Eventually, a winning bidder will emerge for the Bills, with a check that precisely identifies the exact dollars, down to the 00/100. For now, it’s unclear how much that amount will be. Especially since the reports are conflicting regarding the amounts that have been offered.
Last week, the Buffalo News reported that Sabres owner Terry Pegula bid $890 million for the team, with a bid of $820 million from Jon Bon Jovi’s Toronto-based group and $809 million (not $1 billion, all cash) from Donald Trump. Those same numbers have since been reported by Forbes.
Now, John Kryk of the Toronto Sun reports with “certainty” that Bon Jovi’s Toronto-based group bid between $1 billion and $1.1 billion for the team. And Kryk then makes the point that the other bids (specifically, Pegula’s) are much higher, given that Kryk agrees with reports that the Bon Jovi bid hasn’t been strong enough.
Which leads back to the initial report from the New York Post that Pegula bid more than $1 billion for the team.
So why would someone be leaking numbers south of $900 million? Kryk theorizes that Pegula perhaps wants potential competitors not named Bon Jovi or Trump to believe the target is lower than it is, so that when the time comes (and it’s coming soon) to make binding bids, they’ll come in far too low.
Regardless, the final price seems destined to be well below the $2 billion that Steve Ballmer has paid for the L.A. Clippers. That’s probably a result of apparent provisions in Ralph Wilson’s will and trust that require the team to stay in Buffalo. Which means that Wilson likely sacrificed hundreds of millions for his family in order to enhance the likelihood that the team will never leave the only place it ever has called home.