It's hard to argue against former Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano buying the Buffalo Bills

"I'd consider buying the Buffalo Bills if the team was in danger of moving."--B. Thomas Golisano


On February 3, 2011, Sabres owner Tom Golisano was saying farewell to the Buffalo Sabres after selling the team to Terry Pegula. At his presser, he was asked about a possible ownership bid for the Buffalo Bills and offered up the above quote.

He had mentioned more than once that the Ralph Wilson still owned the team and that it was not for sale. Obviously the thought of owning the Bills had crossed his mind at one point or another.

Although Golisano resides in Florida, he still has very strong ties to the Buffalo/Rochester area having started Paychex out of his garage over 40 years ago.

Those ties were evident during his tenure as owner of the Buffalo Sabres.


Back in 2003 with the organization coming out of NHL control, the Sabres were up for sale and the possibility of the franchise moving was very real. Vultures were swirling and at least one of the bids for the team smelled of snake oil with shrewd financial backing through government funding.

Golisano, in effect, took out his wallet and placed a stack of cash in Commissioner Gary Bettman's hands to buy the team.

He owned the team for eight years before selling it to Pegula for a handsome profit.

At the time, there were other potential buyers for the Buffalo Sabres. Research In Motion co-founder Jim Ballsilie, had been hot and heavy for a team to move to Canada and had the financial wherewithal to put together an impressive financial package.

Golisano, though, was intent upon finding an owner to keep the team in Buffalo. In the deal he included a non-relocation clause.

Although "Big Tom" didn't buy and sell the team for purely altruistic reasons (he made over $100M,) he realized the importance of both the Sabres and the Bills to Western New York. Losing either of the franchises would be a huge blow to the area.

Which is why he seems to be stepping up again.

According to the Toronto Sun, Golisano "plans to bid on the Buffalo Bills once the team goes on sale."

The vultures are once again swirling as the death of Wilson has put the franchise in a precarious position.

At the recently concluded owners meetings, the ever-loquacious Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones voiced his thoughts on the future of the Bills, "We always ought to be looking for ways to improve not only the growing the pie but also growing the fan base.  And to the extent that you can involve more fans in any team location is something to be considered.”

How they would "grow that pie" would be through a move to a larger city like Toronto.

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi is said to be teamed up with Larry Tannenbaum of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment in a potential bid to buy the Bills and, it could be assumed, move the team to Toronto.

Bon Jovi has Jones' approval, "I don’t know of anyone that I have any more respect for as a father, or as a husband, or certainly as a potential business partner,” Jones said at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead during the NFL’s spring owners meetings. "I consider him a friend."

Golisano and Larry Quinn had met with Bills President Russ Brandon earlier this month over dinner which raised plenty of eyebrows.

At his farewell presser Golisano had said, "My level of interest would be based on the level of concern (of the team leaving)." Apparently the Jones/Bon Jovi/Tannenbaum exploits was a call to action.

Tom Golisano is a businessman with an estimated worth of nearly $2B. He didn't get that way being altruistic. He wasn't that way when he bought the Sabres and he's not that way in an attempt to buy the Bills.

The NFL is a money-making machine. Any businessman with the wherewithal to get into the exclusive ownership club will be rewarded.

Golisano won't need to gut his scouting staff like he did with the Sabres. He won't need to accept revenue sharing to keep the team viable. And he won't need to let star players go because of some internal "break even" mandate.

All the money is there and he'll simply need a management team to distribute it properly.

Having Golisano take over the Buffalo Bills is what this franchise needs. He knows how valuable the Sabres and Bills are to Western New York and has shown his commitment to keeping these assets where they belong.

It's good for him and it's good for Western New York.