Buffalo Bills want a new stadium – and for taxpayers to foot the bill

[Ninety-4]

There are a lot of moving parts in a deal like this.  If the State/County invests in the stadium, what do the Bills pay each year in a lease?  What about revenues for parking and non-football events held there?  Who pays to maintain the property?  What taxes and fees might get added to ticket prices?  Who gets that? There are a whole lot of expenses and revenues to negotiate even if NYS/Erie County agreed to pay to build a new stadium. 

 

The Bills have some leverage here and of course they'll use it to get a deal to their liking and that of the league. 

Edited August 3, 2021 by Ninety-4

[Ann]

I doubt the Governor means anything to negotiations, but who knows?

[Sig1Hunter]

12 hours ago, Ann said:

I doubt the Governor means anything to negotiations, but who knows?

Cuomo was always looking for “inside info”, seems like he never was really good at getting it though?

[Ann]

Hochul: ‘We expect the Bills will be here a very long time’
 

New York State Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul said Monday that the Cuomo administration is committed to keeping the Buffalo Bills in Western New York. Her comments come as three-way stadium negotiations are underway between the NFL team, Erie County, and the state.
 

The sides are currently focusing on a proposal to demolish existing Highmark Stadium and build a new facility “across the street” in Orchard Park, Hochul said.
 

</snip>
 

“The numbers are not going to be discussed today,” Hochul said. “They’re unknown at this point because we’re just having preliminary conversations. But let the fans know we’re very excited about the upcoming season. And we expect the Bills will be here a very long time.”
 

<//snip>

[GG1]

4 minutes ago, Ann said:

Hochul: ‘We expect the Bills will be here a very long time’
 

New York State Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul said Monday that the Cuomo administration is committed to keeping the Buffalo Bills in Western New York. Her comments come as three-way stadium negotiations are underway between the NFL team, Erie County, and the state.
 

The sides are currently focusing on a proposal to demolish existing Highmark Stadium and build a new facility “across the street” in Orchard Park, Hochul said.
 

</snip>
 

“The numbers are not going to be discussed today,” Hochul said. “They’re unknown at this point because we’re just having preliminary conversations. But let the fans know we’re very excited about the upcoming season. And we expect the Bills will be here a very long time.”
 

<//snip>

 

Somebody please send this to Wawrow.

[Joe]

2 hours ago, GG1 said:

 

Somebody please send this to Wawrow.

 

Dude is doompilled for sure

 

[Spartacus]

3 hours ago, GG1 said:

 

Somebody please send this to Wawrow.

for an "insider", his inside info seems pretty weak

[Ann]

Erie County exec tamps down fears of Bills relocating
John Wawrow
 

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz dismissed speculation of the Buffalo Bills relocating if a deal can’t be negotiated for public funds to pay for the construction of a new stadium.
 

Poloncarz, however, did issue a warning on Wednesday by saying the state and county won’t be writing what he called “a blank check,” to pay for what is projected to cost at least a $1 billion.
 

“We will get a deal done,” he said in speaking the most extensively on the stadium issue since negotiations began two months ago. “It’s just got to be a fair deal for all.”
 

</snip>

[Ann]

 

https://twitter.com/NewsRadio930/status/1423245344234774528

[B-Man]

2 hours ago, Ann said:

 

https://twitter.com/NewsRadio930/status/1423245344234774528

 

 

Yeah well, there is being "not directly involved" in talks and there is knowing that a powerful governor supports such a measure.

 

I still think that it might effect things  😬

 

 

[Ann]

The Bills want taxpayers to pay $1.4 billion for a new stadium. What role will Cuomo play?
 

In a week of competing claims about how much the Buffalo Bills want from the state for a new football stadium, one thing has become clear: The number is $1.4 billion and the team has asked for the project to be fully funded by state and county taxpayers.
 

But what has become increasingly unclear during the same week is whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo will play any role in what the team eventually gets.
 

Following a scathing report from State Attorney General Letitia James that found credible claims from 11 women that Cuomo had sexually harassed them and revelations that criminal probes of the governor are underway, a new poll Friday by Quinnipiac University said 70% of New York registered voters want him to resign. Calls for his resignation have increased as has the speed with which an impeachment probe is expected to begin.
 

</snip>
 

The impact on the stadium talks: a halt to any decision-making anytime soon, various sources say.

“It’s a temporary pause, not a setback," said a person who knows all the players in the stadium talks – Cuomo, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and the Pegulas who own the team. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
 

The person said that the players in the negotiations are operating under the assumption that Cuomo will be gone from office, either sooner by his own resignation or by an impeachment process that could come in early September on the state Assembly floor.
 

Once Cuomo departs whether through resignation or almost-certain impeachment, the individual said he is confident that negotiations will resume in earnest with "the same excitement and passion to get a done deal."
 

</snip>
 

The Cuomo administration Friday did not directly comment on the stadium talks in light of the fresh legal and political troubles that erupted for Cuomo this week.
 

Instead, it pointed to a comment issued last week by his budget office that said Cuomo is “committed” to keeping the Bills in Western New York and that the administration is “fully engaged with the Bills and other stakeholders” in the matter.
 

</snip>

[B-Man]

 

 

We don't need a 1.4 billion palace.

 

Just build something like Indianapolis has in the downtown for 800 to 900 million.

 

 

[Ann]

1 minute ago, B-Man said:

 

 

We don't need a 1.4 billion palace.

 

Just build something like Indianapolis has in the downtown for 800 to 900 million.

 

 

I honestly don't see where there is enough room to build a stadium downtown. Maybe heading out to the east side?  I do recall that the Pegulas bought a lot of land next to the KeyBank Center though, so maybe there? It would be nice to have a pretty downtown stadium that could double as a conference center, too (the current one is small and reminds people of a prison).

Downtown isn't like it was years ago when whole swaths could have been purchased for peanuts. Heck, when we went down there in June I was surprised that some of the dilapidated stuff off the 33 had been renovated and looked great. It appears to be close to finished being redone. It is a very small downtown area in a city that is very small area-wise (52 square miles).
 

[Ann]

Another Buffalo News article:
 

Crystal Peoples-Stokes is the second most powerful lawmaker in the State Assembly and a longtime backer of the Buffalo Bills.
 

“I’m a die-hard fan,’’ Peoples-Stokes said last week, a line she uses whenever the subject of the Buffalo Bills comes up.
 

As talk of a new stadium swirls again, Peoples-Stokes makes it clear: She would love to see a new facility built in downtown Buffalo, her city. But she is also on board with the Pegula Sports & Entertainment plan to build a new stadium next to the Bills' longtime home in Orchard Park.
 

What’s she’s not OK with is what she has been told about the negotiations: an ask by the Pegula company for a 100% taxpayer-financed stadium.
 

“Because the amount is so large, it seems like a non-starter,’’ Peoples-Stokes said last week in an interview.

The public will have to pay some portion of a new stadium project, she believes, because the stadium would be, like the existing one, county-owned and one she believes is a taxpayer resource with a healthy return on the investment for the state and county.
 

“But, it certainly should not be 100%,’’ she said.
 

Lawmakers don’t have a specific seat at the negotiating table, but they are likely going to have to be willing to approve – for years to come – annual state budgets that will, if the Buffalo Bills have their way, include payments of some kind for a new NFL stadium. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, in a private meeting at the executive mansion in Albany in early June, brought up a number of big projects in the Buffalo area, including the Pegula stadium proposal, though it was not a formal presentation of the team’s plan.
 

</snip>
 

“The idea of taxpayers funding 100% of a new stadium is a non-starter," said Sen. Sean Ryan, a Buffalo Democrat. “A new, publicly owned stadium would be a year-round asset, which would warrant some support from the people of the State of New York, but 100% is not going to happen."
 

The early chatter in Buffalo and Albany is that the Bills were dropping an initial offer they knew would not be the final product. But there has also been speculation among some sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, that the Bills might not be as committed as they have been to remaining in Buffalo if their first bid to try to engage New York State and Erie County was at a level that politicians could never accept, either for financial or political reasons, or both.
 

Ryan, for one, believes the Pegulas are stable owners who have “demonstrated a strong commitment to Buffalo.” Ryan’s district includes Orchard Park and the current stadium area.
 

"The Pegulas have built their brand around Buffalo, they have invested in our community, and the Bills are the best they have been in years. Moving the team out of Western New York now would be impractical for them and for the National Football League, whose commissioner has professed his desire for stability and for the Bills to be successful in Buffalo. I am confident the state and county will be able to work with the Pegulas to fully explore all options and come up with the best plan for Western New York," the senator said.
 

The other Democratic senator from Buffalo, Tim Kennedy, said he expects the end deal for a stadium will be a public/private partnership.

“The Bills leaving our community is not an option. While this is the beginning of a negotiation, we expect these conversations will be ongoing over the next many months and couple of years before there is a contract set in stone," Kennedy said last week.
 

New York State, he believes, “will play a critical role” in keeping the team in the area for the economic boosts the team provides “besides just being the fabric and identity of who we are as a region."

As for the team’s 100% financing ask of taxpayers, Kennedy said: “I think it’s just the beginning of a negotiation, the beginning of a conversation. I expect the conversation is going to change a number of times, if not many times, before a final contract is signed."
 

</snip>

 

[Ann]

Bills new stadium FAQ: Here’s what we’re hearing — and what we know—about the project
Tim Graham
The Athletic (paid site)

</snip>
 

Why has PSE settled on Orchard Park as the location and not downtown Buffalo?
 

The answer is a no-brainer based on information I’ve obtained.
 

PSE’s budget for a downtown stadium came out to around $2.5 billion. That includes land acquisitions and colossal infrastructure considerations such as Thruway exits and onramps, sewer lines and parking structures. Much of the latter would fall on taxpayers regardless. Construction would take about six years.
 

Contrary to the much-repeated, published report, I have confirmed PSE’s budget for an Orchard Park stadium is $1.4 billion. The construction timeframe would be inside four years.
 

The new Orchard Park stadium would be built across Abbott Road in what is now a county-owned parking lot. If the Erie Community College South Campus were to close, as many community leaders anticipate, then the Bills will have even more room for their campus.
 

The Bills would continue to play in Highmark Stadium until construction is complete.
 

Does that mean the downtown stadium is dead?
 

Probably, but there’s still a small chance. Let’s say the governor’s office insists money be invested in an economic engine for downtown Buffalo and ponies enough of the cost. Then downtown is where the new stadium will go.

But that doesn’t seem likely.
 

</snip>

[B-Man]

Can it at least be a dome ?

 

 

[Nanker]

Cuomo is gone. Good riddance to that gavone. 

[GG1]

Timmah added a lot more detail than the original Buff News piece, and he made sure that the world knew it.    

 

Wish he would stick to his day job, which he's very good at.

[Beer__League__Hockey]

10 hours ago, B-Man said:

Can it at least be a dome ?

 

 

[GG1]

10 hours ago, B-Man said:

Can it at least be a dome ?

 

 

 

They should build it like the Euro soccer stadiums & Hard Rock redesign with the canopy over the seats.