Ralph Wilson Jr. is the unequivocal culprit behind the Buffalo Bills‘ humiliating franchise dysfunction. He could be the reason why, one day, they leave the Western New York area.
Yes, I’m eternally grateful to Wilson who brought the Bills to Buffalo. Without him, who knows if my embryonic interest in sports would have blossomed into steadfast fanhood. But 52 years with no championships (23 of which I’ve endured) and the current 12-year playoff drought have brought me to this column.
Wilson’s wrongdoings have become a common yearly practice and have made it extremely hard to imagine the Bills returning to relevance, much less advancing to a Super Bowl. It isn’t just the 93-year-old’s frugal ways— they’re just the beginning. It’s deeper than that. It’s layers upon layers of egotistical decisions that have sent the Bills into a seemingly irreversible tailspin with Wilson as the owner.
He bought the team in 1959 for an absolutely ridiculous $25,000. Forbes’ 2011 NFL valuation estimated the Bills’ worth at $792 million. He has no stadium debt. Daniel Snyder bought the Washington Redskins in 1999 for $750 million. Jerry Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys for $150 million in 1989. However, Jones is on the hook for $200 million in debt from his new stadium. All that really puts Wilson’s unheard of profit into perspective.
Money shouldn’t be a factor for the Bills, but it has been Wilson’s go-to crutch for far too long.
The “small-market” excuse has some merit, but not much. Sure, the Bills almost have to keep their ticket prices down due to the struggling economy and relatively low median family income (by NFL standards) in Western New York, but it has absolutely nothing to do with remaining viable and competitive. If anything, NFL profit-sharing significantly helps smaller-market teams like the Bills and hinders clubs in the bigger TV markets with huge populations.
Do we ever hear the Green Bay Packers complaining about the fact that they play in easily the smallest market of any major professional sports team? The Buffalo-Niagara metropolitan area has around 1.13 million people. Green Bay has 305,000. Playing the sympathy card has been ideal for Wilson, because really, he’s operated his team solely as a business and nothing more.
Why else would a guy that has made such a magnificent profit on an 1959 investment be tight with his money?
From a business standpoint, Wilson is an unwavering genius. Any other person in their 90s would have emptied the bank in an attempt to field a champion. Not Wilson. (Now, spending frivolously in a Daniel Snyder-esque manner is something I’ll never advocate, obviously.)
To Wilson, the Buffalo Bills have always been a business and they always will be. There’s nothing wrong with an owner basing decisions on how they’ll affect the yearly bottom line, but Wilson has been afforded the luxury to not be as concerned, and he’s failed to take advantage. Imagine if his ways were different. Imagine if he was worried about winning above all. How rabid would the area be for their team?
The Bills owner has said he’s dedicated to the team staying in Western New York—is that really true? If he wants the team to remain in the area, and there’s a “group” of local investors ready to buy, why isn’t he selling now?
It seems as though Wilson’s ego won’t let him live a day on Earth without being the Bills owner. No one said he would be exiled from the organization if he did sell the team to a Western New York investment group. With no indication that Wilson will sell, the Bills will most likely go up for auction upon his death and that’s precisely when wealthier groups in Los Angeles can outbid.
Guys like Terry Pegula, Jeremy Jacobs or Tom Golisano have the money to compete with possible suitors from LA, but wouldn’t they be leery to purchase the team if the bidding war substantially raised the team’s price tag? How viable could an NFL club set in Buffalo be after being purchased for say, over one billion dollars? In LA it’d have no problem.
Putting money aside for a moment, Wilson’s continual front office hires have also considerably hindered the Bills’ chances at success, especially over the last decade of futility. A few particular instances stick out. He brought in Marv Levy, one of his former pals, someone with no front office experience, to be the team’s general manager at the age of 80 in 2006.
First, Levy hired Dick Jauron as head coach, a colossal disappointment and target of mass criticism in Buffalo. Then, the Bills drafted Donte Whitner and let London Fletcher walk in free agency. The following season, the Bills grabbed Marshawn Lynch, Paul Posluszny and Trent Edwards in the first three rounds of the draft, supposed franchise cornerstones.
As we know, none of those guys are currently on the Bills roster.
Huge contracts were given to offensive linemen Derrick Dockery and Langston Walker, players who were ultimately flops in Bills uniforms. Then, Russ Brandon, an up-and-coming sports marketing guru was named the general manager after a period when the Bills front office was headed by an “inner circle.” Nothing against Brandon, but what football experience did he have?
None.
Is current GM Buddy Nix, another long-time friend of Wilson, the answer? Will the Bills owner show a legitimate willingness to field a winner or better yet, sell the team to a group that will keep the franchise here? Only time will tell. My fingers are crossed.
We owe our deep-rooted passion for the Buffalo Bills to Ralph Wilson Jr., but at the same time, he’s the very reason why we’ve been in such an agonizing funk for so long.
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