Are the Buffalo Bills doomed? Who's next? Where would they go?

Question

Each of the last few off seasons I'm hearing more and more whining from the Bills' owner Ralph Wilson...and its become more intense since the last collective bargaining agreement. Each go round we also get the rumours of an impending move to either Los Angeles, San Antonio or Toronto that will come if the NFL and New York State Government do not fix things.

My question really is, based on the current economic reality of the game, has the NFL passed a market like Buffalo by? Can the same be said of New Orleans, Cincinnati or even Jacksonville?

Also, just how many markets are left that are yet untapped? I do see that cities like Los Angeles and San Antonio could prove lucrative. Even a city like Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver might have potential...but that is only if the Canadian-US exchange rates are reasonable. Maybe Mexico City on the sheer size of it. However, are there any others in North America or will the NFL have to turn its eyes elsewhere to continue economic growth?

Answer 1

As for the Bills....Ralph isn't at all concerned with the team's welfare during his lifetime, but given his age, that could end at any given moment. What you haven't heard is that more and more owners have admitted that they rushed into signing the new CBA out of fear of labor strife and are increasingly unhappy with it. It comes up for renewal in 2009, and may well not even survive that.

But Ralph's main concern is revenue sharing, not the CBA. His Bills managed quite well without it, after all. Revenue sharing is what keeps the teams roughly equal, but not all revenue is shared....for example, luxury box money, which drives the income of big market teams like Washington and Dallas. They can afford to sell their luxury boxes for many, many times as much money as Ralph can because they have numerous corporatations in their market who're willing to shell out the cash.

Buffalo is very empty in that regard. Their economies in general are also far stronger than Western New York's and can thus shoulder higher ticket prices. WNY; however, is relatively poor and not heavily populated...it cannot bear what bigger markets would term "competitive" ticket prices. It is theorized that WNY couldn't handle any further significent rise in ticket prices and that the whole market could collapse under the strain of the ballooning salary cap.

But back to revenue-sharing. The owners agreed to hammer out new rules, but no progress has been made thus far. One of the provisions big market owners tossed around was exempting new owners from revenue sharing until they've owned their team for a set amount of time. This would effectively make keeping the Bills in Buffalo impossible from a purely financial standpoint. Even though their value is low in real terms, the team would still fetch a hefty price because it is 100% debt-free, and no revenue-sharing would effectively make the Buffalo Bills a revenue sinkhole for whoever bought them....unless they moved. Toronto seems unlikely....Canadians are largely indifferent to American Football, as the Bills have tried in the past to tap the market with little success. The lack of any appropriate venue also makes it unattractive.

I'm guessing this might have been precipitated by those Internet rumors that were going around earlier....they're 100% certified BS....

Answer 2

I don't see the Bills moving from Buffalo. I could be wrong, but they are anchored there. As a Colts fan, I've always liked the Bills franchise. I even owned a Jim Kelly throwback at one point.

I just don't see many possibilities in terms of cities that will support a franchise.

LA had its shot twice and lost both times.

I don't think Canadians would accept the NFL...the NBA already missed in Vancouver.

I don't see New Orleans going anywhere. Cinncy isn't going anywhere.

I could see Jacksonville being moved. I read that they are giving tickets away on game day just to fill the seats.

I think the question boils down to marketability. How teams are able to continue to bring revenue into the league. Buffalo is a marketable team and in my opinion probably moreso than San Antonio or any of the Canadian cities.

However, I think New York would support a third team, especially if you named it the Yankees....just kidding. Looking beyond that, I don't see another market that could support an NFL franchise. That's what makes established cities so entrenched in the NFL. The cities are just as valuable as the franchises.

Answer 3

This may not answer your question but its something that I would do. . . If I were in the Bills front office I would seriously lobby to move the team to Kentucky. The city of Lexington or Louisville would easily embrace that franchise with open arms. . . There dying for an NFL team and sooner or later their going to get one. The good people in the Blue Grass State shouldn't have to settle for Cardinals and Wildcats football. They deserve a professional team. After all the state of Kentucky is rich in football history and has some of the best high school teams in the mid-west and has produced many pro players. I know they would pop for the building of a new stadium to house the Bills.

It may be 20 years from now, might be 10. But a NFL team will call Kentucky home. Its just a matter of time.

Answer 4

Just to add to what everyone else has said. I dont think it is so much that he is losing money as it is he is not making as much money as others. I read somewhere the Washington Redskins were worth like a billion dollars, seriously. I am sure that the Bills are probably worth maybe a tenth of that. That is a huge difference in wealth for the rich and the greedy. Not only that the Bills are in direct competition with 3 other NFL franchises in the Jets, Gaints, and Patriots.

Answer 5

With pro football the cash cow that it is, and with revenue-sharing, salary caps, and so on, the difference between small-market and big-market hardly matters any more. Witness the success of Green Bay, the smallest market in any major league sport.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were rumored to be considering a move to Orlando or Hartford some years ago before they were sold and improved their fortunes in Tampa. Possible other open markets might include Portland and Memphis. But I suspect if anyone moves anywhere, it will be to Los Angeles, the Holy Grail of media markets outside of New York.

Answer 6

honestly, I dont know what his problem is. I've heard before that the teams get enough revenue from the television contracts to pay all the players salaries under the salary cap.

Add in all the money they get from ticket sales, concessions, sales of merchandise, luxury boxes, etc. etc. So what is the problem? Does he expect us to believe he is losing money?

There is always LA, Portland, Sacramento, Orlando, San Antonio, San Jose, Las Vegas, Columbus, Virginia Beach, Providence, Austin, Memphis

I'm sure any of them would LOVE to have an NFL team. Well, except maybe LA, they dont seem to care.

Answer 7

buffalo bills doomed