Optometric Insight Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 I believe metz lives also had an early say in that I actually meant him. I remember his avatar cuz the royal blue stood out so well in the snow. My bad Metz!
Doc Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 Doc - you HAVE always been one of the trusted posters so forgive my ignorance here..... you say this was the closest thread to the information you are trying to convey but this thread is about some Philly guy... right...? who wants to buy an NFL team and not necessarily keep it local...right? You are not suggesting THAT would ever be good news .... we all want the Bills to stay in Buffalo so without giving anything away can you at least state that whatever you are talking about it is what I (we) would really mean is "good" news. aka Bills not goin' anywhere type of news...???? Closest thread about ownership. And no, moving the team would NOT be good news.
richNjoisy Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 Closest thread about ownership. And no, moving the team would NOT be good news. aahhh - that's good enough for me. I vote that you are "allowed" to start a new thread if you like on this if you hear anything more. give er a good title too, herr doctorr!
Captain Hindsight Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 Closest thread about ownership. And no, moving the team would NOT be good news. Any idea when you can share the good news?
eball Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 (edited) As reported in my Kyle Williams thread, Jim Kelly was apparently also on Sirius earlier today and made a comment along the lines of "no worries on the Bills being in Buffalo for a long time." Edited June 26, 2012 by eball
todd Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 When a trusted, long-standing member says they know something, that carries weight with me. It's not like some jamoke with 2 posts talking crap. PTR Exactly. Nope. That's cool with me. Hopefully we won't need to think about this for a while and Ralph sees a championship.
jimmy10 Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Reading back on some of the speculation around Chad Kelly AND Thurman's mysterious tweets last fall and just kind of putting pieces together, I'm beginning to get the feeling we'll know something by the start of the season.
richNjoisy Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Reading back on some of the speculation around Chad Kelly AND Thurman's mysterious tweets last fall and just kind of putting pieces together, I'm beginning to get the feeling we'll know something by the start of the season. Certainly I hope you are correct and that Doc's "Inside Source" pans out but I still don't see how Ralph overcomes the "I'm still alive and any sale while I'm alive will cost my heirs dearly" problem. Now although it's pretty difficult to put myself in the shoes of a billionaire, I have assumed owning the Bills isn't just about money to Ralph - it is also the prestige and he honestly LIKES running an NFL team. Once he sells, he's out. Period (unless he sells to a family member which was never going to happen). Now, at 93 and finally slowing down, the prestige/power thing may finally no longer be an issue. That just leaves money. So, I suppose it is possible someone will overpay now to get the team now - overpay so as to compensate the tax hit. Maybe that's what's happening.....lord knows if I had the money, I'd overpay just to make sure the team stayed in Buffalo. We just need one rich person (or group of person's) that feel the same way. Eventually, I think one can still make money owning an NFL team
Optometric Insight Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Reading back on some of the speculation around Chad Kelly AND Thurman's mysterious tweets last fall and just kind of putting pieces together, I'm beginning to get the feeling we'll know something by the start of the season. And what were those tweets?
PromoTheRobot Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Ralph could select a buyer now and sell a very small share with a first right to buy upon his passing. This would allow the NFL to start the vetting process early on a potential Bills owner. PTR
BuffaloBaumer Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 It has been in the works for some time and as of several months ago "the wheels are finally in motion." The Bills are not going anywhere and that is the best news of all.
richNjoisy Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) Ralph could select a buyer now and sell a very small share with a first right to buy upon his passing. This would allow the NFL to start the vetting process early on a potential Bills owner. PTR I don't know PTR - how does one value such a "right"? You are talking about matching the highest bid...right? You can't be suggesting that a first right to buy means no bidding war...right? Again, unless I have read Ralph very wrong, he is determined to get the maximum for his team for his children (and wife). Restricting the bidders to only those that will keep the team in Buffalo has always been contrary to maximizing the offer. HOWEVER, if a current buy(ing group) is willing to pay "fair value" plus covering the tax hit for Ralph selling now, he might be willing to listen to this. I assume that that offer would also include keeping the team in Buffalo and immortalizing RAlph's name in some way (although if the Bills stay in Buffalo Ralph will be immortalized as his "child" the Bills will still be the Buffalo Bills. Case in point - does anyone remember who originally owned the Houston Oilers now that they are in Tennesee?). So, I THINK the bean counters can come up with a figure that is fair. This does mean the buyers will have to pay above market value to buy the team now rather than waiting for Ralph to ...errrr... ya know...... Edited June 27, 2012 by richNjoisy
jimmy10 Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 And what were those tweets? This article does a good job summarizing the tweets in question as well as the rumors around George Gillet last October: http://www.buffalorising.com/2011/10/bills-ownership-rumors-swirl.html
mrags Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 This article does a good job summarizing the tweets in question as well as the rumors around George Gillet last October: http://www.buffalorising.com/2011/10/bills-ownership-rumors-swirl.html I never read this. I saw the Kelly and Thomas tweets and always thought there was something fishy about the Bills deep down even though they said it had nothing to do with the team. I never saw or even heard anything about this Gillet guy and needless to say I'm not interested. But at the end of the day if he IS involved I don't think it would be for majority ownership and I guess as long as the Bills stay in WNY I don't care who owns the team.
richNjoisy Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 I never read this. I saw the Kelly and Thomas tweets and always thought there was something fishy about the Bills deep down even though they said it had nothing to do with the team. I never saw or even heard anything about this Gillet guy and needless to say I'm not interested. But at the end of the day if he IS involved I don't think it would be for majority ownership and I guess as long as the Bills stay in WNY I don't care who owns the team. mrags - I agree with the stay in Buffalo sentiment as a clear number 1 but , actually, I betcha you do care who owns the team....I mean, wouldn't you prefer it be someone(s) who want to win championships even if it means a little less profit?? like the current owner of the Sabres.....the Bills should exist to win Super Bowls. Wouldn't THAT be cool
uncle flap Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 I don't know PTR - how does one value such a "right"? You are talking about matching the highest bid...right? You can't be suggesting that a first right to buy means no bidding war...right? Again, unless I have read Ralph very wrong, he is determined to get the maximum for his team for his children (and wife). Restricting the bidders to only those that will keep the team in Buffalo has always been contrary to maximizing the offer. HOWEVER, if a current buy(ing group) is willing to pay "fair value" plus covering the tax hit for Ralph selling now, he might be willing to listen to this. I assume that that offer would also include keeping the team in Buffalo and immortalizing RAlph's name in some way (although if the Bills stay in Buffalo Ralph will be immortalized as his "child" the Bills will still be the Buffalo Bills. Case in point - does anyone remember who originally owned the Houston Oilers now that they are in Tennesee?). So, I THINK the bean counters can come up with a figure that is fair. This does mean the buyers will have to pay above market value to buy the team now rather than waiting for Ralph to ...errrr... ya know...... Bud Adams didn't sell the Oilers, he moved the team himself. He's one of the most famous NFL owners, so I don't know why you'd think no one remembers that he owned the Oilers. Also, I have no idea what you are trying to say about a right of first refusal. I'm not sure how the NFL views these types of agreements other than that owners have to approve both a sale and a relocation. Furthermore, I'd argue it is more lucrative to keep the Bills in Buffalo anyway (for the future owner AND the league in general), so I don't think we should worry too much about relocation. That and the fact local and state politicians would be hard pressed to let a large company such as the Bills leave town without a fight.
jimmy10 Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 With one of the biggest offseasons for this team ever, stadium lease negotiations (apparently) going smoothly and pretty quickly, and the reports about a lot going on behind the scenes... I don't know, it just makes me think some sort of long range plan is imminent.
mrags Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 mrags - I agree with the stay in Buffalo sentiment as a clear number 1 but , actually, I betcha you do care who owns the team....I mean, wouldn't you prefer it be someone(s) who want to win championships even if it means a little less profit?? like the current owner of the Sabres.....the Bills should exist to win Super Bowls. Wouldn't THAT be cool Listen. Of course I care who owns the local team that I live and die by. Part of the reason why I moved back from Las Vegas to Coe home was because I missed going to Bills games. I am so obsessed I take team roster moves and updates personal if it's a player I liked (see my post history of Fred Jackson or Lynch, McGee or Greer, Schobel or retirement, just the name Kelsey). So ya, I want the future owner to be someone I like (Jim Kelly and group would be preferred) but at the end of the day if it was Lucifer himself that owned the team I could really care less as long as they are part of this town. Ya I want them to be good and relevant again but that's not all I care about. This team lifts the entire City and fans all around the world on Monday when there is a win. I couldn't imagine what this desolate town would be like if we lost them. So ya, keeping them here is most important to me and I don't care how.
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