Rogers Group Planning to move Team to Toronto In writing

[Kirby Jackson]

 

 

So even though we knew Toronto was all but officially out of the running, assuming this is legit, would this be a nail in the coffin for them? Can the trust even negotiate with them any longer?

I am subscribing to Bandit's school of thought that their sole purpose at this point is to drive up the price. It makes them look like real players to the NFL next time they pursue a franchise and it makes the trust happy in that it keeps the price a little higher. As contenders, the dirt has already been shoveled on the coffin. Edited August 14, 2014 by Kirby Jackson

[BreezeMafia]

"I am going down..........in a blaze of glory.........take me down, the golden shutes........................."

[The Real Buffalo Joe]

Wait, I thought the Bills were going to be sold at auction to the highest bidder because Ralph didn't care about what happened to the team after he died?

 

You forgot the part about Mary Wilson just being a money hungry gold digger. And the fact that the Trust already knows the team is going to Toronto, but is purposfully drawing it out to strss out the fans.

[bisonbrigade]

I think the bank is using the Toronto group to try to drive the price up a bit. I do not think the trust would sell to such scum. I hope.

[The Real Buffalo Joe]

I am subscribing to Bandit's school of thought that their sole purpose at this point is to drive up the price. It makes them look like real players to the NFL next time they pursue a franchise and it makes the trust happy in that it keeps the price a little higher. As contenders, the dirt has already been shoveled on the coffin.

 

Could this mean that their bid would be invalid, therefore not even doing anything to drive up the price?

[Kirby Jackson]

 

 

Could this mean that their bid would be invalid, therefore not even doing anything to drive up the price?

I don't think but I don't know. As I understand it, the Trust ultimately determines what is valid and what isn't. I am sure that they don't throw them out if it means a lower price.

[BillnutinHouston]

Could this mean that their bid would be invalid, therefore not even doing anything to drive up the price?

Why would the trust say or do ANYTHING to indicate that the Toronto bid is invalid, if that would have the effect of deflating the final sales price? They are not in this to score day-to-day PR points with us fans. All that matters is the final outcome. They are likely harboring serious doubts about the JBJ Rogers group, and keeping those doubts strictly private.

[atlbillsfan1975]

I wonder why this came out now? I wonder what if any purpose it serves to come out now? To drive up the price? But i thought it was in writing that the Bills could not be moved out of Buffalo, is that not what Ralph asked for?

[1B4IDie]

Agree with all of this. My question was more why is it news to people on here? There has been such a thorough discussion and analyzation over the last few months that it would be hard to think that TO was still an option. Yet, as of yesterday there were still people (or at least a person) insistent on the impending move.

Agree.

 

Except again, people don't really have the time or take the time to follow this like we do. Or have the sources like Kirby and Bandit that can reassure them with 99.9% confidence.

 

So I applaud the alliance and jw and Hannah for getting this stuff out because for the casual viewer and outsider, this confirms the same stuff that we may have already known and gets them closer to the same place. And it is, for all intents and purposes "news." We hadn't seen that kind of writing before.

 

Granted, it should be put into context and time frame and it's not news to people that know what's going on or have followed this closely. But it's important IMO that everyone has as much info and ammo as they can to show the NFL that this Toronto thing just will not work, which is one of the three main reasons, and probably the biggest of them, why it wouldn't.

I'm not worried that the Toronto group will will and move the team to Toronto at all.

This is news because the group is caught with their hand in the cookie jar. In an official public filing it says that they want to move the team to Toronto.

 

They can try and backtrack the statement and say it was an error but its a stretch to believe any of the damage control.

 

In their own words in a public filing they are saying publicly they want to move the team to Toronto. That to me is news.

 

It doesn't change the fact that they didn't have a shot to win, but it is news that they officially, and publicly want to move the team to Toronto.

 

I wonder why this came out now? I wonder what if any purpose it serves to come out now? To drive up the price? But i thought it was in writing that the Bills could not be moved out of Buffalo, is that not what Ralph asked for?

Adding the biography to a public filling was probably a mistake.

 

The contents of the biography however are not likely a mistake.

[Al Czervik]

It is and always has been a 100% chance the "JBJ/Toronto" group's end game is to move the team to Toronto. Whether that is right away or someday down the road.

 

Especially with people from MLSE involved with their money grubbing hands in the pot.....As a life long leaf fan these are the last people we need overseeing the Bills. The Bills team, games and everything they stand for would be turned into a circus, all for the sake of the bottom line. That said I am sure this group does have the cash and is seriously pursuing the sale and trying to win.

 

I live in Canada at the far end of the lake and Toronto is 2+ hours closer to home, but the team belongs in Buffalo NY. I happily drive to Buffalo a few times a year for the Bills experience. Please don't sell the Bills to this joke of a group....or anyone else who'd ever move this team from where it was born and where it belongs!

[Kelly the Dog]

I'm not worried that the Toronto group will will and move the team to Toronto at all.

This is news because the group is caught with their hand in the cookie jar. In an official public filing it says that they want to move the team to Toronto.

 

They can try and backtrack the statement and say it was an error but its a stretch to believe any of the damage control.

 

In their own words in a public filing they are saying publicly they want to move the team to Toronto. That to me is news.

 

It doesn't change the fact that they didn't have a shot to win, but it is news that they officially, and publicly want to move the team to Toronto.

 

 

Adding the biography to a public filling was probably a mistake.

 

The contents of the biography however are not likely a mistake.

But it was likely written before they said anything about keeping the team in Buffalo. This was reported today but the blurb was retracted from the bio more than a month ago. July 8 or something like that. It could very well have been that none of the stuff they are being abused for, like looking at stadiums and this thing, came after the real process started. We all know they want to move the team to Toronto, but the stadium site thing was 18 months ago, and this bio was written months ago. They only started talking about keeping the team in Buffalo when it became apparent to them that was the only option, and after this kind of smoking gun stuff had already happened.

 

Not that I believe them for a second that they want to keep a team in Buffalo.

[KollegeStudnet]

"I know how much the Bills mean to the people of this region. So I want you to hear this from me: I'm not risking it all to let you down. If we are given the chance to be the next owners of the Buffalo Bills, I promise you that we will bring the same passion that you do every Sunday, every day."

[Go Kiko go]

Why would the trust say or do ANYTHING to indicate that the Toronto bid is invalid, if that would have the effect of deflating the final sales price? They are not in this to score day-to-day PR points with us fans. All that matters is the final outcome. They are likely harboring serious doubts about the JBJ Rogers group, and keeping those doubts strictly private.

If I'm Proskauer, this kind of statement slightly increases my concern that the Bills could breach their lease and non-relocation agreement by continuing to engage in negotiations with the Toronto group, but (i) practically speaking, no one's going to sue the Bills unless the Toronto group's bid is selected, and (ii) the statement ("the ownership group attempting to acquire and move the Buffalo Bills to Toronto") didn't indicate the timing of such a move (while likely a bad idea for all the reasons amply discussed elsewhere on this board, the Toronto group likely could publicly announce that they intend to buy the Bills and move them to Toronto in 2020 without causing the Bills to breach their lease and non-relocation agreement).

 

Of course, the persistent wildcard is that we don't know the terms of the Trust, so we can't really evaluate what impact, if any, this statement would have on the validity of the Toronto group's bid.

Edited August 14, 2014 by Go Kiko go

[thebandit27]

If I'm Proskauer, this kind of statement slightly increases my concern that the Bills could breach their lease and non-relocation agreement by continuing to engage in negotiations with the Toronto group, but (i) practically speaking, no one's going to sue the Bills unless the Toronto group's bid is selected, and (ii) the statement ("the ownership group attempting to acquire and move the Buffalo Bills to Toronto") didn't indicate the timing of such a move (while likely a bad idea for all the reasons amply discussed elsewhere on this board, the Toronto group likely could publicly announce that they intend to buy the Bills and move them to Toronto in 2020 without causing the Bills to breach their lease and non-relocation agreement).

 

Of course, the persistent wildcard is that we don't know the terms of the Trust, so we can't really evaluate what impact, if any, this statement would have on the validity of the Toronto group's bid.

 

I'm guessing that this reason is precisely why they asked the Toronto group to provide stronger assurances that they won't relocate the team. It allows them to keep the group in the running for the sake of competition, while still keeping the specter of relocation in the picture.

[KollegeStudnet]

Eh, one more. It's a slow work day.

[SRQ_BillsFan]

July 8th was hardly months ago. I believe it was also after the Toronto group said they will keep the team in Buffalo. I guess they didn't check the press report very well.

[Kelly the Dog]

July 8th was hardly months ago. I believe it was also after the Toronto group said they will keep the team in Buffalo. I guess they didn't check the press report very well.

That is when they took it down. Who knows when it went up. I doubt the main guys even knew it existed.

[1B4IDie]

But it was likely written before they said anything about keeping the team in Buffalo. This was reported today but the blurb was retracted from the bio more than a month ago. July 8 or something like that. It could very well have been that none of the stuff they are being abused for, like looking at stadiums and this thing, came after the real process started. We all know they want to move the team to Toronto, but the stadium site thing was 18 months ago, and this bio was written months ago. They only started talking about keeping the team in Buffalo when it became apparent to them that was the only option, and after this kind of smoking gun stuff had already happened.

 

Not that I believe them for a second that they want to keep a team in Buffalo.

Months is a small period of time. Prior to this document there was zero direct evidence that the intentions of the group were to move the team to Toronto. Up until this point everything was circumstantial, the group is based in Toronto and they surveyed sites for a Football Stadium in the past.

This is direct evidence of the groups intentions in their writing.

That is the difference.

Edited August 14, 2014 by Why So Serious?

[Kelly the Dog]

Months is a small period of time. Prior to this document there was zero direct evidence that the intentions of the group were to move the team to Toronto. Up until this point everything was circumstantial, the group is based in Toronto and they surveyed sites for a Football Stadium in the past.

This is direct evidence of the groups intentions in their writing.

That is the difference.

From the article when Tim Leiweke was hired 15 or so months ago.

Leiweke was also in charge of AEG’s bid for an NFL team and stadium for Los Angeles, which raised the question of the same scenario for Toronto, where Tanenbaum and MLSE co-owner Rogers Communications Inc., have tried unsuccessfully for years to land an NFL team.

 

Another possibility is putting all of the city’s major-league teams under one corporate roof (Rogers owns baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays).

However, even though his long-term goal is overall growth for MLSE, Leiweke said the immediate task is to make champions of “the big three:” Leafs, Raptors and TFC.

 

Since the NFL prefers individual owners rather than corporations, Leiweke pointed out MLSE is not likely to get a team, but did say he would lend his help down the road if someone wants to chase one. He also played down the notion of MLSE expanding overseas.

 

“I don’t think this board is interested in Europe and China,” he said. “What they’re interested in is here in Canada.”

[PO'14]

JBJ wants to lay us down on a bed of Roses....IN TORONTO!