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Goodell: Welcome Back Peters! won the Throwdown.

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Roger Goodell should honor Brian Higgins request....(Take 2)

Goodell: Welcome Back Peters! said 02/12, 12:12 PM
For those who dont know, Brian Higgins, a senator from New York, sent a letter to Goodell asking the NFL for special permision. That permission would be for the Bills to be a public entity like the Packers. The problem is the Packers were owned by the public before the rule change.

Higgins proposes either full community ownership or a hybrid in which one party might hold 51 per cent of shares with the other 49 in the community.Minority shareholders would be allowed to vote on franchise relocation, with 70 per cent, say, needed to make such a move.

But here is the good news...Rochester Billionare Tom Golisano, who also owns the Sabers, has been rumored as a suitor. It is also said the Jim Kelly has found enough financial backers to meet any Toronto buy out "wallet to wallet"

Bottom line is this....When Ralph passes, the NFL should atleast let the fans and Western New York faithful have a say so in the future of the franchise they grew up with, thier parents grew up with, and thier kids WILL grow up with

Oso's back-Sort of said 02/12, 12:36 PM
The logistics in having a publicly held multi-million dollar sports franchise would be extremely difficult.

Allowing a team to be bought in part or whole by a community opens the door for national and international investors to buy into the franchise.

Once a mogul had a foothold, who is to say that there is no way for this person to make a bid for the entire franchise and sell it off to California or Toronto?

Also the purchase of a franchise now by the community/public shareholders would pose a problem. As in order to even have such a proposal considered, any interested buyers in the franchise would have to assemble their assets to prove that there would be enough minority buyers to back a purchase by Kelly or Golisano.

Of course, if Kelly and Golisano have the $ available to make a bid without altering NFL practices, then there is no real need to make the franchise a publicly held entity, especially if there were concerns of having the team moved. The NFL has sufficient say in a franchise's mobility.

Goodell: Welcome Back Peters! said 02/12, 12:57 PM
Golisano has stated he would do whatever he could to keep the Bills in Buffalo. The same Golisano that saved a Sabers franchise from the relocation rumor mill....

Kelly is adamant about the Bills staying as well...He was the one I quoted about the "wallet to wallet" comment

If Golisano, Kelly and company can come up with the 51%, Im sure the fans of WNY will be more then happy to fork over the remaining money. Or if Kelly would represent the community, he could be the figure head of the franshise. Kinda like Lemuix with the Pens....

Im not 100% that any of this will work. I still got my fingers crossed that

Im not saying that this will work. Just cause it works in GB doesnt mean anything. What I am saying is the fans of WNY DESERVE the chance to have a say so in the future of thier beloved franchise. As bad as the bills have been, they still sell out games. They still get national media coverage from MNF and SNF

Goodell also has deep WNY ties considering he went to highschool in Erie Pa and has family in Buffalo..Maybe we can get some nepitizm(SP?)

Oso's back-Sort of said 02/12, 02:31 PM
You concede that making the Bills publicly owned would not necessarily work. There is no compelling reason to have the NFL change it's practice of having current privately held franchises just to keep the Bills in Buffalo.

The NFL has enough controlling interest in where teams play and whether or not the are able to move, as was the case when Benson floated rumors of moving the Saints out of New Orleans.

If private owners such as Kelly and Golisano cannot come up with the capital or investors to buy the franchise outright, how will the hard working people of Western New York put up enough of their hard earned money to get 51% of the team?

If there is a group of citizens who could pony up the cash, what legal right do they have over private citizens to gather together to buy a franchise? The legal ramifications open the NFL up to further probing by Congress into the nebulous anti-trust exemptions enjoyed by the league.

Bills fans do deserve to keep their franchise in Buffalo. However, making the team publicly held would not work, and it would not be the best way to keep the team in Buffalo. Let Kelly and/or Golisano make a bid for the team.

Goodell: Welcome Back Peters! said 02/12, 03:27 PM
"If private owners such as Kelly and Golisano cannot come up with the capital or investors to buy the franchise outright, how will the hard working people of Western New York put up enough of their hard earned money to get 51% of the team? "

Let me answer that question for you. Here are a couple different ways it will work

1) Kelly and Golisano buy the Bills outright in a partner ship

2) Kelly ,Golisano AND the Fans make up the 49% MINORITY. Remember, inorder to mover the team, there has to be 70% of the minority in favor. That 70% would never happen

3) Kelly and Golisano are the MAJORITY owners with Toronto financing as the 49%. Keep playing 1 game a year in Toronto to tap into the wealth. Maybe even a SB in the next 20 years....

4) Golisano can buy the Bills outright

There are 4 completely realistic scenarios that can happen. The best bet to happen is #2 or #3 im my opinion. Golisano would not have to invest the kinda money he would other wise. Kelly and his backers wont have to come up with as much, niether will the fans. Both Buffalo and Toronto would benifet from it. There are also rumors of a new Lake Front Stadium in Buffalo. If you build it, they will stay

Oso's back-Sort of said 02/12, 10:50 PM
Taking a team public, and having the season ticket holders buy the team, it is untenable. There is little way for the fan base to mortgage their houses and drain their life savings to get even a minority interest in the Bills.

Green Bay went this way in a time when franchises did not have the same exorbitant values. Start up fees for a team back then were in the hundreds. Now we're talking hundreds of millions for a buyout.

There is more stability in having a local hero like Kelly gather a group of private investors to keep the Bills in Buffalo. You know what you're getting with him as an owner.

In the public sale scenario you can have a few wealthy bidders got a majority share of the team in a public buyout of the team, then there is greater chance for turmoil within the franchise infrastructure. Imagine if several guys like Snyder took over the Bills by virtue of having purchased 51% of the team.

Changing league policy for one team will also open a can of worms for the NFL which is already under scrutiny for Spygate. This would be just one more excuse for Specter and Congress to rattle their sabers and bring up anti-trust laws.

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I'm up for getting a good whuppin' by you Goodell. At the very least I can assure you a better argument than Take 1.

Oso's back-Sort of | 02/12/08, 12:18 PM

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Roger Goodell should honor Brian Higgins request....(Take 2)

Oso's back-Sort of beat Goodell: Welcome Back Peters! 15 to 14

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