Erie County Exec Mark Polonocarz believes that the proposed $2B sale of the Clippers "could affect the Bills' purchase price," according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. Poloncarz said, "We were expecting the Bills would sell somewhere in the vicinity of $800 million to potentially a billion dollars. Maybe it will go higher now. I don't think it will go for $2 billion because this is not the Los Angeles media market, but it certainly could go above a billion dollars if this precedent in regards to recent NBA sales is any indication. We'll just have to keep an eye on it." Rodak noted the Bills' financial and legal counsel "will likely begin contacting potential bidders within the next several weeks." The expectation is that a half-dozen or more parties "will bid for the team." Poloncarz: "Truthfully, there are parties that are interested in buying the team and moving it" (ESPN.com, 5/31). NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said, "It may be two different leagues and two different cities, but when a team like the Los Angeles Clippers is sold for $2 billion it affects all sports." Rapoport said he spoke to SportsCorp President Marc Ganis who told him, "The sale price of the Clippers validates those who think that the sale price of the Bills will be north of $1 billion." But Rapoport added, "Western New York does not have the cache of Los Angeles and of course, the Bills cannot relocate for some time based on the lease" ("NFL Total Access," NFL Network, 5/30).
