Selling of Bills Could Happen Even Sooner

[Lurker]

I'd like to think the same but does he have a billion in cash plus another 500k for a new stadium available? Net worth is one thing but cash flow is a totally different thing and 'The Shield" doesn't like owners with a big debt service.

TP is that most unusual of billionaire...totally liquid. Rather than having his wealth tied up in hard-to-move business assets like most rich people, he was given a check for $4.7 billion (with his share at $3 billion) by Royal Dutch Shell when he sold his company. That gives him a BIG leg up on virtually any other bidder, and I'm sure the NFL really likes that from a "sign here" perspective.

 

His blue collar background is neat as well--fits in perfectly with the fan base:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/print-edition/2011/05/06/terry-pegula-of-east-resources-inc.html?page=all

[thebandit27]

I would like to see a knowledgeable football guy in charge of the football side of the team rather then a marketing / baseball guy is all.

 

This is already definitively the case--unless you don't consider Whaley knowledgable or a football guy.

[The Wiz]

TP is that most unusual of billionaire...totally liquid. Rather than having his wealth tied up in hard-to-move business assets like most rich people, he was given a check for $4.7 billion (with his share at $3 billion) by Royal Dutch Shell when he sold his company. That gives him a BIG leg up on virtually any other bidder, and I'm sure the NFL really likes that from a "sign here" perspective.

 

His blue collar background is neat as well--fits in perfectly with the fan base:

 

http://www.bizjourna...c.html?page=all

Was going to say the same thing. TP is basically Scrooge McDuck. He's got a vault in his house with 4 billion dollars for him to swim around in whenever he feels like it.

[RalphOP83]

A very knowledgable business man I know who works in the fracking/natural gas industry recently told me that Terry Pegula has an additional $3 billion in assets/property that are untapped and prime. These assets don't figure into the speculation as to his net worth. So sounds like he is worth $3+ billion liquid and another $3+ billion assets.

[MarlinTheMagician]

The Ralph Wilson article linked on page 2 of the thread is amazing. Makes explicit, from Ralph himself, that Ralph regarded giving pro football to Buffalo and keeping it here as among the great accomplishments of his lief. That he saw it as a matter of public service. This more than any gossip about a new local owner (which I also love) really makes me think they won't move. That would be direct violence to Ralph's memory and life's work. It also makes me appreciate Ralph even more. Personally I never knew if he committed to keep the Bills here "in his lifetime" because of fondness for the area or because he just didn't want the hassle of moving the team and being hated for it in his senior years. Now I know, and send a big shoutout to Ralph upstairs. Thanks old-timer!

[uncle flap]

A very knowledgable business man I know who works in the fracking/natural gas industry recently told me that Terry Pegula has an additional $3 billion in assets/property that are untapped and prime. These assets don't figure into the speculation as to his net worth. So sounds like he is worth $3+ billion liquid and another $3+ billion assets.

 

I've heard something similar. He still has unsold land in West Virginia and somewhere else that's likely worth a pretty penny to oil/gas developers.

[RuntheDamnBall]

You are entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to mine. Brandon has had a major role within the Org for eight years, and after Marv retired the team having no GM it is easy for me to speculate on who else was guiding the team along with the owner. My sole reasoning for this is because the same stupidity that has enveloped this team for a lot of that time is still prevalent.

 

I could care less if Brandon is retained as CEO, as long as the team hires a true "football" man as president for the football side of the operations. Like Green Bay has ex NFL safety Mark Murphy as president / CEO the last seven years, and they won a SB under him. Like Baltimore has ex NFL TE Ozzie Newsome as VP / GM, and has won several SB's under him. Like the Colts had Bill Polian as GM / president, and won a SB with him.

 

I would like to see a knowledgeable football guy in charge of the football side of the team rather then a marketing / baseball guy is all.

Polian wasn't a true football man until he became one.

 

What is Whaley doing so wrong after 11 months on the job that he doesn't qualify to run the football side of the operations?

[stony]

Pegula is as liquid as anyone. He sold his company for $4.7B. He could buy the Bills and stadium in cash if he wanted to. That is a large part of his appeal. In addition to his large net worth it is extremely liquid.

 

I'm not doubting his finances. By all means, he seems wholly capable. Just stating that he wouldn't need to be fully liquid in order to be considered.

 

Here's hoping Mary likes him!

[K-9]

This is already definitively the case--unless you don't consider Whaley knowledgable or a football guy.

 

Don't know how many times or in how many ways it has to be said: Russ Brandon has NEVER made a player personnel decision for this team. He's always left that up to his football guys. Certainly those guys haven't always made the best personnel decisions, but that's another issue.

 

I'm pretty sure Whaley is a football guy, too.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[thebandit27]

 

 

Don't know how many times or in how many ways it has to be said: Russ Brandon has NEVER made a player personnel decision for this team. He's always left that up to his football guys. Certainly those guys haven't always made the best personnel decisions, but that's another issue.

 

I'm pretty sure Whaley is a football guy, too.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

Unfortunately, facing that reality makes it difficult to bash Brandon in that regard--which I've found is the agenda for some on this board.

 

Again, nobody is saying that the football dept has done a great job; just that it hasn't been Russ making the decisions.

[Ronin]

Not sure I get the same take from the piece as the optimism is here.

 

From the article:

 

Wilson's estate is in the process of hiring an investment banking firm that would oversee the sale of the team, which is expected to go to the highest bidder.

 

Apart from completely busting the notion that Wilson did all that he could to keep the team in Buffalo, this pretty much leaves the fate of the sale of the team in the hands of the highest bidder, not necessarily one that would keep the team in WNY. The other owners really are going to have the final say. If they want the team in Buffalo, it'll be there, if not, then it likely won't since they have to approve the owners.

 

I don't even rule out some collective buyout of the team's lease if those owners want the team elsewhere badly enough. In other words, if the team can generate umpteen more million dollars of revenue elsewhere, with what would likely be a much much higher revenue producing ceiling, the league may see that it makes more financial sense to pay some renegotiated portion of the cost, or pay it entirely, to do just that. $400M is really not that much in NFL terms. Divide that by 31 other teams, even on a sliding scale, as well as another state or municipality, and it shouldn't be difficult to see that that is really not the transfer barrier that everyone seems to think it is in calling it a showstopper for the most part.

 

Perhaps I'm just skeptical in this way given the times over the years that Buffalo seems to have been a sticking point for many of the other owners in one way or another but always revolving around finances. Remember, the rest of the league wants the stadium named after a corporate interests for purposes of additional revenue generation despite how relatively little that would be for each owner/team. WNY doesn't seem to have the magnitude of businesses that would typically pay for that.

 

I don't see anything in the piece that claims that the front-runners are a bidder that would keep the team in WNY. I see lots of interest, and at least rumors of one group, implicitly more groups, that want to do that.

 

But bidding always involves what a state, county, a/o city is willing to put up in cash that they take from the taxpayers, in order to finance a new stadium. No matter how we slice it, it's hardly a slam dunk that NYS is that entity. Surely Erie County has little, it's not as if they are in a position to add much, it'll be all state.

 

As it is, the county ranks below average in median income.

 

Secondly, the team has to stay here, but it also has to then clean house and put in a front office that has a clue. They can give Whaley another season or two, but if it remains on the path of what it's been since he's been here since 2010 as AGM, then time to go and clean house. Would that happen? Because if it doesn't, I don't see why anything would change in terms of this team ever becoming competitive.

 

As I've said since the news originally broke that the team may not sell for several years, I fully expect that a deal will get done within the next 15 months.

 

We obviously won't know until it plays out, but it's going to be a long-term decision, not a short-term one. The State isn't going to build a stadium and re-do a lease for some short-term or indefinite period of time.

 

I'm curious where other ownership interests might be interested in moving the team. We really haven't heard much besides the perpetually rumored L.A., but there are a number of other cities that would be more suitable than Buffalo, bigger cities with greater ability to do what the modern NFL wants, namely sell out corporate luxury suites and PSLs. I suspect that they might be quietly biding their time until the post-Wilson-passing fallout subsides.

[Rocky Landing]

I'm sure that this has been said in this thread, already. but this is VERY GOOD NEWS. I believe that the sooner they are sold, the more likely it is that they will be staying. Logistically, lining up the ducks to move the team would be an enormous task, and much of that would have to be done before investors would make the purchase. I have little doubt that out-of-state prospects are number-crunching right now. An early sale would head that off.

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

Not to be a jerk to the OP, but it's a Wawrow article, not ESPN.

 

http://bigstory.ap.o...y-owner-90-days

Sorry was gone for the day. I changed it to Mr. Wawrow's article. Thanks

[MarlinTheMagician]

I have read several posts on this going on about trust law and fiduciary obligations. Those posts are off to the extent they suggest the law will mandate a sale to the highest bidder regardless of intent to move or not. There is the law, and there is reality. The two don't always meet. If Ralph while of sound mind made clear to Mary he would like the team to stay, you can bet it will. If he did not, it may still stay but it will be more about money and less about legacy, which does not favor us. The law will not rule this analysis. C'mon Pegula, Millstein, Jacobs, Trump, Jimbo!!!!!

 

Can we have some mass Bon Jovi record burning or something? Geez.

[Buffaloed in Pa]

I have read several posts on this going on about trust law and fiduciary obligations. Those posts are off to the extent they suggest the law will mandate a sale to the highest bidder regardless of intent to move or not. There is the law, and there is reality. The two don't always meet. If Ralph while of sound mind made clear to Mary he would like the team to stay, you can bet it will. If he did not, it may still stay but it will be more about money and less about legacy, which does not favor us. The law will not rule this analysis. C'mon Pegula, Millstein, Jacobs, Trump, Jimbo!!!!!

 

Can we have some mass Bon Jovi record burning or something? Geez.

Yeah he`s probably at Marys place with flowers in pink underwear with hearts. Jersey trash.

[MarlinTheMagician]

And not hating our brothers to the North (good hockey folks all of them), but keep your damn hands off our Bills! There is no evidence whatsoever that Toronto would support this team. And if the Toronto folks really want to watch NFL football, come on across the border and see a game in one of the best home venues in the NFL. I realize the Rogers games may not be fully representative, but I have never seen a deader environment for football. London is even better.

 

Bon Jovi, ugh. Jersey trash is right, and I live in Jersey now and like it there!

 

GO BILLS!

[MattM]

The Ralph Wilson article linked on page 2 of the thread is amazing. Makes explicit, from Ralph himself, that Ralph regarded giving pro football to Buffalo and keeping it here as among the great accomplishments of his lief. That he saw it as a matter of public service. This more than any gossip about a new local owner (which I also love) really makes me think they won't move. That would be direct violence to Ralph's memory and life's work. It also makes me appreciate Ralph even more. Personally I never knew if he committed to keep the Bills here "in his lifetime" because of fondness for the area or because he just didn't want the hassle of moving the team and being hated for it in his senior years. Now I know, and send a big shoutout to Ralph upstairs. Thanks old-timer!

 

I met him only once myself--at training camp about ten years ago. He was just mixing with the crowd in the merchandise tent at SJF. I thanked him for keeping the Bills in Buffalo when he could have easily about doubled his money by moving to LA. He literally said to me something along the lines of "Pshaw [which I thought was odd at the time, but have since learned that from a young age he was wholly against swearing], what else am I going to do--sit in my kitchen and count my money?" in a joking manner. I think he was serious in that he viewed keeping football and the team here something of importance, to both the city/region and himself.

[BRAWNDO]

Terry may be a bigger fan than you know. Plus, his wife has been a Bills fan all her life. And then there's LaConfora's reports of Pegula's name being tossed around at the league meetings in March. Hmm. Granted, it's all speculation, but still.

 

http://www.buffaloru...g-buffalo-bills

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

Plus there is this from 2011 shortly after Pegula bought the Sabres

 

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/7325044/buffalo-sabres-owner-terry-pegula-buys-nfl-player-agent-company

 

 

"This was an easy decision for us," Pegula said in a release issued by both the Sabres and the firm. "We did extensive research to find the perfect fit. All of my resources had nothing but praise for Todd. His reputation among the elite NFL executives was phenomenal."

[bbb]

I've heard something similar. He still has unsold land in West Virginia and somewhere else that's likely worth a pretty penny to oil/gas developers.

 

But, all that would count into his net worth.

 

The Ralph Wilson article linked on page 2 of the thread is amazing. Makes explicit, from Ralph himself, that Ralph regarded giving pro football to Buffalo and keeping it here as among the great accomplishments of his lief. That he saw it as a matter of public service. This more than any gossip about a new local owner (which I also love) really makes me think they won't move. That would be direct violence to Ralph's memory and life's work. It also makes me appreciate Ralph even more. Personally I never knew if he committed to keep the Bills here "in his lifetime" because of fondness for the area or because he just didn't want the hassle of moving the team and being hated for it in his senior years. Now I know, and send a big shoutout to Ralph upstairs. Thanks old-timer!

 

What article on page 2?

[thewildrabbit]

Polian wasn't a true football man until he became one.

 

What is Whaley doing so wrong after 11 months on the job that he doesn't qualify to run the football side of the operations?

What was the teams win / loss record last year, oh yeah 6-10. SSDY. Buddy Nix was the GM for last years draft, and stepped down afterwards. Nix let Levitre leave with no compensation, and Whaley let another second rounder from that 2009 leave with no compensation. While Whaley made some good moves on the defensive side of the ball, he also made some really boneheaded moves on the offensive side.

 

Anyway, In case you missed it I was talking about someone with some actual power at the top besides the money men.

 

I want to see this team win more games then they lose during a season, and I have no faith that this regime will ever accomplish that.

 

 

EDIT: Keeping the team in Buffalo, and making them a winner is all I care about!

Edited May 4, 2014 by FeartheLosing