A $1.4 billion deal has been announced for a new Buffalo Bills stadium in Orchard Park.
The agreement between New York State, Erie County and the NFL‘s Buffalo Bills franchise includes a 30-year commitment for the Bills to remain in Buffalo. NFL owners approved $550 million toward the deal in a meeting Monday. Governor Kathy Hochul proposed $600 million in the state budget with Erie County contributing $250 million.
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. 73 percent of the 2013 renovation was publicly financed. This proposal includes just 60.7 percent public financing, well below other recent NFL stadium deals in comparable markets. The State share is 43 percent.
The 30-year agreement details the construction of a new stadium with a minimum of 60,000 seats in Orchard Park, Erie County to be designed and constructed by the Buffalo Bills. The deal includes a commitment from the Bills to play at the new stadium for the next 30 years. The Bills will begin design of the new stadium immediately, and all parties will begin negotiations on extending the team’s current lease for Highmark Stadium that expires in 2023.
The stadium project is projected to create approximately 10,000 construction jobs and will be constructed using union labor in accordance with a Project Labor Agreement (PLA). The Bills will negotiate a PLA with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Buffalo, New York and Vicinity, AFL-CIO, on behalf of its affiliated local unions. The deal requires the Bills to agree to a Community Benefits Agreement, which is to be negotiated.
Erie County will transfer ownership of the current stadium and adjoining complex, which includes practice facilities and office space, to the State. The State will own the new stadium and adjoining complex, which will be leased to the Bills. In the event the Bills default on the agreement, the State and County have the right to go to court to enforce non-relocation terms. The new stadium can be used for civic purposes, such as, if necessary, vaccination delivery and election operations – as well as in emergencies.
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