New sale of team thread

[TheFunPolice]

Tossing on my tinfoil hat, I can see a scenario in which Golisano was always the one they wanted to sell to, so they knew he would not submit a bid by the "soft" deadline. This would allow him to gauge the price range, and allow him to come in high.

 

Basically, they want to sell the team to Golisano, and want the most money. Golisano does not want to overpay. This solves everyone's problem. He can bid just enough to win while letting everyone else set the market.

 

I always bought that he was lukewarm to the idea, but maybe that was all part of the plan...

 

Just seems odd to me that Golisano of all people would want to throw over a billion into something he supposedly saw as his "duty" that he would do only if needed when asked about it.

 

I don't think for a second that Golisano woke up on the day after the bids were due and went "oh, that was due YESTERDAY! Oh no!"

Edited August 2, 2014 by TheFunPolice

[Buffaloed in Pa]

Kelly the Pup. Why was it called a deadline ? It NEVER said SOFT deadline anywhere. Also how could it prevent Toronto group from maybe splitting games with Buffalo,but not moving them? Until the contract is up. Get real. It`s all about the money and nothing else. Even if Pegula wins the bid. Owners still have to approve him. I wouldn`t be jumping on the band wagon yet. It is Buffalo you know.

 

I know better than to live in NYC. That`s enough.

[Kirby Jackson]

 

I could be mistaken, although it wouldn't be by a lot, but I'm pretty damn sure that every single sentence in that paragraph is wrong.

We have to be getting trolled on this right? It is actually the exact opposite. Pegula is the one whose bid just needs to be in the neighborhood to win (not the other way around).

 

So Pegula would clean house and Golisano would keep current management in place, and that may be impacting the decision of the Trust? Interesting.

 

This is 100% false. You are not going to see a change in management. Edited August 2, 2014 by Kirby Jackson

[Kelly the Dog]

Kelly the Pup. Why was it called a deadline ? It NEVER said SOFT deadline anywhere. Also how could it prevent Toronto group from maybe splitting games with Buffalo,but not moving them? Until the contract is up. Get real. It`s all about the money and nothing else. Even if Pegula wins the bid. Owners still have to approve him. I wouldn`t be jumping on the band wagon yet. It is Buffalo you know.

 

I know better than to live in NYC. That`s enough.

There were articles that said the trust sets and deadline and can do whatever it wants (meaning accept later bids) BEFORE the actual deadline. The Toronto paper reported that. I don't even think there is such a thing as a hard deadline unless the Trust declares it to be so and THEN sticks to it. They can do whatever they want if it is private. Public auctions have such things as hard deadlines. There was no rule changing whatsoever.

 

The team is not going to Toronto. It's virtually impossible. Give it up. Enjoy the fact that your favorite team is not moving.

[Buffaloed in Pa]

I never saw anything other than it was a deadline and your bid had to be in by said time.Anywhere. I guess you`ll have to show me one before the bids were in. Thanks.

[Kelly the Dog]

Tossing on my tinfoil hat, I can see a scenario in which Golisano was always the one they wanted to sell to, so they knew he would not submit a bid by the "soft" deadline. This would allow him to gauge the price range, and allow him to come in high.

 

Basically, they want to sell the team to Golisano, and want the most money. Golisano does not want to overpay. This solves everyone's problem. He can bid just enough to win while letting everyone else set the market.

 

I always bought that he was lukewarm to the idea, but maybe that was all part of the plan...

 

Just seems odd to me that Golisano of all people would want to throw over a billion into something he supposedly saw as his "duty" that he would do only if needed when asked about it.

 

I don't think for a second that Golisano woke up on the day after the bids were due and went "oh, that was due YESTERDAY! Oh no!"

I don't know this for sure, just my educated opinion. Morgan Stanley (and perhaps the NFL owners) is a little frustrated by the lack of a bidding war. Trump is in it but he is not going much higher. The Toronto group can't. Pegula is the clear winner but perhaps didnt bid as high as most reports say he did. Morgan Stanley is lobbying the trust to convince Golisano to join in the bidding, saying that he would keep all of the senior management intact, and Pegula would keep most of them but not all.

 

Meanwhile, they let TG know that the Trust slightly prefers him to Pegula because of this and that if the bids are equal, TG will get the nod. All this does in reality is make Pegula pony up another 100-200m to get the team because he is not going to be outbid by Golisano unless TG does something stupid, which is unlikely.

 

All this is good for the trust, Morgan Stanley, the NFL, and TG. It's not quite so good for Pegula, but he is not going to realy lose money on it because if he pays 200m more it is likely to be worth 200m more. He just won't have as much cash to spend, which he doesn't at all need.

[Kirby Jackson]

I never saw anything other than it was a deadline and your bid had to be in by said time.Anywhere. I guess you`ll have to show me one before the bids were in. Thanks.

http://m.thestar.com/#/article/sports/football/2014/08/01/donald_trump_makes_short_list_in_sale_of_buffalo_bills.html

[Kelly the Dog]

I never saw anything other than it was a deadline and your bid had to be in by said time.Anywhere. I guess you`ll have to show me one before the bids were in. Thanks.

Google is your friend.

[purple haze]

He won't move the team but will he flip it like he did the Sabres in a few years? Pegula is the only owner I trust to be long term.

 

If he did don't you think it would be to a WNY centric owner? His history with the Sabres indicate that would be the case. He didn't have to sell them to Pegula. He could have sold the Sabres to someone who would have moved them. He didn't. I wouldn't be worried at all if Golisano is the owner. But I, like everyone else seems to, prefer the Pegulas.

[thebandit27]

From what I have been told independent of anyone else that has info (Kirby, Kelly, etc) is that there wouldn't be any sweeping changes of ANY kind with Pegula.

 

The current folks would be evaluated based on what they do once new ownership is in position to see their work first-hand.

 

Perhaps some of you have heard differently...

[BillsFanM.D.]

We have to be getting trolled on this right? It is actually the exact opposite. Pegula is the one whose bid just needs to be in the neighborhood to win (not the other way around).

 

 

Kirby...from what you know (and are potentially willing to offer here), is it possible that the trust wanted Golisano in the game as a fail safe should something unforeseen arise with Pegula? I.e. have another player in the game until the end 'just in case.'

[Kelly the Dog]

If he did don't you think it would be to a WNY centric owner? His history with the Sabres indicate that would be the case. He didn't have to sell them to Pegula. He could have sold the Sabres to someone who would have moved them. He didn't. I wouldn't be worried at all if Golisano is the owner. But I, like everyone else seems to, prefer the Pegulas.

Golisano actually put in the agreement that Pegula could not move the Sabres out of Buffalo, not that Pegula had any intention of it. It's also not necessarily true that Golisano just wanted to flip the Sabres. He turned Pegula down at least once and I think two times before agreeing to sell.

 

My issue with Golisano is that he is 10 years older than Pegula and married to Monica Seles and who knows what will happen if he were to pass away. I assume that he would immediately make provisions in his will to keep the team here but we don't know that. if it's Pegula, he has a younger wife that is very involved and three kids who are very sports minded. The Bills would be here for a generation or two at least.

[RuntheDamnBall]

Great so when 40 year old Monica Seles kills him in bed she will the owner. I wonder if she will move them to Prague.

Why would a Serb want to move the team to the Czech Republic?

[yungmack]

On the current worry that the trust wants Golisano because he'd keep the old cronies together and Pegula won't, it seems to me that only an imbecile would "clean house" in a business where they have virtually zero practical experience. And to believe that once Golisano feels he has a solid sense of operations he will keep the old guard around even if they don't measure up is nuts. Littman and Overdorf have job security for at least a year after the sale. As to Owens, unless her position includes being able to gum up the works in some unknown way, there's no reason to get rid of her, at least for awhile if at all. And no owner in his right mind is going to get rid of Brandon, Whaley and Marrone if the team is having success.

 

Of course, all this goes out the window if a certain megalomanic idiot with a peculiar hair fetish and an inability to make money in the casino business were to buy the team.

Edited August 2, 2014 by yungmack

[Kirby Jackson]

Kirby...from what you know (and are potentially willing to offer here), is it possible that the trust wanted Golisano in the game as a fail safe should something unforeseen arise with Pegula? I.e. have another player in the game until the end 'just in case.'

Honestly, I do not know but that seems logical. Golisano is a very solid option as well. He is another really rich guy that wants nothing more than to keep the team in WNY. What's odd is that if he were to win the bid eventually Monica Seles may end up owning the Bills!! Strange to think about. If people want their celebrity owner, Monica Seles would be my choice .

[Mike in Horseheads]

The new senior management is probably what is holding this up. The trust, since it is composed of two members of senior management and a third who is very, very close and friendly with senior management, surely wants senior management to stay in place.

I really don't have a problem with Russ staying, Littman is a bean counter and they are all jerks... what?...oh ya I'm a bean counter too scratch that last sentence. Edited August 2, 2014 by Mike in Horseheads

[Gugny]

Maybe it's reading too much into it, but it's somewhat hard for me to believe that Mary would come there that weekend if she knew that within a week or two she was making a decision to sell the team to someone who would move it out of Buffalo. I'm sure she is close to all those all-time great Bills, and wanted to represent Ralph there this weekend, but still. Something tells me that if there was anything bad about this coming sale, she would not be there.

 

That, of course, is total conjecture.

If the conjecture lasts longer than 4 hours ... oh .... wait ... nevermind ...

[purple haze]

Tossing on my tinfoil hat, I can see a scenario in which Golisano was always the one they wanted to sell to, so they knew he would not submit a bid by the "soft" deadline. This would allow him to gauge the price range, and allow him to come in high.

 

Basically, they want to sell the team to Golisano, and want the most money. Golisano does not want to overpay. This solves everyone's problem. He can bid just enough to win while letting everyone else set the market.

 

I always bought that he was lukewarm to the idea, but maybe that was all part of the plan...

 

Just seems odd to me that Golisano of all people would want to throw over a billion into something he supposedly saw as his "duty" that he would do only if needed when asked about it.

 

I don't think for a second that Golisano woke up on the day after the bids were due and went "oh, that was due YESTERDAY! Oh no!"

 

If they want the most money then Pegula is their man. I don't have inside sources or know any more information than the next person on the board, but from looking at all the information Pegula is the one if he wants it. He's known to NFL owners already. He's well known to state and local authorities. And he has the most cash liquidity based on reports. And his cash will continue to grow, more than likely, based on his primary industry holding. He's not a man who would need to sell off the team in ten years because his business holdings have been devalued to the point of threatening his solvency.

 

The trust and the bank is doing what those types of entities do; look for more money. Because they seek out more bidders does not mean the trust will sell to just anyone. If that were the case there would be no lease agreement. That is what kept bidders down. Individuals who would have paid crazy money to move the team backed off because it would be too difficult to achieve. We all want the process to be over now, but we have to be patient and understand that this process, even as it is, is still moving very quickly. I think what we're waiting for, honestly, is too see how much money the trust can get Pegula to kick in. Not concerned with the TO group at all. They can't swim in the deep water as currently constructed. Golisano is not worth as much as Pegula. Trump? Unless his ego gets the best of him, he won't swim in the deep water either if Pegula leads the process out that way.

 

I think we're good.

[BillsFanM.D.]

Honestly, I do not know but that seems logical. Golisano is a very solid option as well. He is another really rich guy that wants nothing more than to keep the team in WNY. What's odd is that if he were to win the bid eventually Monica Seles may end up owning the Bills!! Strange to think about. If people want their celebrity owner, Monica Seles would be my choice .

gracias. And Seles is fine with me.

[Mike in Horseheads]

Why would a Serb want to move the team to the Czech Republic?

yahhh I missed by a country or so. :}