Toronto, Ontario (WBEN) - As the new Highmark Stadium continues to go up along Abbott Road in Orchard Park, discussions are already underway about plans to bring a number of different events to the new state-of-the-art facility in the years to come.
Pete Guelli, COO of both the Buffalo Bills and Sabres, says efforts to aggressively pursue events like the NFL Draft and the NHL Winter Classic or Stadium Series to take place at the new stadium remain ongoing.
But what about events like Major League Soccer, or even international soccer friendlies? Guelli says that's also on the table in the discussions to come.
"We want that facility to be a multi-purpose stadium, and soccer is absolutely something we'll zero in on," said Guelli in an interview with WBEN on Tuesday.
Among the influencing pieces to attract a number of soccer events at the new Highmark Stadium will be new Bills limited partner Jozy Altidore. Altidore is an icon of U.S. Soccer, having played a number of years in the MLS, the English Premier League, and representing the United States in several international competitions.
"It's amazing having someone with Jozy's background as a limited partner with the organization, and we're going to tap into his institutional knowledge, and try to figure out what's the best way to bring events like soccer to the stadium," Guelli noted.
Guelli feels any soccer match they believe people would show interest in locally should be up for consideration.
"If it's an MLS game, if it's international friendly, if it's any type of soccer match that we think our fans in Buffalo would be interested in having, we'd love to have it there. That's kind of the cool thing about soccer. There's just a number of different directions you can go in, and we think people will respond to it," Guelli said.
While in Toronto on Tuesday, the Bills announced a partnership with Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), who owns such entities as the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL), Toronto Argonauts (CFL) and Toronto FC (MLS) that is geared toward growing the game of football in Southern Ontario and Canada.
Guelli feels it one day could be a possibility where MLSE and Toronto FC may bring soccer camps or other soccer-related activities to help grow the game further in Western New York.
"That's why we wanted to partner with a brand like MLSE. They're as integrated as you can be up here. They've got massive scope, they're wired into the marketplace, and they've got a number of different properties that we could potentially partner with in the future," Guelli said.
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As for Altidore, he's hopeful and optimistic that the idea of soccer matches in Western New York and the new Highmark Stadium will be approached with an open mind.
"Soccer is growing all the time, and with the way the new stadium is being built, there's not one bad sight line in the house," said Altidore with WBEN on Tuesday. "I think a lot of it was taken for some of the bigger European stadiums that we have in Europe, in the English Premier League. So I think we'll get lucky. I'm hopeful that we'll see a couple of soccer games there, the venue is perfect for it. And between the U.S. and Canada, there's a lot of fans that, I think, would travel to watch either of those teams perform in that stadium."
While Altidore will do what he can to help bring these types of soccer matches to Buffalo, he's curious how the Bills can curate an event where the team leverages what has made football so successful among the fans, and then spread some of that into a match in Orchard Park.
"I think it could be something special, definitely could be something we can do. But it'll take some time to kind of understand what's needed to put on a good event and these type of things," he noted. "But definitely something to think about in the future, absolutely."
Meanwhile, Altidore feels the future of soccer is strong and endless not just in Buffalo and Western New York, but on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.
"You look at both sides, both really multicultural places where you have a lot of different diversities coming through. I think that's what makes Toronto so special, and that's why we've seen from the Toronto FC standpoint, the fans follow and show out in the numbers they do," Altidore said. "So the idea for us, I think, in combining the two is, can we identify similar talent? Can we make Buffalo soccer people feel that there is an organization that cares about what they're doing, which I think we can do. It'll be a work in progress, but it'd be lovely to kind of spread some of that soccer aspect into Buffalo."
Construction of the new Highmark Stadium remains on schedule, and is slated to open come July 2026.
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