2 years ago
ALBANY — A new $1. 4 billion stadium for the Buffalo Bills will receive a record public subsidy of $850 million between state and county funding, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday.
The agreement, if approved in the state budget and by the NFL, would include $600 million from the state and $250 million from Erie County in an effort to keep the Bills in Buffalo for decades to come.
The combined $850 million would set a record for the most public money ever spent on an NFL stadium, topping the $750 million recently spent in Las Vegas.
"I went into 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 hard-working men and women of Western New York and how can we get the best deal for taxpayers?" Hochul said in a statement.
"I'm pleased that after months of negotiations, we've come out with the best answers possible — the Bills will stay in Buffalo for another 30 years, the project will create 10,000 union jobs and New Yorkers can rest assured that their investment will be recouped by the economic activity the team generates."
Hochul said the deal, which commits the team to staying in Western New York for 30 years, would be worth it due to the $27 million a year in taxes the team will generate.
“The cost of the stadium is paid back in the 22nd year because of the revenues we’re going to be driving,” she said. “That would not be there if the team is not there," Hochul told The Buffalo News.
She promised the deal is “ironclad” due to a provision that will require the team to fund the entire construction cost if they move.
The deal still requires a few more steps before it’s official. League owners are expected to approve a $200 million share of the project at their meeting in Florida on Monday.
And at least some of the state share will need to pass with the state budget that is due by Thursday. While plenty of legislators have grumbled about the project, there are no signs of serious efforts to hold up the entire budget over it.
“While there are more hurdles to clear before getting to the finish line, we feel our public-private partnership between New York State, Erie County, led by County Executive Mark Poloncarz, and the National Football League will get us there,” Bills owners Kim and Terry Pegula said in a statement.
Hochul has spent most of her adult life living in Hamburg, the Buffalo suburb that neighbors the Bills home of Orchard Park, and it was clear the devoted Bill fans wanted a deal as part of the budget and as she seeks election this year.
Still, the combined $550 million from the NFL and Bills, whose owners are billionaires, drew mixed reactions for the heavy public financing, and some lawmakers and fiscal watchdog groups have questioned the taxpayer investment.
Hochul said, though, that the share of public financing is reduced from previous stadium deals. In 1973, the construction of Highmark Stadium was 100 percent publicly financed, as was the 1998 renovation and training facility construction.
In this deal, the public financing would be 61 percent, which she claimed is "well below other recent NFL stadium deals in comparable markets."
The agreement calls for a new stadium with a minimum of 60,000 seats in Orchard Park to be designed and constructed by the Buffalo Bills.
The current lease expires in 2023, and Erie County would transfer ownership of the current stadium and adjoining complex, which includes practice facilities and office space, to the state.
So the state would own the new stadium and adjoining complex, which will be leased to the Bills, Hochul said.
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