Lackawanna, N.Y. (WBEN) - At least one person involved in the negotiations to build and finance a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills is confident a deal will be done, even if there is not an announcement by the end of the month.
"We don't have a signed agreement. We have resolved a lot of the big terms," said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. "There's some little things and stuff like that that are always sitting out there, but I like where we are, and I'm hopeful that we will be able to announce something by April 1."
Poloncarz also said that the reports of the state contributing $1 Billion to the stadium project are not accurate as he took more than 15 minutes worth of questions regarding the negotiations Wednesday.
There has been plenty of speculation over the past several weeks of a potential announcement coming from New York State, Erie County and the Bills of a deal in place to build a new stadium, likely across the street from Highmark Stadium on Abbott Road.
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Starting on Sunday, March 27, the NFL and its owners will meet in Palm Beach, Florida for their annual league meeting. There is potential that a deal could be, at least, agreed upon in principal for Terry and Kim Pegula to take to Florida to present at the owners' meetings. April 1, the deadline for the State to approve the yearly budget, has also been looked at as a deadline.
"When we are comfortable announcing what we have, we'll announce it," said Poloncarz on Wednesday. "I like our position, as I've said recently, but right now, we do not have a signed agreement. But I like where we are."
Poloncarz revealed on Wednesday the last few months of negotiations have been much better than the initial few months of talks, which led to the resolution of a lot of issues. While talks appear to be in the "nuts and bolts" stage, as Gov. Hochul expressed earlier this month, Poloncarz says a lot has gone into the negotiations that will continue.
"I want to remind everybody, this is not just a discussion on the construction of the stadium, but a long-term lease and everything that goes along with it," he said. "People are like, 'Well, why haven't you announced all the terms yet?' Well, not all the terms have been agreed upon. I think we're in a much better position than we were just a couple months ago."
As for the potential of there being a stadium deal to present for the NFL at the owners meetings in the coming days, Poloncarz says he will leave it up to the Bills to determine what they're going to discuss.
Even if there is no deal in place to be able to present to NFL owners this upcoming weekend, there still could be conversations relating to a new stadium, which then leads for the chance of leaks coming out of Palm Beach on a potential deal.
While there may be some worry about information of a potential stadium deal leaking, Poloncarz admitted more frustration with the amount of, what he calls, conjecture relating to negotiations.
"I think most of you know about two, three weeks ago, I made a statement regarding the negotiations and there was false information out there. Yes, there is false information out there, and I can tell you that it is with regards to some substantial terms," Poloncarz said. "Once all is said and done, people will find out. And it does bother me, because I think it makes it harder for us, all parties - the Bills, the county and the state - to reach an agreement that we can come out and say this is good for all parties."
"Soon enough, everyone will know the truth, and I think when they do, they'll look at it and go, 'That was a pretty good deal.'"
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"There's a lot of different things that go along with lease negotiations, and I think that's the best way to talk about it. It's lease negotiations," the Erie County Executive said. "It's construction of a new stadium and a long-term lease that goes with it. There's two different aspects associated: One's construction, one's everything that happens once the stadium is opened and the keys are given to the tenant. We're in a good place in both of them, but we don't have a signed agreement at this point."
While he answered many questions on the topic, Poloncarz did not get in to the specifics of the deal, maintaining that would not be known until it is signed and done.
"My goal has always been to get a long-term lease for this community so the Buffalo Bills stay the Buffalo Bills, basically, throughout the rest of my lifetime, and it's a fair deal for the people of Erie County," he said.
"I've negotiated a lot of deals in my life. I have never negotiated a deal as an attorney, as the county comptroller, as the county executive, where I got everything I wanted," Poloncarz said. "I can tell you right now, no one in the three parties that are associated with this deal will get everything they want. It's brass knuckles, sometimes. I'm an old hockey player, I know how to throw elbows, I know how to throw hip checks. Occasionally, if I have to, I can drop the gloves. Hopefully, you don't have to do that, and we didn't have to drop the gloves during the negotiations of the Bills lease."
You can listen to the entirety of Poloncarz's comments on Bills stadium negotiations below: