Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

Let the speculations begin.


http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/05/21...tate-sale/

I don't think they end up moving, but I've been wrong before.

I think the league wants them to stay in Buffalo. And they will look to find a buyer willing to commit to the region and will work with the state and Buffalo area to get public funds for a new stadium. If they are not able to do so, anything is possible I suppose.

 

Honestly though, Wilson should have done a better job of lining up a buyer while he still owned the team but that is in the past.

I think they will ultimately relocate to Toronto. 

Has anyone seen why the family does not want to take over the team?

Quote:Has anyone seen why the family does not want to take over the team?

 

Maybe its something like with the Weavers. 

Quote:Has anyone seen why the family does not want to take over the team?

 

The inheritance tax would be prohibitive. 

 

Nobody in his family expressed any interest in assuming control when he was still alive.  It was always expected that once he died, the team would be sold.  I would expect to see this thing buttoned up fairly quickly. 

 

My guess is the team finds a new owner willing to continue to play in Buffalo for a specific time frame to see if the market can continue to support it long term, similar to what we have here under Khan and the 5 year deal he made with Weaver.

I wonder if Drake will buy them.

Quote:I think they will ultimately relocate to Toronto. 

This statement is on par with the Jags moving to L.A. or London. 

 

It is just as ignorant and unfounded.

Quote:This statement is on par with the Jags moving to L.A. or London. 

 

It is just as ignorant and unfounded.

 

Agree.

 

The thing people tend to forget here is that it sucks to be the target of relocation discussions.  We know this better than most markets, so we shouldn't be celebrating the possibility it's another team that winds up getting yanked out of their home market.

 

I think any new owners are going to give the Bills every opportunity to thrive in Buffalo.  If the arrangement they had to play one game a year in Toronto proved to be lucrative for the team, I could see that continuing, but I don't see the team moving to Canada full time.

 

In the end, the market will either rise to the challenge, or they won't.  Like I said above, it wouldn't surprise me to see any new owner ink a deal similar to the one Khan did with Weaver where he agreed to do nothing as far as relocation is concerned for 5 years to see if we here in Jacksonville could rise to the challenge.  

 

It would be a sad day for this league if the NFL pulled up stakes and left Buffalo. 

Quote:The inheritance tax would be prohibitive. 

 

Nobody in his family expressed any interest in assuming control when he was still alive.  It was always expected that once he died, the team would be sold.  I would expect to see this thing buttoned up fairly quickly. 

 

My guess is the team finds a new owner willing to continue to play in Buffalo for a specific time frame to see if the market can continue to support it long term, similar to what we have here under Khan and the 5 year deal he made with Weaver.

 

I read a little bit about his kids. He had three daughters. One passed away a couple of years ago. One works in merchandising for the team. The other has nothing to do with this team. And his "kids" are both around 70 years old. Probably want to enjoy their retirement years and the hundreds of millions they will get from the sale of the team.

Quote:This statement is on par with the Jags moving to L.A. or London. 

 

It is just as ignorant and unfounded.

 

Well, its an opinion, not a statement of fact...

 

And furthermore, given the proximity of Toronto to Buffalo as well as the market size and potential ownership groups that have stated the desire to move the team to Toronto, including Bon Jovi gearing up to make a purchase of the team, I'd say your calling my opinion on the issue ignorant is quite comical. 

Quote:I read a little bit about his kids. He had three daughters. One passed away a couple of years ago. One works in merchandising for the team. The other has nothing to do with this team. And his "kids" are both around 70 years old. Probably want to enjoy their retirement years and the hundreds of millions they will get from the sale of the team.

 

Yeah, his kids aren't kids.  The guy was 95 when he died? 

 

I think the best hope for the Buffalo fan base is for Jim Kelly to pull together a group of investors to buy the team.  But, he's in a battle for his life right now, so I'm not sure if there's a realistic possibility of that happening.  The Trump thing is more than likely a publicity stunt and not any serious interest in buying the team.  So, now you're in a situation where it's unknown as to who might step into that spot and buy the team.   The last couple of transactions didn't have a lot of heated competition for the ownership.  When Khan took over here, there weren't any other buyers trying to outbid him.  When he tried to buy the Rams, that wasn't the case.  So, it'll be interesting to see how deep the pool is for potential new owners. 

Someone we've never heard of before (probably) will buy them I think.


How many people knew who Shad Khan was before he bought the Jaguars?

Quote:Someone we've never heard of before (probably) will buy them I think.

How many people knew who Shad Khan was before he bought the Jaguars?

 

Anyone who was paying attention when he tried to buy the Rams. 

 

On a side note, iIt's our luck that Stan Kroenke used his option to buy the Rams.

Quote:Someone we've never heard of before (probably) will buy them I think.

How many people knew who Shad Khan was before he bought the Jaguars?

 

Like FBT mentioned,  Shad Khan's attempt to buy the St. Louis Rams put him on the radar screen of many NFL fans,  including myself.    Yet, prior to that time,  I certainly didn't know who Shad Khan was.

 

Regarding the Bills situation,  ideally someone with ties to the Buffalo area and/  or a long time rooting interest in the team will end up buying the franchise.    With this person having deep pockets.  

The owner of the Buffalo Sabres is a natural fit, if he is interested. The Trump thing seems like a PR stunt, shocking.

Quote:Well, its an opinion, not a statement of fact...

 

And furthermore, given the proximity of Toronto to Buffalo as well as the market size and potential ownership groups that have stated the desire to move the team to Toronto, including Bon Jovi gearing up to make a purchase of the team, I'd say your calling my opinion on the issue ignorant is quite comical. 

 

 It's indeed a realistic possibility for the Bills franchise to move to Toronto.   While Buffalo has a 54 season history in the AFL and NFL collectively,   Toronto is a much larger market.    If the two cities were battling for an expansion franchise,  with no NFL history of having their own franchise,  Toronto would have a huge advantage.

 

One thing I'm confident about is the Bills won't survive long term in the Buffalo area if Toronto gets an NFL expansion team or another NFL team moves to Toronto.   A sizeable portion of the Bills ticket and overall fan base is in Southern Ontario.   I believe it's around 20 % but it could even be larger than that.  On top of that,  Greater Buffalo is declining population wise.    This on top of the market already being near the bottom of the NFL in terms of population.

I don't see the NFL moving into the Toronto market with a new team. It will have to resolve the Bills' situation one way or the other before Toronto could get a new team.

 

I always root for Buffalo, as they are the most similar NFL team to the Jaguars. They have a glorious past and a dismal recent past and current history. They also have a stadium that is too big for their market. I hope they are able to find a big bucks new owner who is able to work out a deal with the politicians for a new stadium.

 

Perhaps they will become a true regional franchise and be able to work with Toronto for the benefit of both cities. I wish them luck, as god knows those fans deserve something positive.

If I were a Bills fan I would be extremely worried. What's to stop the AEG group who is pushing hard for an LA franchise to come in and win the auction? At least here in Jax, Wayne Weaver was able to pick the person he wanted to sell to. The Bills franchise will belong to the highest bidder.