Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Erie County Legislature has been assured the Buffalo Bills are here to stay for the duration of a 30-year lease the body will vote on in the coming weeks that also includes agreement on construction of a new stadium adjacent to the existing facility in Orchard Park.
Of the $850 million in public funding being allocated for the approximate $1.5 billion stadium, 17-percent of the cost is on the shoulder of Erie County, 42-percent being funded from New York State and the remaining cost is assigned to the Bills.
Any cost overruns are not the responsibility of the county, stressed Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz as he walked through the complex memorandum of understanding for legislators during a caucus session Thursday.
Legislators will now further review the MOU before formally voting on it as soon as in early May. Poloncarz says detailed negotiations on the lease language is currently being hammered out in the background while formal approvals are awaited.
There is still lack of finite clarity on the cost of the personal seat licenses that will be required for all Bills season ticket holders under the new agreement. “We are working on that as we speak,” said Ron Raccuia, Executive Vice President of Pegula Sports & Entertainment, who has negotiated the terms of the lease on behalf of the team. Raccuia assures Bills fans and the community that the PSL's for the Bills will be among the most affordable in the NFL.
Legislators peppered Raccuia and Poloncarz with questions on the deal and at one point John Gilmour asked about why the Orchard Park site instead of something downtown or in Buffalo. "Building in Orchard Park was the best option. Unequivocally,” said Raccuia. He went on to add that the costs associated with building downtown would be at least $1 billion more than the Orchard Park site.
While the exact stadium site has not been finalized, it will be on the opposite side of Abbott Road adjacent to Highmark Stadium. The exact footprint of the stadium may move a 'few feet' here and there according to Raccuia and would be based on final site analysis. "There are crews out there now."
Erie County Legislator Joe Lorigo tells WBEN he feels confident the MOU will be approved by the legislature but he does note there are some aspects of the deal that need to be finalized and hashed out, the community benefits agreement as an example, before lawmakers feel comfortable signing-off on the agreement. Poloncarz also reiterated that the community benefits agreement is not complete.
The agreement also protects the county from the Bills being able to move the team during the term of the 30 year lease, even if the ownership were to change hands for any reason.
While Poloncarz has repeatedly said the team may have relocated if the current deal had not been agreed to, Raccuia insists the priority all along through the process was to work out a deal with the county and New York State to keep the team in Buffalo.
The Bills are prohibited from speaking to another market or negotiating with another entity until September 1, something that would only need to occur in the highly unlikely event the agreed-upon lease and deal were to fall through somehow.
