The newly independent organization cannot use the team's logo on its website or communicationsBUFFALO BILLS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
The Buffalo Bills Alumni Foundation is "separating" from the NFL team, which will "no longer provide direct funding to the association, though it will continue to support the organization's work and its members," according to a front-page piece by Stephen Watson of the BUFFALO NEWS. As part of the split, the newly independent organization "can't use the team's logo on its website or in its communications." The team now will "invest more in its own alumni department, which aims to keep former players in close contact with the team." It is "part of a leaguewide move among NFL teams to handle alumni relations in-house." The split has "exposed a generational gap between the association, whose leaders include a number of ex-players from the team's earlier years who remained in Buffalo after their playing days, and some recent retirees who no longer live in the area." Leaders of the alumni group "questioned the Bills' attempt to take control, saying it threatened the organization's legacy." Bills Player Engagement & Alumni Dir Marlon Kerner "estimated that the Bills' support for the foundation" was worth "more than $100,000 annually." Former NFLer Booker Edgerson said that the association "reluctantly agreed to give up use of the Bills' logo and will replace it on the website, letterhead and anywhere else it is used" (BUFFALO NEWS, 5/9).
