Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - Since construction started on new Highmark Stadium three years ago, Gov. Kathy Hochul has made quite a few visits to the new $2.2 billion home of the Buffalo Bills.
But after touring the stadium just before Tuesday's formal ribbon cutting ceremonies, Hochul was even more impressed.
"It's magical," Hochul said. "We've waiting a long time for this."
Long gone are the days of the Bills playing home games in the beloved but decrepit War Memorial Stadium - aka the Rockpile - on Jefferson Avenue or the now being demolished Rich Stadium (or Highmark Stadium in its last years).
With all its bells and whistles, new Highmark Stadium has set a new standard for modern day NFL stadiums.
With wide concourses, luxurious private clubs and suites and great views - regardless of one's seat - Highmark Stadium is the stuff that fans dream of and have long coveted for the Bills.
Now, it is here.
Construction began three years ago with the intent of being football and fan-ready for the 2026 season.
Mission accomplished.
"It's one thing to talk about it," said Terry Pegula, Bills and Buffalo Sabres owner. "It is another thing to get it done."
A small army of nearly 6,000 construction workers made it happen.
Frank Cravotta, Bills senior vice president of design, said the stadium is 99% finished save for the installation of signs and artwork and addressing the post-construction punch list.
"We could play a game here tomorrow, if we had to," Cravotta said, "We are that far along."
At $2.2 billion, the stadium is the largest private sector-backed construction project in the region's history.
While New York State and Erie County chipped in a combined $850 million, the bulk of the stadium's development costs were paid for by Pegula.
Even securing New York's $600 million was a battle, said both Hochul and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
"There were downstate interests who didn't understand what the Bills mean to Buffalo," Hochul said. "The Bills are part of Western New York's identity and part of its psyche."
Hochul was determined to get the state allocation.
"I was not going to to be the governor whose tombstone read 'She was the one who let the Bills get away.' "
A big plus came in the 2012 stadium lease talks with then-owner and Bills' founder Ralph Wilson Jr. Part of the 10-year lease extension included a poison pill clause that anyone who bought the Bills - after Wilson died - and attempted to relocate the team would owe New York state and Erie County a combined $400 million in penalties.
After Wilson died in 2014, more than 20 interests looked at buying the Bills but the poison pill clause chased off all but three potential buyers, with Pegula paying a then-NFL record $1.4 billion for the team.
By 2019, some preliminary talks between the state, county and Bills focused on building a new stadium and the team signing a long term lease.. Those talks briefly stalled because of the COVID-19 pandemic but by 2021 when Hochul became governor, negotiations ramped up, with a new sense of urgency.
"This is a culmination of many years at work," Poloncarz said. "This investment is a worthy one."
"It's one thing to talk about it. It is another thing to get it done" - Terry Pegula
"It's one thing to talk about it. It is another thing to get it done" - Terry Pegula
