Tom Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 From The WBEN Newsroom... Jim Kelley, Western New York Hockey Magazine Editor and WBEN Contributor, is reporting Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano is in exploratory talks with potential team buyers. The full report will be out in the December issue of the magazine which is released Thursday. Kelley tells WBEN this morning "clearly the team is back on the market". Read more about the report and hear Jim Kelley's interview from "Buffalo's Early News" this morning on wben.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 http://rochesterhomepage.net/content/fulltext/?cid=51451 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stenbar Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 This is no surprise...If they play games in Hamilton I will be pissed off..This team sellls out almost every home game and has a rabid loyal fan base that shows up whether the Sabres suck or play great great..What a way to spit in your fan base face..The mere hint of this story repulses me.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 This is no surprise...If they play games in Hamilton I will be pissed off..This team sellls out almost every home game and has a rabid loyal fan base that shows up whether the Sabres suck or play great great..What a way to spit in your fan base face..The mere hint of this story repulses me.... WHAT A SLAP IN THE FACE! /Schopp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endzone Animal Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 That's the last thing I needed to see after the painful debacle in Toronto yesterday. I'm disgusted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE: (WGR 550) -- "We are not in negotiations to sell the team and as we have stated in the past, we will never entertain discussions to move the team out of Buffalo, NY." Those are the words of Sabres managing partner Larry Quinn's press release, which is in response to a Jim Kelley article in Western New York Hockey Magazine that there's a mystery man interested in buying the Buffalo Sabres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richNjoisy Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 From The WBEN Newsroom... Jim Kelley, Western New York Hockey Magazine Editor and WBEN Contributor, is reporting Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano is in exploratory talks with potential team buyers. The full report will be out in the December issue of the magazine which is released Thursday. Kelley tells WBEN this morning "clearly the team is back on the market". Read more about the report and hear Jim Kelley's interview from "Buffalo's Early News" this morning on wben.com Hmmm. Is it not true that one cannot own an NFL team if one also owns an NHL team in a market that has a pro football team? This was the issue Jacobs had (I think he owns the Bruins?). Could Golisano be positioning himself to buy the Bills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCBoston Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Hmmm. Is it not true that one cannot own an NFL team if one also owns an NHL team in a market that has a pro football team? This was the issue Jacobs had (I think he owns the Bruins?). Could Golisano be positioning himself to buy the Bills? I think this is quite likely. When Tom G gave Larry Quinn (and some others) ownership shares in the partnership last year, it seemed a little odd to me. I mean, why not just give them bonuses, raises, etc? I'm not sure if the NHL bylaws require the biggest shareholder to be an absolute majority (i.e., > 50 percent) or if it's ok to merely have the most shares, but I suspect the latter (given Edmonton's ownership situation). Tom G might be setting himself up to give up a majority but still remain in control of the Sabres while enabling himself to be a majority holder in a consortium that owns the Bills. If anything, this is getting more interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShipUPride Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Yes, an NFL owner is not allowed to own another pro franchise in the same city. So in order for Jim Kelly to get Tom Golisano to join his "club" to buy the Bills, Tom would need to sell the Sabres first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Yes, an NFL owner is not allowed to own another pro franchise in the same city. So in order for Jim Kelly to get Tom Golisano to join his "club" to buy the Bills, Tom would need to sell the Sabres first. That is incorrect. An NFL owner is not allowed to own another pro franchise in a different city. Same city is ok. Huiezenga owned the Dolphins and Marlins at the same time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 That is incorrect. An NFL owner is not allowed to own another pro franchise in a different city. Same city is ok. Huiezenga owned the Dolphins and Marlins at the same time Or maybe Golisano just doesn't have the money to own both or doesn't want to own both...I'm grasping at straws here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fewell733 Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 anyways, Quinn released a statement denying it. http://www.wgr550.com/Quinn--Sabres-not-for-sale/3453048 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Or maybe Golisano just doesn't have the money to own both or doesn't want to own both...I'm grasping at straws here... Understood. I'm guessing he bought the Sabres for $20M-$50M and could sell them for over $200M. The Bills would cost $750M minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Golisano has lost close to half of his net worth over the past 2 years as his Paychex stock was cut in half. That company has no real assets....it depends on driving transactions from employees of their clients, and by arbitrage on the cash held for payroll. Well, as people get fired....less employees, less transactions. As the economy slows and halts...less businesses around and less willing to outsource payroll. As cash is tight, less amount of time a client is willing to front the cash and interest rates are non existant on the float. Nucci and a few others know I have little respect for the Sabre organization. So much so that Golisano's company is one of the few that I keyed on to go down with my doom and gloom economic predictions. I have said before there is almost no chance he can buy the Bills unless he is one of a team that hooks up to do it. He bought the Sabres because of political connections. Quinn and his buddies were able to get extra tax benefits and propose a near no-lose situation to Golisano. That is why he took the team. You do not want to buy an NFL franchise right now...and really few can with the credit situation. If there is some way another owner and more importantly management team can come and keep a team in Buffalo, I will do cartwheels. I used to LOVE hockey and the Sabres, but the slimeball businesslike way this team has been run along with the pacifist nature from top to bottom truly drove me away from the team. While there is a chance the team could move after a sale, I am willing to take that chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLynchTrain Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 The NFL needs an majority owner that owns at least 30% of the team, and there cannot be more than 24 different interests. So if the Bills are roughly sold for a billion, the majority owner would need at least 300 mil. Moreover, the NFL has rules on how much debt a team can carry. From what I've heard, Jimbo has a lot of extended family (a few of them with some serious cash) in Pittsburgh that will make up the group that will bid for the team when Ralphie croaks. Hopefully this might mean that Tommy will join the equation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Ray Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 The NFL needs an majority owner that owns at least 30% of the team, and there cannot be more than 24 different interests. So if the Bills are roughly sold for a billion, the majority owner would need at least 300 mil. Moreover, the NFL has rules on how much debt a team can carry. From what I've heard, Jimbo has a lot of extended family (a few of them with some serious cash) in Pittsburgh that will make up the group that will bid for the team when Ralphie croaks. Hopefully this might mean that Tommy will join the equation. Interesting. I wonder if that extended family in Pittsburgh could include Stanley Druckenmiller, who recently attempted to buy a controlling stake in the Steelers, but bowed out due to the conflicts it was cuasing between the Rooneys. Despite being a big time Steelers fan, perhaps the thrill of owning a pro football team, especially one within the region, might have him as a potential investor in Kelly's group, provided he has some connection there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poeticlaw Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 That is incorrect. An NFL owner is not allowed to own another pro franchise in a different city. Same city is ok. Huiezenga owned the Dolphins and Marlins at the same time No; correction A majority owner is not allowed to own another franchise. Huiezenga was a minority owner only 15% of the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Understood. I'm guessing he bought the Sabres for $20M-$50M and could sell them for over $200M. The Bills would cost $750M minimum. The NFL needs an majority owner that owns at least 30% of the team, and there cannot be more than 24 different interests. If these posts are correct, Golisano could sell his interest in the Sabers for almost enough to buy 30% of the Bills. If Paychecks is really in trouble, then maybe investing in an NFL team would be a smart business move. If I had Golisano's $ and experts said my bread and butter business was going to take a big hit, I'd look to diversify. An NFL team is about as good of an investment as someone can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kipers Hair Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Yes, an NFL owner is not allowed to own another pro franchise in the same city. So in order for Jim Kelly to get Tom Golisano to join his "club" to buy the Bills, Tom would need to sell the Sabres first. Or maybe....Tom G needs to generate some cash in our failing economy and this is the best source for it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 No; correction A majority owner is not allowed to own another franchise. Huiezenga was a minority owner only 15% of the team. http://law.marquette.edu/cgi-bin/site.pl?2130&pageID=206 C. Cross-Ownership: Cross-ownership is usually defined as a team owner also owning a franchise in one of the other three major leagues. The NBA, NHL and MLB all allow and in some cases encourage cross-ownership as a way to create synergies and maximize efficiencies for its teams. The NFL is the only major sports league that has traditionally had a form of restriction on cross-ownership. However, in 1997, the league loosened its previous complete ban in favor of a new structure. NFL owners are now allowed to own franchises in the other major leagues if the other franchise is in the same city as the NFL owner's team or in a city that does not have an NFL franchise. For example, H. Wayne Huizenga is allowed to maintain majority ownership in the NFL's Dolphins, MLB's Marlins and NHL's Panthers because all of these franchises are in the same city. On the contrary, MLB's San Diego Padres owner John Moores, a native of Houston, Texas, would not be allowed to own a franchise in Houston because his Padres team is viewed as being competition for the NFL's Chargers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poeticlaw Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 The NFL needs an majority owner that owns at least 30% of the team, and there cannot be more than 24 different interests. So if the Bills are roughly sold for a billion, the majority owner would need at least 300 mil. Moreover, the NFL has rules on how much debt a team can carry. From what I've heard, Jimbo has a lot of extended family (a few of them with some serious cash) in Pittsburgh that will make up the group that will bid for the team when Ralphie croaks. Hopefully this might mean that Tommy will join the equation. I agree with the posibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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