Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Thursday was a busy day for both Erie County and the Buffalo Bills.
It all started with Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz presenting more details of the Memorandum of Understanding agreed upon between the County, the Bills and New York State. Also in attendance to answer some questions of the new stadium deal in Orchard Park was Executive Vice President of Pegula Sports and Entertainment, Ron Raccuia.
During Thursday's presentation, Poloncarz assured the Erie County Legislature the Bills are here to stay for the duration of a 30-year lease that will be finalized as part of the deal. It also includes an agreement on the construction of a new stadium adjacent to the existing facility in Orchard Park.
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A critical part of a new stadium deal for the Bills going forward will be a non-relocation agreement, ensuring that the team does not prematurely leave Western New York before the end of the 30-year lease agreement in 2055.
"The non-relocation agreement will not only bind the current owners, but any potential subsequent owners [to Western New York]," said Poloncarz on Thursday. "We hope the Pegulas live a long time. Mr. [Ralph] Wilson lived a long time and finally passed when he was in his 90s, but we have to be prepared for the possibility that there may be a change in ownership. So the agreement will require any owner that may be subsequent to the Pegulas to follow these terms, and they would have to keep the team in Buffalo. They just couldn't move it because they wanted to."
There has been some speculation and belief from the likes of Poloncarz and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul that if a new stadium deal did not get done when it did, the Bills could have left Western New York for a larger market. Just this past Monday, Poloncarz even brought up cities like San Diego, California, San Antonio, Texas and Orlando, Florida as three markets he was most worried about trying to woo a team like the Bills to their city.
However, the Bills squashed any of those concerns on Thursday, saying that any talks of the team leaving town were simply not true.
"Our sole focus was to get the deal done that we got done," Raccuia said following Thursday's presentation. "We're in the phases of getting that accomplished. We still have some things to do. As we mentioned [Thursday, it's] another good step. But that's been our sole focus from Day 1. So we're proud of where we've gotten thus far, but we still have a lot of work to do."
From the team's perspective during negotiations for a new stadium in Orchard Park, a non-relocation agreement was a critical part of getting a deal tentatively agreed upon. Now it's about getting it finalized as part of the official stadium deal come September.
"We're not looking to relocate. We've asked for a very, very strong public-private partnership. Non-relocation was always going to be a component of that. We're comfortable with it," Raccuia said. "As I mentioned earlier [Thursday], I mean, the Pegulas' commitment to this community is unparalleled. It's been that way since 2011 when they got here, and the relocation agreement will be another example of that."
While a non-relocation agreement won't be officially announced until all the other agreements have been finalized and voted on by the Erie County Legislature by Sept. 1, talks have already begun with a number of aspects to a final stadium deal, including the non-relocation agreement.
As part of the MOU currently in place, the Bills are not allowed to speak with any other markets about possibly moving the team until Sept. 1, and that's only if a stadium deal has not been finalized and talks between all parties are not in a good place.
Despite that, Raccuia was adamant that during the whole negotiation process leading up to the MOU, no other markets had reached out to the Bills about moving, nor did the team talk to other markets about any possibility of skipping town.
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Raccuia was also asked about a number of other aspects being looked at for a new Bills stadium in Orchard Park.
One of the bigger, yet newer talking points for the stadium upcoming is the sale of PSLs (Personal Seat License). The plan for PSLs is for every season ticket to come with one, and for those PSLs to be the most affordable in the NFL.
"I think they're going to start somewhere around $1,000 or less," Raccuia said. "They won't have the high mobility that other teams have. Some other teams have really significant PSLs, ours just won't have that. The vast majority of ours will be in a very affordable range, and they'll be priced pretty low for a vast number of our fans."
As for some of the design aspects of the new stadium, Raccuia reiterated the team's desire to build a facility that is going to be built for the Bills, the fans and for the community
"The main function of this stadium is to win football games, so loud, intense. That's our fan base. We need them in the stadium," Raccuia said. "This is a unique and really exciting opportunity, because we get to build a football stadium for Buffalo, for the Buffalo Bills.
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"What we're building is utterly unique in today's NFL. There has not been a modern NFL stadium built specifically for its home team and its own community since the early 2000s. So we've got this unique opportunity to create something really special in Buffalo."
When it comes to specific design concepts for a new facility, Raccuia says the team has taken all sorts of considerations into effect, especially when taking in other design concepts from stadiums all over the world. He also says it's important to have a facility that has the ability to adapt and change with the times.
"The flexibility in how you design the stadium is critical," Raccuia explained. "We want to make sure that the stadium is sustainable for 30 years and can adapt as those things change, and it will be. Populous - our architects - Legends - our construction, our project manager - they're world-renowned in doing that. We've got the utmost confidence that they'll accomplish it."
As for when Bills fans may be able to get their first glimpse of any stadium concepts, Raccuia hopes to be able to release some drawn up designs some time "soon."
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Hear more of our conversation with Raccuia in the player below: