John Wawrow of The Associated Press, citing a "person familiar with the sale process," reports that the Buffalo Bills could be sold as soon as July, with owners voting to approve the sale by October's league meetings.
Two sources also tell Wawrow that at least one potential owner has toured potential new stadium sites in Buffalo.
Tim Graham of The Buffalo News first reported in early April that the sale of the Bills was moving quicker than originally anticipated, and that it was possible that a sale could be approved as soon as this October. Wawrow's report is the first to provide the July timeline.
Per Wawrow's article, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has sped up efforts to have studies ready to hand to prospective owners in three months with potential new stadium locations and more; he's already hired a lawyer to do so.
Cuomo is at the head of a New Stadium Working Group, comprised of state and Erie County officials, local businessmen and women, and Bills officials, which began investigating alternate stadium locations in earnest following the March 25 death of Bills founder Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. The Group plans to meet again after the Bills have wrapped up their work on the 2014 NFL Draft, which is next Thursday through Saturday. But his hiring a lawyer, according to Wawrow, is an effort to have a report in place sooner than the Group will have one in the event that the sale of the Bills happens sooner than expected.
Several prospective owners have been linked to the Bills since Wilson's passing; we're collecting all of those stories, and anything else related to the sale of the Bills and their work toward a new stadium, in this StoryStream.