AL MICHAELS RECALLS TRUMP'S FAILED 2014 BID FOR BILLS

NFL commentator Al Michaels referenced Donald Trump's failed 2014 attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills during Amazon's Thursday Night Football broadcast of the team's home opener at Highmark Stadium. According to a clip shared on X by the account MLFootball on 17 September, Michaels recalled that the franchise went up for sale after founding owner Ralph Wilson died, and that Trump was one of three bidders. Michaels said the team chose Terry Pegula's offer instead, telling Trump "we're good." One report noted it was Michaels' second on-air reference to Trump in three weeks.

Wilson's estate put the Bills up for sale in 2014, drawing bids from Pegula, a Toronto-based group partnered with musician Jon Bon Jovi, and Trump, who said he would write a cashier's cheque for $1 billion. The team accepted Pegula's offer, reported at $1.4 billion, over Trump's bid. Trump told Buffalo News at the time that his track record was "pretty much unparalleled" but that he would not "pay stupid prices" for the franchise. According to the report, Trump then hired Republican operative Michael Caputo to campaign against Bon Jovi's bid, amid theories, which Bon Jovi denied, that his group would move the Bills to Toronto.

Bon Jovi's group had by then parted ways with its Toronto-based partners, who reportedly believed they had a better chance without him. Pegula went on to complete the purchase and become the Bills' owner. Michaels' comments during Thursday's broadcast brought the decade-old bidding war back into public view for a national television audience. The clip of his remarks was shared widely on social media after the broadcast aired.