Eli Zaret: Jeff Bezos could be in talks to buy Detroit Lions
Please, please, please let this be true...
December 17th, 2019 at 10:00 AM ^
He's not dumb. Detroit is a gold mine for a professional sports franchise.
December 17th, 2019 at 10:12 AM ^
So you're saying there's a chance... for Amazon's Detroit HQ2?!?!
December 17th, 2019 at 12:01 PM ^
Thalib will put the kibosh on it like her pal the bartender did in NYC.
I'll show myself out
December 17th, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^
Except for the fact that Amazon is still setting up a shop in NYC just without the $3 billion dollar tax credit.
December 17th, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
Ummm no.
Amazon closed on a 335,000 sq foot office in NYC last week. It's not in Cortez's district. It will house 1,500 employees. That pales in comparison to what HQ2 would have done.
December 17th, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
With 22,500 less jobs.
December 17th, 2019 at 6:01 PM ^
Those jobs are but a small sacrifice when you have a chance to stand on principal and stick it to a rich guy. I mean imagine the sleepless nights he’s had about what to do next.
December 17th, 2019 at 1:44 PM ^
~$2B for NY, with up to $900M from a city fund available to any business. All of it would have been offset over a 10 year span by the taxes the company and employees would have paid, anyway. I kinda like some of the things that airheaded dingbat proposes, but this one left me scratching my head.
December 17th, 2019 at 7:02 PM ^
It's Tlaib, you redneck fuckstain.
December 17th, 2019 at 12:51 PM ^
On paper, vis-a-vis the HQ2 requirements, Detroit should have been a top choice -- they only really didn't meet one of the requirements (which I believe sank the entire bid): public transportation.
December 17th, 2019 at 10:31 AM ^
He doesn't care about Detroit or money to be made in Detroit. The Lions are one of 32 NFL franchises, and probably one that is easiest to buy due to the age of the owner. The Lions will be gone inside of three years if he is the owner.
December 17th, 2019 at 11:40 AM ^
I’d love to know just where in the hell some of you think the Lions would go. Outside of STL, every market pretty much has a team.
December 17th, 2019 at 1:47 PM ^
Seems like Los Angeles isn't fully saturated with NFL teams yet
December 17th, 2019 at 1:52 PM ^
Supersonics moved from Seattle to OKC. anything is possible.
December 17th, 2019 at 11:41 AM ^
To move to...
December 17th, 2019 at 12:03 PM ^
I highly doubt any new owner would move the Lions, but why would that be a bad thing? They would be replaced by a different franchise. The Chargers could use a new home, maybe Dodge Field?
December 17th, 2019 at 12:03 PM ^
I nominate the author for worst writer of the the year. Despite his lead sentence, his next one could hardly be less clear.
"Now, let’s be clear. It is highly likely that Ford sells the Lions because of financial reasons related to capital gains taxes but that does not mean it will not eventually happen."
It's only fitting that he's writing about the Detroit Lions.
December 17th, 2019 at 12:51 PM ^
How is it easiest to buy when the hometown team (Seahawks) have an owner who just passed away? Bezos has never mentioned any interest in owning a sports franchise.
December 17th, 2019 at 12:57 PM ^
Well there are two currently up for sale and they are not the lions. Broncos and Seahawks. Kind of surprising he isn’t looking to buy the Seahawks.
December 17th, 2019 at 1:16 PM ^
That is because Bezos has no intention of buying an NFL team.
December 17th, 2019 at 10:39 AM ^
There is the rub, Bezo's or likely anyone willing to buy the Lions will move them away from Michigan. I think it sounds like a nice idea to have a different owner but I don't see anyone willing that cares about Michigan. If they are sold I think they are gone.
December 17th, 2019 at 11:04 AM ^
Bezos splits time between NYC and DC. They have enough NFL teams in those cities. Maybe he's planning a surprise announcement of a major Amazon expansion in Michigan to go along with his Lions purchase.
December 17th, 2019 at 11:47 AM ^
It doesn't matter if they move the team. The Ford's don't need to sell. They need to move. The only way the Lions can win is to become something else, somewhere else. Move them to Mexico City for all I care. They are in too deep into the current culture to be able to pull out of it.
The league will grant Detroit another team. This market is to big to go without a team. The only way we will have a decent team around here is to start from scratch.
December 17th, 2019 at 12:24 PM ^
The only way we will have a decent team around here is to start from scratch.
Based on what. We are talking about a new ownership, who in turn will bring a new strategy / attitude, which would require new executives and new leadership, who would bring in new coaching talent, who would bring in new playing style and new players.
This is how franchises work - what is distinct to Detroit that makes it so unique?
December 17th, 2019 at 12:00 PM ^
Y'all acting like this dude would be inconvenienced by a short trip on his private jet or helicopter or spaceship to come to Detroit on Sundays.
Why tf would he have to do anything in Detroit himself? It would be an investment and moving them anywhere isn't necessarily a surefire way to make more money. He could make better decisions than Martha while he's droppin a deuce at 41,000 feet.
December 17th, 2019 at 11:04 AM ^
This is why I hope the Ford's hang onto the team. If they sell, they'll no longer be the Detroit Lions. Detroit will no longer have any NFL team (even if any contract says they stay in Michigan for a number of years). And the Ford's will forever be vilified as the family that fucked not only Detroit, but all of Michigan, by getting rid of the state's only NFL franchise.
But yeah, if they don't sell, they'll still be known as the family that doesn't care enough to help the team win. They can't win - the people of the state simply will not let them. As much time, money, care, and effort that family has put into the state's economy and the welfare of Detroit, citizens will never let them succeed with the Lions.
Maybe if they sold to Dan Gilbert? But that seems like a family rivalry, and I don't see it. Nonetheless, selling to Bezos means the team will be gone the very moment Bezos finds an opening to move them.
December 17th, 2019 at 11:25 AM ^
Detroit metro area is in the top half of the NFL in terms of market size. The management is the problem not the market. Even if Bezos buys, I don't see why he'd move them.
December 17th, 2019 at 11:48 AM ^
I don't think Bezos gives one rats ass about NFL market size. Amazon lives in the high tech world of Silicon Valley - a state of mind that Seattle falls into. As does NY. As does Crystal City, VA. High tech locales that the younger generations see as 'cool' places to be. Detroit, despite its continued remake into a vibrant city, is not that. It is still seen as a dirty, factory filled, crime infested hell hole with no high tech workforce.
That's an ugly picture, but when you live outside Michigan that is the enduring image people have of Detroit. I would love for Bezos to take ownership and leave the team in Detroit. I just don't think he would. He would buy it as a toy for 'his' workforce - a group of people he doesn't see as living in Detroit. I don't know where he'd move it. London? Somewhere other than Michigan...
December 17th, 2019 at 12:18 PM ^
You say he wouldn’t keep the Lions in Detroit because that’s not where Amazon’s workforce is, then you suggest London. Serious question: Does Amazon have a large workforce in London?
December 17th, 2019 at 12:45 PM ^
Seattle wasn't part of the high tech world of Silicon Valley until Gates and Bezos. It also wasn't a "cool" place to live back then either. If a company like Amazon made a serious investment in Detroit the workers would come there because that's where the jobs and money are - just like they came to dirty crime infested Seattle.
December 17th, 2019 at 1:05 PM ^
So much wrong with this post. Sigh.
https://businesstown.com/detroit-next-silicon-valley/
https://www.downtownpublications.com/single-post/2019/05/21/Rise-of-tech-hubs-in-southeast-michigan
https://winintelligence.org/autonomous-companies-moving-detroit/
Feel free to neg me but keep in mind, half of the clients I support for my firm are in Silicon Valley. I see the high tech culture you write about regularly.
December 17th, 2019 at 2:06 PM ^
I don't doubt this, at all (in fact, I upvoted your post). I know Detroit is a rebounding city and I hope it continues! But I've lived outside DC (in VA) since 1990 - I know how the city and state are thought of outside the bubble of 'home'. And it's not pretty. It's a stereotypical view of things because people don't look at details - traditional views die a slow, painful death.
I didn't grow up in Detroit, but I want people to associate goodness with the state of Michigan I did grow up in. And that means that it's flagship city must be looked upon favorably. It's just not there, yet... You have my sincere hope that it gets there.
December 17th, 2019 at 4:27 PM ^
+1 as well.
I really just disagreed with High tech locales that the younger generations see as 'cool' places to be.
When you're making a healthy 6 figures a year and are living in a RV or have 5 roommates because housing is that expensive in the Bay Area (even more so than the VA side of DC), Detroit or anywhere else starts looking pretty good.
Are Google or Apple HQ moving out of South Bay anytime soon? No. The point is folks are looking for alternatives and Detroit is rightfully becoming one of those locations which is positioning itself for growth.
Some LinkedIn staff just transferred from SF to the new office in Detroit.
One of my clients (you may have used them if you bought a house and the paperwork was handled electronically) said fuck the Bay Area and opened up shop in Idaho Falls. It was a total quality of life move for them -- staff can afford to have a house, a family, and some money on the side... along with no gridlock, no ridiculous taxes, clean air, and not having to step over bum poop on the sidewalk.
December 17th, 2019 at 12:20 PM ^
I think CBus can use a(nother) professional team to absorb some of their insane rabidness.
December 17th, 2019 at 9:32 AM ^
I'm not getting excited..as a Lions fan we're always disappointed so I'm pretty positive this will end up not happening and I'll be drinking myself to sleep again.
December 17th, 2019 at 9:32 AM ^
Amazon Prime Field!
December 17th, 2019 at 10:04 AM ^
"Your new head coach of the Lions - Deion 'Prime Time' Sanders!"
December 17th, 2019 at 4:36 PM ^
Fuck it, why not?
I don't care to do the research but other than Caldwell, has a Lions HC had a winning record in the last 50 years?
At this point, how could Prime Time do any worse?
December 17th, 2019 at 9:32 AM ^
Dear god please! Need a win at all costs not affraid to sink money into the club type of owner, that's Bezos.
December 17th, 2019 at 9:33 AM ^
Nice try, Yossarian. You're not fooling anyone with your short, yet informative, title.
Also, WHAT? Bezos could fill Ford Field with Amazon boxes if fans fail to show up in the seats. I'm also fairly certain that Ford Field would be rebranded immediately.
December 17th, 2019 at 9:37 AM ^
The Amazon Jungle?
December 17th, 2019 at 12:21 PM ^
....or The Amazon Rainforest!!!
December 17th, 2019 at 3:43 PM ^
Foxtown Warehouse
December 17th, 2019 at 9:34 AM ^
I call BS. The article basically states it is a total speculation. Bezos has never expressed any desire to purchase a team in Seattle. Why would he now in Detroit?
December 17th, 2019 at 9:51 AM ^
Maybe because the other "richest dude" in the world owns the Seattle team?
December 17th, 2019 at 10:33 AM ^
Paul Allen's estate owns the Seahawks.
December 17th, 2019 at 10:34 AM ^
Bill Gates? He has no interest in sports other than golf and has never been involved in sports franchise talk (just like Bezos). Paul Allen owned Seahawks but has passed away, which is why if Bezos ever even thought about owning an NFL franchise, there would be hot and heavy rumors about Bezos and Seahawks, and there has been absolutely no such talk. So why would he pursue Lions instead?
December 17th, 2019 at 12:23 PM ^
They would have to be "for sale" to show interest. Same thing with the Lions. It's not happening because people only sell teams when someone dies, and the Ford's have a few younger family members who will take over if Martha passes.
December 17th, 2019 at 5:45 PM ^
There have absolutely been rumors about Bezos and the Seahawks (e.g., in his Washington Post). When Paul Allen died, it became clear that the team would not be owned by his sister for long.
December 17th, 2019 at 9:34 AM ^
yes, he "could" be in talks. he's not, but he "could" be. me too!