Originally Posted by
greatwhitenorf
It's true, there's is a great inter-connectedness to everything being discussed regarding the stadium and circumstances affecting it, both locally and beyond.
The stadium situation in both LA and Buffalo is interesting in that California leads US state debt at over $600 billion. New York runs second at well over $300 billion. Neither state, nor the municipalities around LA or Buffalo are in shape to fund a new stadium project. Which is why Kroenke's land purchase is so alarming to other clubs eyeing LA. Private funding is essential to make it happen and first into LA will be a big winner. Plus Kroenke would be returning the Rams to their previous home, so a lot of nostalgia playing out in his favour.
I give him the edge. He's got adequate personal wealth and is connected on other levels to create strong cross marketing in the manner that the Yankees and ManCity are working in NY. That seems to be the way forward when building a sports empire in major markets. That, too, is what's afoot here in Toronto and, strictly IMHO, Roger Godell has to be viewing these developments and ensuring his league isn't being left in the slipstream.
As for Buffalo, lots of noise beginning to rise about a new stadium deal there. But is it really anything more than governor Mario Cuomo looking to protect votes in the area? Buffalo's economic stats are woeful. The city has lost more than half it's population since the mid-'50s and almost half - 44% - of it's children live in definable poverty, according to the 2014 NY state economic profile of the city. It was essentially in receivership for almost the past decade, only having it's financial shackles taken off the past two years. It is operating under very strict budgetary guidelines.
It is most definitely not in any kind of shape to finance a new stadium. If you're a private investor, you can't be happy to see that land values are far below the median for New York state, and performing in value far below the recovering status of property elsewhere in America. The median household income is just over $30,000 and it is a region having a very difficult time attracting new industry to the area. Strongest job growth there nowadays is occurring in the health care and educational sectors and not the sort of industries you'd expect to be counting on to boost sales of suites or club seats.
The Bills rely heavily on Canadian customers, but with the border becoming a tighter and tighter place to cross, it doesn't encourage growth in Canadian fan support.
Jackonsville committed to becoming London, England's de facto home team for upcoming seasons in the Wembley-staged games. Their owner owns Fulham of the Premier League(for now!) and, by all accounts leaking out from North London, Tottenham Hotspur are in the midst of re-designing their impending stadium project to accommodate NFL football, including a retractable pitch. Wembley can't house the NFL for a full season, so this is the next-best solution.
Here's the sensible scenario: St. Louis moves to LA. San Diego stays put as the NFL loves to cater to the military and SD is Navy Central. Oakland stays put for now, but a lurking contender to move to LA down the road. Jacksonville moves to London. Buffalo moves to Toronto.
Here's how everybody wins, even Bills fans in Lackawanna, Tonawanda and Salamanca. New stadium goes up for the NFL which also serves as an annual home for Leafs outdoor games. Money maker from Day One. It also serves as a main venue for Canada's 2026 World Cup bid. Government sees that as potentially good legacy usage and agrees to partially fund it.
NFL loves it because it gets a sexy new home in a sexy city where every other major league sport is already thriving. And it gets to see the CFL kept alive in its biggest market. MLSE builds a gridiron football training centre where both the NFL and CFL players train out of. CFL guys benefit in shared set up with premium facilities that allows for a certain amount of specialized joint coaching. CFL skills go up and their fans don't have to suffer through the usual early-mid season CFL frustration of watching players miss blocking assignments, run bad pass routes, botch simple handoffs and so on. Product quality goes up and fan support doesn't decline. Remember, even modest financial losses with the Argos are acceptable and they have lost millions each year for most of the past two decades. And if the Argos play well and regularly contend, the rest of Canada will hate them even more and they'll become a bigger draw on the road. Win.
TFC wins because it gets a nice upgrade to its current stadium set up and, along with our national team, will have a major league-sized stadium to draw upon should a massive game demand higher seating capacity.
MLSE's owners win because they will have better sport products to show on their networks and, with a greater prospect of being competitive or even winning titles, higher audiences on a more consistent basis.
Buffalo wins because it gets to re-direct money foolishly spent on a futile stadium project towards better incentives to create better paying, long term jobs by attracting new business to locate in the area, which supports initiatives to create better housing and urban infrastructure or for better education facilities for it's struggling inner-city population. I hope the Bills retain some of their current American fan base because they're great people to talk the game with, but I doubt we'll see that many of their fans remain attached to the team long-term because, like so many Americans - and I don't mean this to be insulting - in everyday life, they stand with their backs to the border and gaze inward.
Great love does not exist without joy and without great suffering ,that's why One club is worth only as much as its fans !
