Camila Sosa
The Buffalo Bills’ stay at Highmark Stadium seems to have its days counted after the organization reached an agreement with New York State to fund a new stadium.
As revealed by the state’s own governor, Kathy Hochul, the stadium will cost $1,4B dollars that will be paid as follows: $600M will come from the taxes of the State of New York, $250M will be paid by the County of Erie, and the other $550M will be paid by the Bills.
For their part, NFL owners not only approved the construction of the new stadium, but they also gave the Bills what is called a G4 loan, totaling $200M, to cover construction costs. According to the rules of this program, the Bills’ owners must at least match the loan taking into account that this contribution was already included as part of the financing package.
“I entered these negotiations trying to answer three questions: How long can we keep the Bills in Buffalo, how can we make sure this project benefits the working men and women of Western New York, and how can we get the best deal for taxpayers?,” explained Hochul, native from Buffalo. “I am pleased that after months of negotiations, we have obtained the best possible answers.”
Without elaborating, Hochul said the project, which has a 30-year tie between the state and the team, will create 10,000 jobs generated by the Buffalo Bills’ economic activity, while the state projected that as the only NFL team based in New York, it could generate around $27M in direct annual revenue for the state.
“As we talked about it, we took another step in our collective goal of building a new stadium for the Buffalo fans at Orchard Park. We thank Governor Hochul and her team for their time, effort and perseverance throughout this process. While there are still yards to go before crossing the finish line, we believe a public-private partnership between New York State, Erie County, led by County Commissioner Mark Poloncarz, and the NFL will allow us to do so,” Buffalo Bills owners Brothers Terry and Kim Pegula said in a statement.
This plan must be put to a vote among state and county taxpayers, and if approved the bill of the new facilities could be built in time for the start of the 2026 season. The Bills’ existing lease with the state and county was extended until July 2023.
Buffalo Bills Stadium: the Most Expensive for Taxpayers
The deal that could be approved between New York State and the Buffalo Bills is considered the largest public commitment to an NFL facility and is intended to secure the team’s long-term future in Buffalo with a stadium that will hold around 60,000 spectators and be built across the street from the Bills’ current stadium.
According to a report by The Buffalo News, previously the largest commitment of taxpayer funds for an NFL stadium came to the Las Vegas Raiders with $750M of public funds directed to the construction of Allegiant Stadium, which opened in 2010 and cost $1.97B.
However, if the total percentage of contributions is taken into account and not the amount in money, there have been higher divisions of public and private funds for NFL facilities. For example, taxpayers covered 86% of the $720M cost to build the Indianapolis Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium, which opened in 2008. In addition, the public commitment for the Cincinnati Bengals’ Paul Brown Stadium, which opened in 2000, covered $425M of the $450M in construction costs.
In the case of this new Buffalo Bills stadium, while the 60% taxpayer burden is considered high, the agreed funding is historically adjusted. The state and county have shared about 73% of the cost of building, maintaining and improving the Bills’ existing facility, now called Highmark Stadium, which opened in 1973, and which would require $862M to be completely renovated, according to a study conducted last November.
