Phoenix, Arizona (WGR) - As a native of Western New York, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has always understood the importance of the Buffalo Bills to the region and what building a new stadium and securing the team's future means for the region.
On Tuesday, while speaking at the annual league meetings here in Phoenix, Goodell, who is from Jamestown, shared his excitement for the opening of new Highmark Stadium this fall.
"I have a great deal of pride in Western New York," he said. "But I also have a great deal of pride in the Bills, and how they've been able to work through and get the stadium in a great public-private partnership with the state, the county, and Terry Pegula and his team stepping up. So I'm excited. I haven't seen the stadium in a few months, but we saw some more pictures this week that have me even more excited, so I look forward to being there."
Bills COO Pete Guelli said earlier this month that the team is on track to get the keys to the new stadium in June and that they'll be ready to host games when the preseason begins in August.
Prior to those games, Guelli said that the first big event in the stadium will most likely be the annual Blue and Red scrimmage the Bills host during training camp.
"It's a football first facility," Guelli said. "It's a grass field. We want to make sure we're not doing anything that's going to take away from that first game that takes place there. So we're going to have a number of smaller events to kind of introduce the fans to the building and get people comfortable."
NFL Commissioner is from Western New York
