A small, upstate New York bank just got its name put on the map - its chairman bought the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week for a reported record price.
Palm Beach financier Malcolm Glazer, chairman of the National Bank of Savannah, purchased the team with the worst winning percentage in NFL history Monday night for an undisclosed amount estimated at $192 million.
Bank officials found out about the deal like everyone else - on television.
"I saw his picture on TV," said vice president Thomas A. Mayfield. "Hell, there are sports fans out there who knew more about it than I did."
The publicity for Mr. Glazer comes at a time when his bank is completing a search for its first day-to-day chief executive in its 70-year history, Mr. Mayfield said.
For years, Mr. Glazer and his partner, president Myrl S. Gelb, have been able to run the $46-million-asset bank from their families' hometown of Rochester, about 40 miles west of tiny Savannah, N.Y..
The management situation changed several years ago when the bank started to grow and Mr. Glazer moved to Florida.
"We've really kind of been home-grown and they just kind of woke up one day and (realized) we need to put some depth on the bench," Mr, Mayfield said.
The two men bought the bank in 1962, when it had only $3 million of assets and one office, Mr. Mayfield said.
So what does the Tampa deal mean for bank officials living in Buffalo Bills country? "That's a tough question," Mr. Mayfield said with a laugh. "I've been a Bills fan for a lot of years, but we'll have to see how that develops."
