Maybe it's just the apologizing Homer in me, but I think that the moves this past offseason aren't nearly as bad as the aughts. Buddy is a football guy from outside the organization. Chan was brought in to teach players that Buddy plans on getting through the draft. 80 % of the 2010 roster won't be on the 2012 roster. I'm not saying that the Bills will or won't be in the playoffs this year, but I feel loads better knowing that the mistake that was Jauron was finally let go and Ralph decided to make sweeping changes this year.
Ralph is the reason why the Bills won't stay in Buffalo. He hasn't set the team up to stay in Buffalo when he dies.
Nobody has made a serious offer to take the team and keep them in Buffalo. Jim Kelly and some associates did, but Ralph forseen a power struggle and didn't want that. Ralph wants the Bills in Buffalo forever, but he's also promised that upon his death, the team will be sold off and profits given to his family. So, it is what it is. Any of you know anybody with a billion dollars that wants to own a football team in Buffalo? Me either.
He's trying to regionalize the team so that it can get revenues up to where it can compete in the Jerry Jones economy that the NFL has moved to. He can't do this in the US, given the existing franchise placement and still keep it centered near upstate NY and profitable. Toronto offers a relatively large market that would allow a team to also play a few games in Buffalo each year and compete. That's the deal as near as I can tell. I smell a Toronto based team playing 2 games a year in Buffalo and maybe 1 in Rochester if the NFL goes to 18 games. Toronto fans would easily be able to travel to the other site home games, and Buffalo fanatics could make the trip to Toronto as well.
New York State taxpayers are the real reason the Bills are still there. Many people either forget or are unaware of how much money New York State ponied up. Ralph Wilson lives in Detroit.
I think you mean Oakland. I know he lent Al Davis some cash in the old AFL days to keep the Raiders afloat.
Ultimately, any States taxpayer is the reason why the team is in that locality. It was New York State that failed keeping the Jets and Giants in NY. NYS is 1 for 3.
He's said he "may be interested" if they were available. How is the owner of the TD "Boston" Gardens, Boston Bruins and best friend of John Henry (Red Sox owner) going to get over as a team owner in the state of NY? Probably not that good.
Yeah, I really don't the point. Buffalo has been pretty bad the last decade, but there were teams far worse than the Bills. $10 increase in tickets is peanuts. Big deal. As someone mentioned...inflation and nothing more. You should expect like a 2% annual increase every yr anyways.
The Bills SHOULD move. Buffalo ranks as one of the 20 most deteriorating regions in the nation. 27 percent of its population is poor, and as of 2007, the median income was well below the national average. Asking those people to pay for any kind of new stadium would be one of the most offensive overreaches by a private corporation in sports history. Expecting to attract top tier talent to a poor man's Cleveland would be equally absurd. There's no forecast of any dramatic infusion of wealth to the Buffalo region,unless you count pork, which has clearly done WONDERS for the region. It will continue to deteriorate, unless canal transport comes back into fashion. Toronto or Los Angeles is a no brainer here. -X-
