NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Bills’ future in Buffalo

BUFFALO, NY – Speaking at the Jim Kelly Celebrity Golf Tournament on Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league wanted to keep the Bills in Buffalo – but at a new stadium.

“You have to think long term here,” Goodell said. “It has been going on for decades and it is time to build a new stadium so that we can make sure the Bills are there and successful for many decades to come.

“We focus on maintaining invoices [in Buffalo] in a new stadium in public-private partnership. This is what it is and this is what we are focusing on. “

Bills owners Kim and Terry Pegula have submitted a proposal for a $ 1.4 billion stadium across from the team’s current stadium in Orchard Park, for which its 10-year lease will end in 2023.

Pegula Sports & Entertainment (PSE) spokesman Jim Wilkinson said the team are waiting to move forward with their plans for the stadium until an agreement with Erie County is reached. be concluded and that “the city of Buffalo and the state are going to have to decide if they want a team.”

But Goodell’s comments add credence to the belief that PSE’s thinly veiled threat to relocate is just a bargaining ploy and that the team will ultimately stay in western New York.

The 15-year-old commissioner said he discussed the subject of the Bills Stadium almost every time he visited Buffalo – dating back to the 1990s, when the topic revolved more around stadium renovations. Even then, Goodell said, they knew the renovations would only be a temporary fix and the time would come when a new stadium was needed.

“We are definitely beyond that,” he said. “I think a new stadium is what is needed. I think it’s going to require a public and private partnership. I think the Bills, the community and the NFL are all going to have to come together and do it in a smart way. “

Since 1973, the Bills have played in Erie County-owned Highmark Stadium, the fourth oldest stadium in the NFL. The county has invested more than $ 200 million in renovations to the stadium during the 10-year lease it signed in 2013, but Wilkinson estimated that the renovation and modernization of Highmark Stadium would cost around $ 1 billion – and that the renovation talks are “over.” “

Goodell said he was unsure of the stadium’s timeline, but added that the team’s new stadium had to be “built for Buffalo” and “fit for Buffalo.”

Erie County Commissioner Mark Poloncarz said PSE never openly threatened to leave during negotiations and the county was ready to make a deal as long as it was fair to all parties involved.