41 replies to this topic

[Hammered a Lot]

http://www.wgrz.com/...ills-Lease-Deal

[Just Jack]

Hopefully the Bills add a clause that the next time the Fieldhouse roof is peeled back by high winds, that they can call their local neighborhood roofer to fix it instead of whoever the cheap person is the County uses.

[BRAWNDO]

It will be  interesting to see the final numbers and what the Bills Plan for the renovation is.

[OvrOfficiousJerk]

I like that Poloncarz has a bit of a backbone in this situation and not just cutting a blank check - the team knows it's going to have to pay up a bit.  Hopefully Poloncarz has a figure from Cuomo/Silver in hand as to how much NYS can throw in (which should be significant, because of the state income tax $ they stand to gain - $8-10M annually, not to mention the money that went to help build the stadia downstate).  Then the team can fill in the rest -- hopefully enough to trigger the NFL's G4 program:  with the recent upgrades to KC/GB, it's only fair the team adds something to the pot.  I won't believe anything until the lease is signed and the state cuts a check for a new and improved RWS, but so far, Poloncarz is doing solid work.

Edit - Also, does anyone remember how things went down from the political perspective with the last lease renewal in '97 ?  I considered myself rather politically-aware for someone still in grade school, but my memory fails me as to whether or not there was an ugly fight in the state or county legislatures for releasing government funds.  Is it something that happens behind closed doors?  I see all this drama that went down in Minnesota and Santa Clara, and I hope that we just emerge from a room with a signed lease and dollar signs all around in a couple weeks.

Edited by OvrOfficiousJerk, 04 July 2012 - 10:20 PM.

[JAMIEBUF12]

hopefully it is a 50 year deal that can never be broken.then we will never have to hear about the bills moving again:-)

[swede316]

Yeah..Me too. I'd hate to be the politician that would ever let the Bills leave. He'd have a snowball's chance in hell of being re-elected and probably worse!

[Hammered a Lot]

BRAWNDO, on 04 July 2012 - 08:54 PM, said:

It will be  interesting to see the final numbers and what the Bills Plan for the renovation is.

From what I hear the amount of $$$$$ that New York State is willing to kick in is $300 million. And no my source is not Buddy the Wonder Dog on this one.

[BRAWNDO]

Hammered a Lot, on 05 July 2012 - 12:03 PM, said:

From what I hear the amount of $$$$$ that New York State is willing to kick in is $300 million. And no my source is not Buddy the Wonder Dog on this one.

Wow that is a lot higher than I thought, if the Bills/NFL kick in another 100 million, the stadium is going to be quite impressive.

[Best Player Available]

Hammered a Lot, on 05 July 2012 - 12:03 PM, said:

From what I hear the amount of $$$$$ that New York State is willing to kick in is $300 million. And no my source is not Buddy the Wonder Dog on this one.

That is a huge number. Although I haven't been to every NFL stadium. The Ralph is one of the ones where an investment of that magnitude would be worthwhile IMO. If 300 mil is true or even close. The buyout clause in the lease one would think would be astronomical, if some scmuck had plans on moving the team.

[QCity]

That can't be right. If the state is willing to kick in $300M, then they should start talking about building a new stadium. Heck, Houston built a stadium with a retractable roof for $350M, which is something like $450M in 2012 dollars.

[SouthernMan]

Reading the OP and thread I felt pretty good about this until I clicked on the link.  

From the County Executive's talk, it has all the earmarks of another dragged out - nothing gets done deal. (see Peace Bridge, Waterfront Project, Bass Pro Shop, etc)

Loved all that typical political double talk..."it takes only ten percent of the time to complete ninety percent of the deal....but it's the last ten percent of the deal, which takes ninety percent of the time"...oooooooookk

You big dummies...just start the last 10% first! :-)

Why on earth should this take until "the end of the year" to work out the deal? How complicated could it be that it could take 5 more months?

I'll bet the deal gets stalled somehow and nothing gets done, and eventually they'll have one-year agreements in place indefinitely or until the team gets moved.

[Thirty Year Fan]

JAMIEBUF12, on 04 July 2012 - 10:19 PM, said:

hopefully it is a 50 year deal that can never be broken.then we will never have to hear about the bills moving again:-)

= +1

[OvrOfficiousJerk]

Dml, im inclined to agree w you because I distrust politicians, but poloncarz has to be in a good position to call out the fact the bills are going to have to pay up. He doesnt say anything to the public if theres any acrimony over the bills share of the improvement $$$ (that or nys really has $300M in the wings and the bills share is inconsequential). Simple as that. He probably asked russ brandon in the last round of talks if he could go public with this to make himself look better. So basically, reading between the lines optimistically, the hard part - the money - is being taken care of

And as it relates to the 10% takes 90% of the time comment, i dare you to read the lease from 1997. Lawyers wont let you scratch your nose or select the color of the pens being used without extensive litigation. And also, since these talks only happen every couple weeks, an agreement in principle by training camp is mildly acceptable. I mean, Ill believe it when I see it, but I have no reason to be concerned about the timeline

DML2005, on 05 July 2012 - 03:45 PM, said:

Reading the OP and thread I felt pretty good about this until I clicked on the link.  

From the County Executive's talk, it has all the earmarks of another dragged out - nothing gets done deal. (see Peace Bridge, Waterfront Project, Bass Pro Shop, etc)

Loved all that typical political double talk..."it takes only ten percent of the time to complete ninety percent of the deal....but it's the last ten percent of the deal, which takes ninety percent of the time"...oooooooookk

You big dummies...just start the last 10% first! :-)

Why on earth should this take until "the end of the year" to work out the deal? How complicated could it be that it could take 5 more months?

I'll bet the deal gets stalled somehow and nothing gets done, and eventually they'll have one-year agreements in place indefinitely or until the team gets moved.

[marauderswr80]

If NYS can kick in 300 million.....those scumbags running the state can lift my wage freeze being a state employee!!

[Frez]

marauderswr80, on 05 July 2012 - 06:34 PM, said:

If NYS can kick in 300 million.....those scumbags running the state can lift my wage freeze being a state employee!!

Totally agree with you 110%!

Crooked scumbag politicians!

[Joe W]

If you believe that the states going to kick in $300 million just like that I have a signature companion Peace Bridge to sell you. This is going to be quite a fight to gt them to contribute anything over 100 million.

[purple haze]

QCity, on 05 July 2012 - 02:52 PM, said:

That can't be right. If the state is willing to kick in $300M, then they should start talking about building a new stadium. Heck, Houston built a stadium with a retractable roof for $350M, which is something like $450M in 2012 dollars.

You forget to factor in the most important part of that.  Houston is in Texas.  Buffalo is in New York.  New York State will always have some of the higher costs.  Not necessarily because there should be a higher cost, but because the cost of doing business in NY.

[BillnutinHouston]

purple haze, on 05 July 2012 - 10:25 PM, said:

You forget to factor in the most important part of that.  Houston is in Texas.  Buffalo is in New York.  New York State will always have some of the higher costs.  Not necessarily because there should be a higher cost, but because the cost of doing business in NY.

Correct.  Texas is a right-to-work state, therefore project budgets don't have to account for union wages.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

BillnutinHouston, on 06 July 2012 - 05:57 AM, said:

Correct.  Texas is a right-to-work state, therefore project budgets don't have to account for union wages.

How about corrupt politicians?

[PromoTheRobot]

San Jose Bills Fan, on 06 July 2012 - 07:28 AM, said:

How about corrupt politicians?

No corruption in Texas.

PTR