broadwayjoe

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2690151

I have the feeling this will be a pretty nice ball park.

JoeSixPat

Odd that the Bills would dissent - and that they didn't name Ralph Wilson specifically.

Seems like he, more than anyone else would benefit from some low interest loans on new stadiums rennovations.

Of course, one can make a case that its in the NFL's longterm interest to support their NYC area teams and that given the location the stadiums cost more. This may be Wilson's protest, reading the writing on the wall, that a franchise in Buffalo doesn't really serve the long-term interest of the NFL as much as having a franchise in another city (LA?)

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PatsWickedPissah

Wilson is a sour old man whom the game has passed by, objecting to everything in today's NFL. That's actually OK because it's always good to hear from the other viewpoint.

The Bills have been an unmitigated disaster. Giving big picks for and promoting Rob Johnson as 'the next Steve Young', then geting suckered in on Bledsoe for a #1, and then picking Loserman. A franchise in perpetual decline despite a good D and STs.

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Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck." RAH

Rob0729

Actually it makes perfect sense to me that the Bills (and the Bengals) would disent. In fact, Wilson and company suffer from the Jets and Giants getting a new stadium. The Bills are one of the lowest revenue teams in the league in part that they don't own their stadium, there is not a large enough fan base in Buffalo, and Wilson refuses to do revenue generating things like selling the naming rights to the stadium.

This stadium will give the Giants and in particular the Jets a lot more revenue streams from luxary boxes and club seats. Right now the Jets get little revenue because they lease the stadium from the Giants. This new stadium will further separate the big market teams to the small market (and in the Bills and Bengals' case non-marketing savvy teams). This new stadium is making it more and more likely that the Bills relocate in the next five to ten years.

Wilson is still living in the 60s and 70s when it comes to running a team. He refuses to sell the naming rights for the stadium out of principle and then expects the league to help keep his team finanicially running. He will never build a new stadium because Buffalo doesn't have the fan base to afford to build a state of the art stadium. Heck, Wilson doesn't even want to buy the current stadium from the local government.

njpatsfan

Chucky Cheese Schumer was threatening to haul the league before Congress to testify about NFL "revenue sharing" agreements. Apparently Chucky Cheese thought that NY teams deserved more money from owners who are more adept at managing their businesses.

Despite the cash for the NYC teams, Chucky Cheese may still be on the warpath, because Ralphie boy is a good friend (read big donor). And Chucky doesn't want NY'kers paying for a new Stadium for Ralphie - he wants YOU to.

http://sports.outsidethebeltway.com/...umer-involved/

R

JoeSixPat

None of what you said still helps me understand why Ralph Wilson is opposed to having NFL owners help each other - his franchise needs the MOST help of anyone.

But of course, that's taking a long-term view. I don't get the feeling that anything Wilson does is with a long-term view in mind. So I guess that's my interpretation of why he was opposed.

Regarding your contention that a better stadium and more luxury seats in NYC hurts Wilson in Buffalo - I'm not understanding that connection either.

We're talking two completely different markets, aren't we?

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njpatsfan

Who do LA Rams fans root for now ?

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Rob0729

It is the same reason why the Bengals and the Bills voted against the collective bargaining agreement. The league seems to favor the big market teams. The new stadium for the Jets and Giants only hurts Wilson because his team has become a smaller market. He can't compete for free agents because he won't have the cash to compete with the huge up front bonuses. The luxary box, club seats, additional concessions, different new naming rights, etc. means the Jets and Giants will have more liquid assets to give free agents larger signing bonuses and guaranteed money that will make their offers more attractive to potential free agents.

Also, this revenue will drive up the cap and small market teams even with revenue sharing still have to give up a larger piece of their revenue to get to the cap. So eventhough their piece of the revenue sharing pie gets bigger, their allocation to the cap grows at a bigger rate. This means a new stadium for the Jets and Giants means less profit for Wilson.

I don't get how this is a good thing for Wilson. He doesn't own Ralph Wilson stadium so how does a low interest loan mean anything for him. The county owns the stadium so he could get a low interest loan, but the county may not approve him doing any renovations. Also, why would he put money into a stadium he leases?

Building a new stadium in Buffalo is not an option because Buffalo is not a big enough market to sell out the current stadium on a regular basis. Why pour a half a billion into a stadium that they can't fill. There aren't enough corporate headquarters in Buffalo to buy $100k+ a year luxary suites. Wilson is opposed to corporate sponsors and stadium naming rights so there is about $4-12 million a year worth of revenue he would lose in a new stadium.

The only way this loan helps out Wilson is if he moves out of Buffalo and goes to a large market like Los Angeles. Wilson doesn't have a stadium to renovate or build in Buffalo and it would be a huge financial mistake to build one.

Fanfrom1960

Good, and they need to finally change the names to the New Joisy Jets and New Joisy Giants. Neither plays a single friggin' game in New York.

420jim

Raiders

I live out west and its still the raiders, even though the chargers are winning its still raiders.

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