If you are obscenely rich and expressed interest in owning an NFL franchise, you may have received mail from the Buffalo Bills yesterday.
The Bills sent out non-disclosure agreements to parties who have expressed interest in buying the team. After owner Ralph Wilson died in March, his estate announced that they would sell the team. The mailed non-disclosure agreements represent a critical first step in that process.
As for prospective buyers, these are the likely candidates who have been identified by the Toronto Sun:
So who are the bidders that received the above documents on Wednesday?
Likely Tom Golisano, Donald Trump, Terry Pegula and the Toronto group that includes rocker Jon Bon Jovi and Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Probably other prospective bidders — unidentified as yet publicly — received the documents as well.
Can you imagine Donald Trump owning the Buffalo Bills? Tryouts would have The Apprentice- like challenges.
It is hard to guess how much the Bills will sell for but considering how lucrative the NFL is right now, it won’t come cheaply. Once the agreements are signed, the Bills will give those interested parties access to things like financial records, costs and future earnings projections. That will largely factor into how much the team eventually sells for.
Considering that the Browns sold for just over $1 billion and the Dolphins sold for $1.1 billion, one figures that the Bills should fetch a hefty penny, even if the team is almost the forgotten step-child of the NFL.
