Derek Jeter was reportedly interested in buying the Buffalo Bills
Jeter was reportedly interested in buying an NFL team
Derek Jeter has transitioned from All-Star MLB shortstop to internet entrepreneur fairly seamlessly. But he's also said that he'd be interested in becoming an owner of a professional sports team.
In fact, Jeter was reportedly interested in buying the Buffalo Bills when the team was up for sale in 2014. Yes, those Bills. As in, Derek Jeter: NFL Owner.
The Buffalo News' Tim Graham reports:
The Bills were actually sold to Terry and Kim Pegula in September, and aside from Graham's anonymous sources, no one close to Jeter confirmed his interest, so it's unclear how serious he might have been. And, as Graham notes, Jeter would've likely been a part-owner or shareholder, like Magic Johnson and the Dodgers or Jay Z's short-lived run with the Brooklyn Nets. But what a world to imagine.
Was Jeter looking to get away from big city living and find a quainter lifestyle in Buffalo? Was he just looking to be closer to Niagara Falls? Did Jeter's maybe-interest in the upstate New York team stem from the "trend" of millennials moving from New York City to Buffalo, with its lower cost of living enabling them to live "like kings?" As a native of nearby Rochester, I can confirm that Jeter could have ruled Western New York like it was his own personal pro-sports fiefdom as long as he promised to keep the team in Buffalo.
Oh, what might have been. Would Jeter still have been Tom Brady's favorite athlete? Alas, we will never know.