The state of New York has increased efforts to keep the Bills in Buffalo, extending a contract with attorney Irwin Raij to work on getting a new stadium that would ensure the continued presence of the team after Ralph Wilson’s survivors sell the team.
“The governor wants to be prepared if there are any earlier offers to buy the team,” Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy said, via the Associated Press. “Our team is looking at sites now in Erie County, Buffalo, Niagara County. We’re just being prepared because we don’t know who the next owner will be. We’re not sure what the goals and the objectives of the next ownership team will be.”
According to the AP, early offers to buy the team are a real possibility. They report that a prospective ownership group has toured potential new stadium locations and that there is an “anticipation” that the team could be sold by July. If it is, the new owners could be approved by the other owners as early as October.
The AP source did not identify the potential buyers nor did they outline which of the possible stadium sites were part of the tour. Whoever they were and wherever they went, a sale of the Bills appear to be moving at a brisk pace.