Mary Wilson, wife of the franchise’s late founder and sole owner, is now the controlling owner of the Buffalo Bills.
With the loss of legendary owner Ralph C. Wilson, Jr., the ownership of the Buffalo Bills begins a period of transition.
The Bills organization today is announcing that Mary Wilson, wife of the franchise’s late founder and sole owner, is now the controlling owner.
A process will be established at an appropriate time for the sale of the franchise. This process will ensure that the club complies and is faithful to NFL rules and to its obligations to New York State and Erie County. We plan to have detailed discussions with the NFL, the State and County, and others as we determine the timing and structure of any sales process.
Mary Wilson said, “I have complete confidence in Russ Brandon, our President and CEO, to continue his duties of running the organization. General Manager Doug Whaley and Head Coach Doug Marrone remain empowered by Russ to run the football operation.”
Brandon, Whaley and Marrone will direct the team with the same goal firmly in place -- winning.
As Brandon has stated repeatedly since last week, “We are in mourning over the loss of our founder, owner and friend, Hall of Famer Ralph Wilson. But our organization is operating in the day-to-day functions that we normally would because that’s the way Mr. Wilson would have wanted it.”
The death of Ralph Wilson has created uncertainty about the future of the Bills in Buffalo, but the team will be conducting business as usual until and if the team is sold.
That was the message from the team on Thursday when they announced that Wilson’s widow Mary will take over as the controlling owner of the team with her husband’s death.
“I have complete confidence in Russ Brandon, our President and CEO, to continue his duties of running the organization. General Manager Doug Whaley and Head Coach Doug Marrone remain empowered by Russ to run the football operation,” Mary Wilson said in an announcement from the team.
Selling the team is still in the plans, however. The team also announced that a process will be established regarding the sale of the franchise “at the appropriate time” and that the process will be “faithful to NFL rules and to its obligations to New York State and Erie County.”
A window to move the Bills opens after the 2019 season when the buyout to leave Ralph Wilson Stadium drops to $28.4 million. A move would be impractical if not impossible before that point and it seems likely that the Bills will have different ownership by the time that date rolls around.
