ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB)-- When Buffalo Bills founder Ralph Wilson was in decreasing health a decade back, the threat of a new owner moving the group loomed big in the minds of fans. The franchise now seems protected in the hands of Terry and Kim Pegula, but there's no warranty those worries will not resurface during the course of the group's brand-new 30-year lease that was completed last week.

The three-way agreement between Erie County, New York state and the Bills to build a brand-new stadium does, however, consist of a Non-Relocation Agreement strong enough for Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz to declare, "the Bills will be the Buffalo Bills through 2055."

An assessment of the 28-page document exposes a two-pronged approach focused on guaranteeing the Bills remain in their new Orchard Park center through the life of the lease. Step 1 is legal hurdles: The document contains numerous arrangements detailing actions the Bills agree not to take, such as trying "to relocate, transfer or otherwise move the group." Action 2 involves punitive damages, which could go beyond $1 billion need to an owner slip through Step 1 in a hypothetical quest to move the team.

The complete Non-Relocation Agreement can be seen listed below, followed by analysis. Erie County made 19 files associating with the Bills rent public; those can be accessed at this link.

Legal difficulties in the Bills' Non-Relocation Agreement

The Bills consented to many terms in exchange for receiving $850 million in public funds for the building of their brand-new arena.

Some are relatively harmless: The Bills must, for example, keep the franchise as a getting involved NFL team and remain in excellent standing with NFL guidelines and guidelines. Section 3b (on page 9 in the above document) notes more particular actions relative to relocation, such as that the Bills can not sell the group to anyone who plans to move the franchise.

The arrangement straight specifies that the Bills will not:

• (i) use to the NFL for, or otherwise look for, approval to allow the Team to play any Games during the Non-Relocation Term anywhere other than the Stadium;



• (ii) relocate, transfer or otherwise move the Team (or effort to move, transfer or otherwise move the Team…… )to an area besides the Stadium;



• (iii) sell, assign or otherwise transfer the Team to anybody who, to the Bills' understanding, has an objective to move, move or otherwise move the Team throughout the Non-Relocation Term to a location aside from the Stadium;



• (iv) (A) captivate any offer or proposition to transfer the Team to a location aside from the Stadium, (B) get an offer or proposition from any Person to participate in discussions concerning moving the Team to a location aside from the Stadium, (C) participate in negotiations or agreements with 3rd parties worrying the moving of the Team to an area aside from the Stadium, or (D) otherwise effort to cause the playing of Games at a location besides the Stadium.

The Bills do, nevertheless, have the capability to check out moving during the last 5 years of the lease (beginning in 2050), so long as the relocation would not occur till after the conclusion of the arrangement.

1 year since contract, Bills arena cost has actually increased 10% to $1.54 B.

Disputes go to a Western New York judge

The natural follow-up question is: What occurs if a Bills owner engages in moving discussions anyway?

Section 5 of the Non-Relocation Agreement (page 10) addresses enforcement and damages, while Section 9g (page 16) details jurisdiction and venue. Together, the arrangement mentions that a Buffalo-area judge can step in to require the team to honor the contract.

Particularly, Section 5a mentions the celebrations concur "that equitable relief by way of a decree of particular performance or an injunction (such as a prohibitory injunction barring the Bills from transferring or playing the Games in a center other than the Stadium or a necessary injunction needing the Bills to play the Games at the Stadium) is the only suitable remedy for the enforcement of this Agreement……".

This basically suggests a judge can make them do it. It would not be just any judge: The celebrations concur in Section 9 that any case occurring from the contract "shall be litigated only in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Erie County, New York or the United States District Court for the Western District of New York." The celebrations likewise agree to waive any claim that utilizing a Western New York judge is improper.

Needs to an owner looking for to move the Bills get through or around the legal difficulties, the final hurdle is monetary.

Punitive damages in the Bills' Non-Relocation Agreement

Prior to talking about the punitive damages, contemplate for a minute what would need to happen prior to this step actually played out. An owner seeking to move the Bills would have currently worked out a deal in the shadows and made it through an unsightly and extremely advertised legal procedure, drawing the scorn of millions while doing so, while understanding the whole time what the financial penalty will be.

This step, then, seems as much about recouping taxpayer cash need to the team hypothetically leave town as it has to do with preventing an ultra-wealthy owner or ownership group from carrying out a wicked strategy to transfer the group.

Area 5b (page 11) lists five different classifications of public funds that would need to be paid back in the event "fair relief is not given by a court of skilled jurisdiction for any reason, or is otherwise unavailable.".

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• (i) the contribution from New York state, presently expected to be $600 million.
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• (ii) the "money contribution" part of Erie County's $250 million responsibility, $100 million.
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• (iii) the rest of the county's $250 million initial contribution, which we'll call $150 million but would really be greater due to bond interest.
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• (iv) state contributions to the Maintenance and Repair Fund, presently expected to be $6.67 million annually for 15 years, or simply over $100 million in total.
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• (v) any amounts contributed by the state or county to the Capital Improvement Fund, which is currently anticipated to be $6 million per year, and could increase by approximately 2.2% per year, for 30 years. The exact number is incalculable at the minute, however would be at least $90 million through 15 years or at least $180 million over the life of the deal.
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These charges amount to, at minimum, more than $1 billion at their peak, and would need to be paid in a lump amount not more than 30 days after defaulting on the agreement. Additionally, the contract specifies the team could be on the hook for the demolition of the brand-new stadium should the team leave town.

The charge, nevertheless, reduces over the 2nd half of the deal. Starting in the 15th year of the lease, the penalty comes by 6.25% per year, decreasing to 0% - - $ 0 - in

Year 30. Could hotels, restaurants be constructed near new Bills arena?

Totaling all of the rounded minimum penalties listed above, and reducing them according to the chart noted on page 12 of the arrangement, provides us the following chart of the punitive damages by year. (The numbers are approximate, but the shape of the graph would hold.).

The bottom line

The Buffalo Bills, Erie County and New York state signed off on a Non-Relocation Agreement as part of a 30-year lease to play Bills video games in a brand-new Orchard Park facility.

An owner who sought to trigger the team to play video games at any area besides the new arena more than once per year would remain in offense of the contract, and a court might buy them to honor their end of the deal, which all celebrations concur is "the only appropriate treatment for the enforcement of this Agreement." The team likewise agrees to sustain obligation to ensure the stadium is playable.

Must an owner looking for to move the group get a Buffalo-area judge to rule in its favor, or somehow otherwise avert the legal procedure, the agreement spells out punitive damages that might reach 10 figures.

There is no reason to fear losing the Bills under the present ownership. While no professional sports franchise is ever truly immune from a rogue ownership candidate with sneaky objectives and billions on hand, the Non-Relocation Agreement appears to put Buffalo in strong position to fend off moving hazards during the life of the agreement. It'll be the 2040s prior to we to begin speaking about negotiating the Bills' next lease.

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Nick Veronica is a Buffalo native who signed up with the News 4 team as a Digital Executive Producer in 2021. He formerly operated at NBC Sports and The Buffalo News. You can follow Nick on Facebook and Twitter and find more of his work here.