http://tracking.si.com/2014/04/15/donald-trump-buy-buffalo-bills/?section=si_latest
Trump would be a very problematic owner in my opinion. He owns casinos, is a megalomaniac, has bankruptcy issues with his casino/hotel businesses, and does not fit in the mold of an NFL stay-behind-the-scenes owner.
Will the owners approve him? Should they?
The only issue I can immediately see as a problem is his history of overleveraging and bankruptcy.
Why do you consider his casino ownership, his being a “megalomaniac,” or not “fitting the mold” to be problematic? (As to the latter, do you honestly think he’d be more of a micromanager than, say, Jerry Jones?)
[Modding] Moving this to The Game Room from Great Debates. [/Modding]
Speaking as a poster: I doubt he wants to buy the team. It’s probably just another bid for attention.
I think the NFL should have to let in anybody who can afford it. Or maybe the damn league should be nationalized.
The only thing worse than an obnoxious, attention-seeking buffoon is an obnoxious, attention-seeking buffoon with a history of money problems. No way they want to be looking at this fool and his weave for the next 20 years.
Trump’s recent foray into paranoid racism doesn’t help him with the owners either.
It doesn’t work that way in any sport. Ask the Seattle NBA group. Come to think of it I don’t think it works that way in any business.
At one point, Ted Rogers, a media mogul in Toronto, planned on bidding for the Bills when Wilson died, and then moving them to Toronto, where they’ve always been popular. This struck dread in the hearts of CFL fans, because it’s doubtful Toronto could support two pro football teams, and with all the resources if the NFL, it could make the Argos sink. The CFL without a team in Canada’s largest city might not survive.
Turns out it’s not likely to happen, for a couple of reasons. First, Rogers had a deal with the Bills where they would play some home games each year in Toronto, to whip up fan support. Didn’t happen - the fans didn’t want to pay NFL ticket prices to watch a mediocre team get pounded. Rumour is that the Bills lost a fair bit of money in the venture, which makes it doubtful the NFL could be persuaded to let the Bills move to T.O.
Second, Rogers’ plan assumed that he would outlive Wilson. Not an unreasonable assumption, since he was 15 years younger than Wilson. Didn’t work that way - Rogers died in 2008, and the rumour is that his successors in the Rogers Empire aren’t as enamoured of the costs to become an NFL owner.
So let The Donald buy the Bills
I think there is a problem with a sports team owner who is also the owner of a casino. In theory, Trump could “trump-up” his team while simultaneously telling the coach to throw the game behind the scenes, creating an unsavory environment for making a lot of money for his friends (by betting against his own team).
I think that was an issue when the Maloof family were rumored to be looking to move the Sacramento Kings to Las Vegas, where they own a hotel/casino. I am not sure if it was something about a pro team in Nevada, or the potential for graft and corruption.
There once was a pro football team in Las Vegas: the Canadian Football League had an expansion team there, the Las Vegas Posse. (Yes, really: a CFL team in Las Vegas.).
The team had a lot of issues and folded quickly, but one problem in particular was the desert heat. The players did not like playing there.
Well, not quite. If my outdated knowledge is right the NFL is a partnership. And partnerships have pretty much an absolute right to decide which new partners to allow in.
The NBA was definitely uncomfortable with the idea of having a team in a state with legal betting on sports. It seems like they’ve gotten used to the idea in the last couple of years, so maybe it will happen eventually.
Sure…but there’s nothing keeping owners from doing that now. I’m not grokking how owning casinos makes the scenario more likely.
I think the casino issue is problematic, I can see possible conflicts of interest in that the casino could have an interst in how the Bills do in a given game depending on how the betting has gone.
There’s also the matter of him being a buffoon and bringing a degree of classlessness and boorishness to the league. I’m not convinced that his birtherism doesn’t indicate a latent racism, which is an issue given the number of minority players who may not want to play for such a bigot.
There are plenty of guys rich enough to buy the Bills, many of which are not laughingstocks. Let somebody else buy them.
He did such a great job with the USFL, why not give him a chance? /sarcasm
To be fair I don’t think the Jersey casinos Trump owns a part of have sports books.
I enjoy Vegas and one reason I would never go to Atlantic City is their lack of a legal method to bet on sports. This could have changed though.
He’d move them before the ink on the contract was dry.
The team just extend their lease on the stadium, and they’re in the middle of renovations. That’s aside from the fact that nothing Trump says should ever be taken at face value by any human. I’ll believe he’s interested in the team when I hear he’s on a final list of possible buyers, and not a minute before.
There is no sports book in Jersey but I think Trump still owns the Trump Hotel in Vegas.
It’s not just Trump. Anyone who talks about buying a sports team and keeping them where they are probably already has the carpet picked out for the luxury box in their new city.
Clay Bennett sure did. Most teams that get sold don’t move, though. In the wake of the Seattle-OKC thing, leagues sometimes make the new owners agree to keep the team where it is as a condition of the sale.