8:58pm: Binding bids are due September 9, updates Kryk. If the the Bills trust wants a new owner in place to be approved at the owner’s meetings, only about a week remains for the process to conclude. If the owners are unable to vote on a new Bills owner by October 7-8, the Buffalo franchise may not have an owner until December.
8:25pm: While Mike Ozanian of Forbes reported this morning that the Toronto group vying for the Bills had bid just $820MM for the franchise, John Kyrk of the Toronto Sun disputes that figure, writing that the clan including Jon Bon Jovi, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment head Larry Tanenbaum, and the Rogers Family placed a bid between $1-1.1 billion. Per Kryk, each group was allowed to place either specific bid, or one that fell within a range, with the Toronto party presumably choosing the latter.
Kryk didn’t fully dispute Ozanian’s claim that Sabres owner Terry Pegula had placed a $890MM bid, but notes that if that was the actual figure, it is considerably less than the Toronto group’s proposal. Kryk also writes that he thinks initial reports regarding the bidding process, which indicated Pegula’s offer was closer to $1.3 billion, are probably closer to the truth. In fact, it’s possible that Pegula, like the Bon Jovi group, used a sliding bid, an offered something like $1.1-1.3 billion.
Regardless of the details, none of the bids offered are binding; final, binding bids are due early next month. For what it’s worth Forbes recently placed a $935MM valuation on the Bills, so a reported bid of $890MM does sound low. It’s doubtful we will learn any specific details of the process until we get closer to the conclusion of the sale.