralph Wilson, the original owner, still has the Bills, and in hockey the Knox brothers, the original owners, both died before the Sabres were sold to the Rigas family, under whom the team was forced into bankruptcy and was taken over by the National Hockey League.

[Kipers Hair]

Golisano stated that if the Bills go up for sale and there is a doubt that the team would stay in Buffalo, he would be very interested in being part of a package to keep them in Buffalo. This is fantastic news, and the first time I have heard anything concrete. What do you think?

Knowing Mr Golisano's ownership style (it's all a business transaction only), this would result in 2 things (1) the Bills stay and (2) the Bills suck. Said, it begs the question - if you know the Bills will be perennial jokes (3 wins give or take a season), would you rather have them stay and suffer failure or let them leave? Personally, I do not think the NFL would support a Golisano purchase as the competition committee would nix it....