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We only know the names of three parties that have submitted bids for the Buffalo Bills, but the trust selling the team has scheduled up to eight meetings for prospective owners, according to The Buffalo News.
The names of the other five parties are not known; according to Tim Graham's report, not even former Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano, who had been expected to submit a bid earlier this week, could be confirmed as one of the extra entries. Add in the fact that the Jon Bon Jovi group out of Toronto only re-submitted their initial bid on Tuesday (per the Toronto Sun), and it's possible that not even they have yet advanced to this stage.
Donald Trump was the first of those eight parties to meet with the trust on Wednesday, per Graham. The report adds that one of the undisclosed parties will be presenting on Thursday. Terry Pegula, current owner of the Sabres and the definitive owner of the popular vote in the matter, is one of the presenters, but it's not known when his will take place.
These meetings are taking place in the Detroit area, where the Ralph Wilson estate is headquartered. Bills President and CEO Russ Brandon is involved in this stage of the process, as well.
On Tuesday, the Toronto Sun reported that one of the reasons that the Bon Jovi group was asked to re-submit their initial bid was so that greater assurances about keeping the team in Western New York could be provided. This was the clearest sign yet that the trust selling the franchise is operating with some stipulation about keeping the team in Buffalo. That will be important to keep in mind as we enter a phase of the sale process where anonymous bidders are vetted behind the scenes, and information on the process and the identities of these mystery parties may be difficult to come by.