Bills agree to 10-year lease (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Rudnicki]

http://buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121221/CITYANDREGION/121229867/1004

Bills agree to 10-year lease deal, keeping team here

BY: Tom Precious / News Albany Bureau

ALBANY – The Buffalo Bills are staying.

State, county and team negotiators have struck a final deal a 10-year lease with a hefty relocation penalty if the Bills leave – to keep the Bills from delivering an economic and psychological blow to Western New York by shipping out to another city, officials with direct knowledge of the talks said this morning in an interview with The Buffalo News.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the deal would be announced at an 11 a.m. press conference at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was scheduled to attend but was unable to fly from Albany because of weather conditions. County Executive Mark Poloncarz and Buffalo Bills executives will be at the press conference and Cuomo will be on speaker phone, officials said.

The deal comes after months of secret meetings between the sides over what officials have described as complex terms involving a team whose owner, Ralph Wilson, has made past commitments to stay in Buffalo but is getting old and has had health problems in the past year or so.

The terms of the deal last for 10 years.

The Bills would have to pay a $400 million relocation penalty if they leave during the time of the lease – with one exception. In the seventh year of the contract they could pull out with only a $29 million penalty.

The $400 million is more than the state has provided the team in incentives to remain going back to 1998 during the administration of Gov. George E. Pataki, who also cut his own agreement to keep the team from leaving.

The official with direct knowledge of the negotiations who briefed The Buffalo News on the agreement said $130 million will be spent on a range of renovations at the aging stadium. Of that, the Bills will kick in $35 million, which is different from past deals with the state that included no team contribution. The state and county will share the remaining $95 million renovation costs, though it is uncertain how much precisely will be coming from both government entities.

Word of the deal comes just days after The Buffalo News reported “significant’’ talks were held this past week between the state, county and team negotiators. Gone also, Poloncarz told The News earlier this week, was talk of maybe cutting a one-year deal to push off the complicated matters until next year.

At least with Bills fans, the deal will give Cuomo a major political victory in Western New York, which he did not carry in his first gubernatorial campaign two years ago. Cuomo said in an interview earlier this fall that keeping the team in Buffalo was a top priority for his administration, and he personally became involved in the negotiations on and off in recent months.

 

[Doug B]

That's good news The saliency of small-market clubs needs to be maintained.

 

[BlueDredSo]

This scares me a little though - "with one exception. In the seventh year of the contract they could pull out with only a $29 million penalty." That doesn't seem like that much when considering buying an NFL team.

 

[solorca]

This scares me a little though - "with one exception. In the seventh year of the contract they could pull out with only a $29 million penalty." That doesn't seem like that much when considering buying an NFL team.

That's what I was thinking. Almost seems like they set it up so they could have buyers lined up when year 7 hits.

 

[tim_whatley]

The league would be better with no team in Buffalo.

 

[Sarnoff]

Stupid

 

[Gawain]

Nice to keep the only real NY team in NY.

The Bills make me want to Shout!

 

[ImTheScientist]

If they actually made the playoffs in the last 10 years maybe this news would be relevant.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

If they actually made the playoffs in the last 10 years maybe this news would be relevant.

thanks?I'd say it's pretty relevant to the people in Western NY or in areas looking for a team like LA.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

LINK

A look inside the Buffalo Bills' new 10-year lease agreement

December 21, 2012 - 1:08 PM

By Tim Graham

The press conference to announce the Ralph Wilson Stadium lease agreement is over, and we've learned quite a bit more about the deal.

While the announcement was presented as a feel-good story that the Bills will be staying for the next seven years -- a legitimate question about a succession plan after Ralph Wilson passes was handled by CEO Russ Brandon with a condescending rah-rah retort that drew applause from a gallery of politicians -- not all of the details fell into the warm-and-fuzzy category.

A collection of notes and thoughts from the news conference and interviews conducted afterward:

* Wilson was not in attendance. Neither was CFO Jeffrey Littmann. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was unable to attend because of inclement weather. He spoke through a video-satellite hookup but didn't field any questions from reporters.

* Brandon guaranteed the Bills would stay in Buffalo for at least the next seven years.

* Lt. Gov. Robert J. Duffy on why seven years: "It was the best we could do right now. That's regardless of any ownership changes at all. They will be playing here for seven years. It gives us a chance to have a wide enough time frame to work on other things."

* If a new owner bought the Bills and wanted to move them, then the county and state would have two remedies, as allowed by the lease agreement. The first is to file an injunction to prevent a move. If a judge declines to order the Bills to stay, then the Bills would have to pay $400 million in liquidated damages with the exception of a window after the seventh year of the deal.

* After the seventh year of the 10-year agreement, the Bills will have a one-time option to buy out the remaining three years of the lease for $28,363,500. Deputy County Executive Richard Tobe said a deadline in 2020 will be negotiated into the next set of documents. If the Bills don't buy out the lease by that deadline, then they again will need to pay $400 million to break the lease afterward.

* Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced he would form a committee to explore the feasibility of a new stadium. He said his preferred location would be downtown Buffalo, but the committee will examine the best places.

* Poloncarz on a new stadium: "Any new owner, if they're interested in buying this team, in the future would like to have a new stadium. We understand it's important to start talking about that now. That increases the economic value of the team and it lets the public know we're considering not just the seven-year agreement or 10 years, but looking beyond that to insure the Bills play in a state-of-the-art stadium."

* The Bills will pay $800,000 in annual rent. They didn't pay any rent before.

* Erie County will pay $41 million on renovations. It didn't pay a dime when the last lease was struck. Overall, the county will spend $11 million more for a 10-year lease (that possibly could be as short as seven years) than it spent under the previous 15-year lease.

* The state will contribute $54 million on renovations. The Bills will contribute $35 million.

* The county and state will share annual payments that will start at $3 million for working capital, $2.9 million for operating expenses and $1.8 million for game-day expenses.

* The Bills retained naming rights to the stadium.

* Poloncarz acknowledged the Toronto series as necessary for the Bills' viability, revealing the club makes "basically double the amount of money from one Toronto game" than for a game in Orchard Park. The lease allows the Bills to play only one preseason game every other year and one regular-season game per year in Toronto.

* In addition to the Toronto game, the Bills are allowed to play one more international game over the next 10 years.

* The state gets a suite at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

* The Bills wanted renovations that totaled about $230 million, Poloncarz said, but agreed to only $130 million. Poloncarz said some of the upgrades will include "new concession stands, updated restrooms, new scoreboard, new security features ... that makes it easier for fans to get in." Poloncarz said among the renovations that have been dropped include widening the concourses.

 

[Slapdash]

Good to hear. I think they'll eventually end up in Toronto though.

 

[Joe Summer]

I like how they made the announcement RIGHT AFTER playing their final game in Toronto.

 

[GunslingerEnder]

Ralph Wilson should will the team to the public when he dies. Then they would be like Green Bay and wouldn't have to worry about being moved. L.A. doesn't deserve a team like Buffalo

 

[Insein]

I don't know what would happen to a town like Buffalo if they lost their franchise. There's not much to do up there except watch snow. Then add in no NHL and you might have suicide watch around the clock. That town needs the Bills even as bad as they are. It's a necessary distraction.

 

[Gottabesweet]

Buffalo is never going anywhere, I love how people think their is nothing to do here. This lease has a policy in it that it will put money aside to build a new stadium (hopefully down by the water) or even still in Orchard Park. Ralph's a smart guy and has something in place, if not Jim Kelly has something lined up and I believe it. It's hard for a team to back up and go and being so close to Ontario no way.

Oakland or SD should go to LA. The Bills continue to be a profit making business. Jacksonville, Miami are pathetic franchises that can't fill seats in September.

 

[raidergil]

If they actually made the playoffs in the last 10 years maybe this news would be relevant.

thanks?I'd say it's pretty relevant to the people in Western NY or in areas looking for a team like LA.

Yes, definitely important to the area, and while it would be devastating to lose them I also admit I have stopped going to games or even watching. Over the past 13 yrs they've only maintained relevancy by signing FAs like TO & Mario. Personally, I don't need any stadium upgrades - spend the$130M on a competent QB, coach & GM.

 

[Jobber]

I like to see other small market teams stay put.

 

[JaxBill]

Buffalo is never going anywhere, I love how people think their is nothing to do here. This lease has a policy in it that it will put money aside to build a new stadium (hopefully down by the water) or even still in Orchard Park. Ralph's a smart guy and has something in place, if not Jim Kelly has something lined up and I believe it. It's hard for a team to back up and go and being so close to Ontario no way.

Oakland or SD should go to LA. The Bills continue to be a profit making business. Jacksonville, Miami are pathetic franchises that can't fill seats in September.

Helps if you do some homework on that.