Buffalo News Assesses Bills' Future In Western New York
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Bills' Financials Likely To Take Hit
When Current Ownership Group Sells Team |
The Bills are one of the NFL's "most profitable teams, but that could change in a hurry" if Owner Ralph Wilson sells the franchise, according to David Robinson of the BUFFALO NEWS as part of the newspaper's special three-part report titled, "Is there a future for the Bills in Buffalo?" If Wilson does sell the Bills, the new owner will have to "worry about paying off a huge loan to finance the team's purchase," and those loan payments "could easily turn the franchise from one that makes a nice profit to one that roughly breaks even or worse." Forbes in its report of NFL finances indicated that the Bills in '06 were the league's seventh-most profitable franchise with an operating profit of almost $35M, "despite ranking in the bottom third in revenues." Robinson noted the profit will be "much smaller, or even eliminated entirely, for the team's next owner because of the huge debt involved." The "additional financial pressure would only heighten the growing divide between big-market teams and those in smaller markets, like Buffalo, and make it even more appealing for a new owner to try to tap into the deeper pot of revenues available in bigger markets." That is "exactly what Bills officials say the team is doing with its plan" to play five regular-season and three preseason games in Toronto over the next five seasons. Bills COO Russ Brandon said, "We are doing everything humanly possible to reach more fans and more businesses to keep our franchise viable in Western New York" (BUFFALONEWS.com, 5/21). Brandon said the Bills for the next decade, with its reach in Rochester and Southern Ontario, will "be layering in the Toronto activation and having a viable triangular marketplace that we can pull from" (BUFFALONEWS.com, 5/21).
IS THERE A FUTURE ELSEWHERE? The BUFFALO NEWS' Robinson & Gaughan in a separate piece wrote it is "hard to see how someone who wants to keep the team in Buffalo could make a winning bid for the franchise -- unless the Toronto experiment helps the Bills shake off their small-market burden." A financially strong franchise "would give some of the Bills' most powerful supporters," including NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), "more leverage in trying to influence an outcome in Buffalo's favor." Goodell: "If the franchise is viable, I will fight to keep it in Buffalo." Schumer added, "I am working closely with [Goodell], and we are lucky that we have a commissioner who not only is from Western New York but remembers that he's from Western New York. I believe he is truly committed to helping us keep the Bills in Buffalo." See a more detailed look at "several potential scenarios for the Bills' long-term future and their likelihood of success" (BUFFALONEWS.com, 5/21).
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