The Bills' nondisclosure terms have "had a chilling effect on a number of bids and likely has impacted" Pro Football HOFer Jim Kelly's ability "to get involved with a group" to buy the team, according to sources cited in a front-page piece by Tim Graham of the BUFFALO NEWS. About 60 interested parties "requested the nondisclosure agreement, a necessary first step to ensure confidentiality before reviewing the Bills’ financial information and entering a bid." But "only 15 or so signed and returned them because of language that experienced businessmen and attorneys describe as restrictive and onerous." Jon Bon Jovi’s letter to Bills fans "might have violated terms of the nondisclosure agreement he signed" with the team. In fact, the "only bidders who apparently have not breached the nondisclosure agreement so far" are Sabres Owner Terry Pegula and his wife, Kim. Bon Jovi and developer Donald Trump, believed to be "the only bidders aside from the Pegulas to date, have publicly declared they are 'considering the transaction' since the non-disclosure agreements were signed." It is not known whether former Sabres Owner Tom Golisano has made a bid, but sources have insisted that he "remains in the mix." Bon Jovi and Trump "likely wouldn’t be eliminated from the sales process or penalized by the trust’s advisers -- financial firm Morgan Stanley and legal firm Proskauer Rose -- because there was no financial harm to the Bills." But violations "could alienate Bon Jovi and Trump from the Bills and the NFL." Language in the nondisclosure agreement also "spells out with whom prospective bidders are allowed to communicate and do business as they formulate a bid" (BUFFALO NEWS, 8/5).
SEEKING LONG-TERM COMMITMENT: In L.A., Chuck Schilken wrote what Bon Jovi "really needed to say" in his letter to Bills fans "was six words -- We will not move the team -- but he did not." He also "made no mention" of his Toronto-based partners in MLSE Chair Larry Tanenbaum and the Rogers family. It is "nice that Bon Jovi acknowledged at least an effort to find a permanent home for the team in Buffalo, but what these people need is a promise." Instead, they "get a lot of talk about passion and commitment to success, the kind of thing any prospective owner would say" (LATIMES.com, 8/4). The Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan said of Bon Jovi, “He didn’t say the words, as my wife likes to say. Say the words, Jon Bon Jovi -- ‘We will never move the team.’ He didn’t say it” (“PTI,” ESPN, 8/4).
SCHUMER STILL OPTIMISTIC: U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) yesterday said he is "still very optimistic" that the Bills will stay in Western New York. But he said that he thinks a local bidder "would have a greater commitment to keeping the team in town." Schumer: "All things being equal, I would prefer bidders from Western New York, because they’re committed to the area. But whoever bids, we’ve got to make sure it’s an iron-clad commitment" (BUFFALONEWS.com, 8/4).
