Storm Front Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 I think Trump would be an awesome owner. I bet he would seriously compete with Robert Kraft.
RyanC883 Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 I think Trump would be an awesome owner. I bet he would seriously compete with Robert Kraft. For sure. He would want to be the King of the NFL and knock Kraft off his high (cheating) horse. The reality is that LA isn't a threat at all because of the lease deal. There are teams (Oakland, St, Louis, San Diego) that are racing to LA. No one can buy the Bills with the intent of LA because by the time that they can move them there will almost certainly already be at least 1 team there. They would lose the race. I actually believe that is the exact reason that the Bills and the state structured the lease that way. It basically made LA a non factor. At the same time I don't believe that London is a realistic option for the opposite reason. I am not sure that by 2020 the NFL and London would be in position to support a team. It's possible but my guess is that if the NFL is serious about Europe we are probably still 10 years away. I could be wrong here but that's my sense. Toronto is the only realistic threat IMO. I still think that WNY is the favorite. I agree with your points. I think WNY wins out in the end. After loosing so much in WNY (jobs, mostly due to over taxation/regulation, NYS lost the highest percentage of its population since the last census)---people are conditioned to expect the worst. But this time, I think WNY wins.
JPS Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 Let's see….an arrogant billionaire owner who will not accept failure….. What's the question again? I think Trump would be the best thing to ever happen to Buffalo and if he ruffles the feathers of a few locals, so be it.
PromoTheRobot Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 (edited) Let's see….an arrogant billionaire owner who will not accept failure….. What's the question again? I think Trump would be the best thing to ever happen to Buffalo and if he ruffles the feathers of a few locals, so be it. I hope you feel the same way when Trump whisks the Bills off to another city because Buffalo can't afford "his" team. To me Trump is the fox trying to buy the hen house, and some of the chickens think he's there to save them. Edited April 15, 2014 by PromoTheRobot
DC Greg Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 I hope you feel the same way when Trump whisks the Bills off to another city because Buffalo can't afford "his" team. To me Trump is the fox trying to buy the hen house, and the some of the chickens think he's there to save them. Have to agree here. Just can't see him wanting to keep a team in WNY. When the time was right, he'd look to make the move. Whether to LA, Toronto, London, etc because it would be the biggest, hugest, most luxurious franchise in the NFL, and he'd want it in the biggest, hugest, most statement making city it could be. And as far as day to day business of how the team/organization is run, promoted, marketed, etc... You think Ralph was a meddling owner? Think about this guy for just another minute...
richNjoisy Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 Have to agree here. Just can't see him wanting to keep a team in WNY. When the time was right, he'd look to make the move. Whether to LA, Toronto, London, etc because it would be the biggest, hugest, most luxurious franchise in the NFL, and he'd want it in the biggest, hugest, most statement making city it could be. And as far as day to day business of how the team/organization is run, promoted, marketed, etc... You think Ralph was a meddling owner? Think about this guy for just another minute... I hear you on this and it is a valid concern - but - there are a few things that are clear about the man: Number 1 is he likes to make money. Number 2 is he likes to be in the spotlight. He will make money in Buffalo. Gobs of it. Not just on tickets, merchandise and TV/luxury box revenues but I understand he will get some huge tax breaks. Moving the team will be a risk and how many yachts DOES he need to ski behind? Number 2 is a good/bad scenario for Buffalonians - the bad is being , perhaps, the first owner based in London or Canada (now that I think of it...yawn...what makes Canada so "special" to Donald??) Or , perhaps, being the LA "savior"? On the good side, winning a Super Bowl and getting a SB ring? Priceless! So, I am ambivalent, yes, but I am intrigued by a Trump ownership.
Thunderstealer Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 Have to agree here. Just can't see him wanting to keep a team in WNY. I can . Because it's successful. He'll make money just like Ralph did.
CodeMonkey Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 (edited) I can . Because it's successful. He'll make money just like Ralph did. Mr. Wilson bought the team for very little money and he carried no debt on the team. Any new buyer, including Trump, will be paying close to a billion dollars. They will absolutely NOT make money the way Mr. Wilson did on the team if it stays in Buffalo under the same conditions as now (ticket prices, suite sales, etc.). Plus with Trump it as an ego thing as well. What strokes him more, a team in Buffalo or a larger more flashy market. I'm not saying he would move the team for sure because who knows with him. But it is certainly a distinct possibility. Edited April 15, 2014 by CodeMonkey
May Day 10 Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 Mr. Wilson bought the team for very little money and he carried no debt on the team. Any new buyer, including Trump, will be paying close to a billion dollars. They will absolutely NOT make money the way Mr. Wilson did on the team if it stays in Buffalo under the same conditions as now (ticket prices, suite sales, etc.). That is assuming the team plummets in value.
BillsFan-4-Ever Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 I can see it now dropped pass - YOU"RE FIRED lost fumble - YOU"RE FIRED missed FG - YOU"RE FIRED
DC Greg Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 I hear you on this and it is a valid concern - but - there are a few things that are clear about the man: Number 1 is he likes to make money. Number 2 is he likes to be in the spotlight. He will make money in Buffalo. Gobs of it. Not just on tickets, merchandise and TV/luxury box revenues but I understand he will get some huge tax breaks. Moving the team will be a risk and how many yachts DOES he need to ski behind? Number 2 is a good/bad scenario for Buffalonians - the bad is being , perhaps, the first owner based in London or Canada (now that I think of it...yawn...what makes Canada so "special" to Donald??) Or , perhaps, being the LA "savior"? On the good side, winning a Super Bowl and getting a SB ring? Priceless! So, I am ambivalent, yes, but I am intrigued by a Trump ownership. I believe being the first international owner in NFL history is the kind of groundbreaking thing to put him in the spotlight he might desire. Of course he's going to say he wants to keep them in Buffalo now, because he's smart enough to realize, as most on here have pointed out, that he's locked into Buffalo for at least 7-10 years regardless. Yes he'll make money in Buffalo, but he'll make more money elsewhere. A whole lot more. Again, as many have pointed out in previous threads, when you factor in more than just ticket sales (TV revenue, marketing/merchandising profitability, etc), Buffalo comes up just about dead last in terms of overall profitability and national exposure. But as you say, it still makes a ton of money, so it wouldn't be much of a risk to move anywhere else, because every NFL team makes that much $. Pretty sound idea to make a lot more money by moving actually. I'm not in his head though, so who knows. I just feel his tune may change after 7 years, especially if we haven't won or at least gone to a superbowl in that time. I can see where some of his big time persona may be a plus for the franchise, and I can also see where it would be a major negative. I could see this guy growing to hate Buffalo and Bills fans. Again, pure conjecture. On a selfish note, I'd really rather not have my NFL team universally despised by my friends and coworkers because of who the owner is. Where I work and live, it's safe to say the Donald is universally legitimately disdained or just though of as a complete joke. At least now they usually want to cheer with me for the underdogs! If we sucked AND were hated as bad as good teams that have earned haters... well I guess that wouldn't be shocking luck in the life of a Bills fan, actually.
CodeMonkey Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 That is assuming the team plummets in value. Plummets? I thought it was valued at about $800 million?
BillsClinton Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 Man to be completely honest, I would think long and hard about continuing my support for the Buffalo Bills if Trump was the owner, even if he kept it in Buffalo. In some ways, a football franchise reflects the consciousness of their owner, and Trump is not anyone I'd want near something I love.
Dorkington Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 If he leaves the management of the team to football people, I'd be ok with it. But I have a feeling he'd stick his nose where it doesn't belong. Also, I think he'd move the team as soon as he can make it profitable.
May Day 10 Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 (edited) Plummets? I thought it was valued at about $800 million? Say he buys the team for $800 Million He makes the yearly profit. Then he later sells the team for $900 Million. Like Golisano. He ran the Sabres at the break-even point, but when he cashed out, he made a killing. Teams are not consumable. They seem to hold/increase their value. So if someone drops $800 Million on them, they still have $800 Million. They dont need to make $10 million/season for 80 seasons to make their money/investment back. Edited April 15, 2014 by May Day 10
CodeMonkey Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 Say he buys the team for $800 Million He makes the yearly profit. Then he later sells the team for $900 Million. Like Golisano. He ran the Sabres at the break-even point, but when he cashed out, he made a killing. Teams are not consumable. They seem to hold/increase their value. So if someone drops $800 Million on them, they still have $800 Million. Oh I see, But if all he was looking for was profit by essentially "flipping" the team, there are a lot safer and cheaper investments than a 800 million dollar purchase. Golisano I believe purchased the Sabres primarily so they would stay in Buffalo. And it was about 25% the cost of the Bills.
Donald Duck Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 Man to be completely honest, I would think long and hard about continuing my support for the Buffalo Bills if Trump was the owner, even if he kept it in Buffalo. In some ways, a football franchise reflects the consciousness of their owner, and Trump is not anyone I'd want near something I love. Bills Die hard fans don't have the same option, and after listening to all the BS thrown at RW over the years I doubt seriously we will ever find someone we can all agree on, I look at it like this, If D Trump has JK's blessing, then he's good enough for me...
May Day 10 Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 Yeah, Golisano was a huge gamble based on the NHL Lockout, no revenue sharing or cap (yet) and a team who couldnt draw flies. He bought it on the cheap, but it was a sorry situation.
FireChan Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 I can see it now dropped pass - YOU"RE FIRED lost fumble - YOU"RE FIRED missed FG - YOU"RE FIRED Sounds like a game day thread.
White Linen Posted April 15, 2014 Posted April 15, 2014 I hope you feel the same way when Trump whisks the Bills off to another city because Buffalo can't afford "his" team. To me Trump is the fox trying to buy the hen house, and the some of the chickens think he's there to save them. There's a 0% chance he would move the team.
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