In 2003, Tom Golisano bought a troubled Buffalo Sabres team to help restore its luster and keep the team from leaving Western New York.
Thursday, he confirmed that if given the chance, he'll try to do the same for the Buffalo Bills.
The Toronto Sun reported late last month that Golisano had interest in bidding on the team when that time came. Those bids will go in at the end of the month, and the 72-year-old told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle that his bid will go in as a fight to keep them from leaving the state.
"The important thing is someone buys (the team) and keeps it in Western New York," he said. "Do I feel it has to be me? No, I'm not possessed about owning the Buffalo Bills, just as I wasn't possessed about owning the Buffalo Sabres. They were in danger of leaving, too. In fact they were a lot closer to leaving than the Bills are.
"I got involved then because I wanted to keep that entity in Western New York, and I want to keep the Buffalo Bills in Western New York."
He noted he won't break the bank to purchase the team, though he said he'd feel "partially responsible" if he were outbid and the team wound up being shipped out of the area. What Golisano's "degree of reasonableness" is when talking bids hard to say, though Forbes estimated the Floridian's net worth last year at $1.9 billion.
