Plenty of news surrounding the competition for the purchasing of the Buffalo Bills was made today.
A new bidder has emerged, and Bills officials have met with prospective ownership groups, according to the Associated Press (via Foxsports.com):
Former Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano has entered the running to purchase the Buffalo Bills.
A person familiar with the sale process confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday that Golisano submitted a non-binding bid to Morgan Stanley, the banking firm overseeing the sale. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the sale is private.
The Buffalo News first reported Golisano’s entry earlier in the day.
The Bills are on the market after Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson died in March.
Golisano’s addition comes at the same time the sale process moved into the next phase after Bills officials began meeting with prospective ownership groups that had already submitted their non-binding bids.
Two other people familiar with the process said New York real estate mogul Donald Trump was first up, by attending a lengthy presentation in the Detroit area on Wednesday.
Current Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, and a Toronto-based group fronted by rocker Jon Bon Jovi are also scheduled to attend presentations.
The presentations provide prospective buyers an opportunity to receive extensive financial and background information on the franchise in order to prepare their formal bids, which are expected to be submitted within three weeks.
A prospective owner is expected to be identified by the end of next month, and then presented to NFL owners for approval at league meetings in New York in early October.
While the team plays its preseason games in order to be prepared for the regular season, the future overseers and location of the Bills franchise is being determined. If all the formal bids are submitted within three weeks as suspected, it will be right as Buffalo plays its last preseason game versus the Detroit Lions.
The subplot of the Sabres current and former owners attempting to outbid each other, along with Trump’s confirmed presence in the process just adds to the most intriguing off-field story of the NFL in 2014. Whether the Bills will be playing in the games that matter (regular season) before they know who their likely owner could be answered by the end of the preseason.
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