I’ve been extremely critical of the Buffalo News’ coverage of the Bills‘ stadium discussions, and for good reason: Its editorials have been consistently banging the drum for a new facility even when the team’s owners seemed lukewarm about it. But just to show that journalistic enterprises aren’t monolithic entities, News Albany bureau chief Tom Precious has written an in-depth report on the team’s stadium plans, and yes, I have buried the lede here:
It’s one of the largest asks for public money in pro sports stadium negotiations: Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the team’s owners, have pitched a $1.5 billion proposal for a new stadium in Orchard Park and to help cover some renovation costs to the Pegulas’ NHL Sabres arena in downtown Buffalo.
The public would provide an unprecedented 100%, according to multiple sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the high sensitivity of the early stage of negotiations.
One-point-five billion dollars! That is even more than the $1 billion floated previously (though about $400 million would go toward arena renovations for the Sabres, also owned by Kim and Terry Pegula). And 100% public funding would indeed make it the largest subsidy in sports history, depending on how the fine print works out around things like whether the Pegulas would pay rent or property taxes, who would cover land acquisition costs, etc.
We can’t know any of that for sure, in part because Precious bases his story entirely on unnamed sources — they also tell him the Pegulas are “hoping for a swift resolution in the next couple of months” and that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office and an outside consultant have “only recently begun” the “initial due diligence process.” The massive public funding ask is not likely to go down easily with state legislators, he notes, in part thanks to how it went the last time Cuomo funneled $1.5 billion into Buffalo redevelopment.
The underlying threat, of course, is that the Pegulas would take the Bills and go elsewhere without a new stadium, something the owners have so far been hesitant to threaten in public, but apparently not in private:
The team has made no overt threats, sources say, to leave Buffalo if it doesn’t get the full funding request, but it has made clear to government negotiators that there are other cities elsewhere that desire an NFL franchise and would pay handsomely for it.
As Mike Florio of NBC Sports adds, “the Pegulas may need to persuade state and local officials that they’re willing to move the team in order to get the kind of public money they want.” Then he amplifies the unstated threat himself, declaring that “the clock is ticking” (because the Bills’ lease expires in 2023, which is not really a deadline for anything since leases can be extended and it would take longer than that for the Bills to find a new home regardless) and that “at a time when Bills fans have a reason to be excited about their team, they soon may have to begin worrying about its potential exit.” Which, sure, it’s the NFL, where teams can play on Antichthon so long as they get a cut of national TV money, so franchises moving is always a threat, but as a Buffalo hockey team owner and local real estate developer and marketer of “One Buffalo” beer and ice cream brands, Terry Pegula might not be so quick to shuffle off to Greensboro if he doesn’t want to burn all his bridges. (Though having sports reporters drop names of cities like Austin as places that “desire an NFL franchise and would pay handsomely for it” obviously costs Pegula nothing.)
More on this to come, surely. In the meantime, it’s interesting to speculate on who would want to leak this $1.5 billion ask with a spin of “$1.5 billion???!?” and not even any accompanying fumfering about how necessary it would be for the economy or anything. Cuomo staffers upset about the tremendous subsidy demand? State legislators concerned about the budget? The groper-in-chief himself, trying to strengthen his negotiating position for reducing the state’s share of costs even as he’s been a prime cheerleader for the stadium project? It’s one to follow closely, as right now every man, woman, nonbinary adult, and child in New York state would be on the hook for around $77 apiece to help out the Bills’ billionaire owners — yes, even Jets and Giants fans.
Technically, aren’t the Bills New York’s only NFL team?
As Mayor Koch said, regarding the prospect of a Giants’ Super Bowl victory, “These are the New Jersey Giants, and they should have their ticker-tape parade [there].”
New York’s NFC club is incorporated as “New York Football Giants, Inc.”
Besides, Ed Koch is still dead.
But he probably still votes.
Prost: Excellent point. This should mean they are free to move to Manhattan or Long Island… with the Giants and Jets – being out of state teams – having no say in the matter.
If the Bills are going to threaten to leave, they need to come up with a more viable threat than Austin. Yes, it is a population center, but as a result of it being a college town. It is embarrassing for the Chargers to be such a sad 2nd fiddle in LA, but imagine how far down the Bills will be compared to the Longhorns. Even if they do, I doubt there would be enough votes in NY to throw state money at the Bills to fund a stadium.
If an NFL team starts playing in Austin they will immediately be bigger than the Longhorns. Similar situation to LA with the Trojans, who were the better team in 2005.
UT is in the blood there. It’s not at all like LA where USC isn’t even the only major college.
USC average home attendance 2014-19: 67,430
LA Rams avg home attendance 2014-19: 66,606
Reality, what a bummer.
The Rams were still in St. Louis 2014-15.
So they were, thank you. Apologies, the stats site I got the info from had them listed as the LA Rams back to 2014 and I failed to check that.
The Rams also papered the house the first season back in LA… so maybe we should focus on 2017-2019 as comparables only?
Neil, you are taking a leaking bureaucrat’s claim at face value. Show a little skepticism.
This must be the single greatest illustration of the power of journalism.
Not only have the Buffalo scribes managed to convince a skeptical team owner that a new stadium is necessary and that it must cost at least $1Bn, they have also managed to convince the Pegulas that their hockey team needs almost half a billion in improvements too.
If that isn’t moving the needle, I don’t know what is.
San Diego, St. Louis, Orlando… San Antonio…. the line forms to the left. Step right up and start bidding against yourselves for the right to be used as a stalking horse by the NFL (in some cases, again).
What! No Birmingham (Legion Field). No Memphis (Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium). No Shreveport (Independence Bowl). So the line forms to the left, we don’t get to stand in line? Prejudice against southern cities with old stadiums?
Birmingham Bills sounds better than Greensboro Bills!
I’ve always thought the El Paso Bills had a nice ring to it. But that’s me.
This would also clear the way for the Buffalo Wings XFL team to start playing in Orchard park.
Isn’t Birmingham building a new stadium to replace Legion field, btw?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protective_Stadium
Not NFL “right sized” to provide economic and other benefits.
I propose the state I live in build me a $10 million house and they pay for it 100%. Back to reality, I think they move to Toronto if anywhere
Doubtful. The games the Bills have played up there were greeted with a yawn and they ended up having to give tickets away. And “free stadiums” aren’t really a thing in Canada. (Or at least are less common.) Check out the Calgary Flames situation. That’s a 50/50 split and has still been contentious with them currently fighting over cost overruns which would be considered quaint by NFL stadium construction standards.
I grew up in WNY and used to go to games at the old War Memorial Stadium, and still follow the Bills.
It would be so nice if the elected officials in WNY and in state government said no to this ridiculous offer. It’s time to end the corporate welfare for billionaires. I say let the Pegula’s build their own stadium, and they can run it as they see fit. All the profits, naming rights, parking concessions, food, revenue from boxes/suites would be theirs to keep.
Perhaps as a token of appreciation for remaining in WNY, the governments might deed them the land and pay for roads leading into the new stadium, but that’s it. The stadium construction, operations and upgrades/repairs would be the responsibility of the Pegula’s.
You do realize, Neil, that if this approach actually caught on (next target: Indianapolis, where I also used to live and which is about as pathetic as can be when it comes to aid to billionaires) that would mean the demise of our favorite blog…..but I am sure we will get over it, and I am sure that you will find another scam to write about….
“All the profits, naming rights, parking concessions, food, revenue from boxes/suites would be theirs to keep.”
Those will be theirs to keep whether they pay anything for the stadium or not, if past practice is any guide.
Yeah, i realize that. My point is that it’s time for owners to start taking on the construction and operating costs in addition to reaping all the revenues. No more socialism for billionaires.
I am ready to retire this blog at a moment’s notice, if ever rich sports team owners stop doing the exact same thing they’ve been doing for 30 years.
(Every once in a while someone asks why I don’t write another stadium book, but it would just consist of: “See first book.”)
Thank you for writing ✍ that book and this blog!