The Buffalo Bills' current lease for the county-owned Highmark Stadium expires in 2023. As a result, sources told The News that negotiations between Pegula Sports & Entertainment, the state and Erie County are taking on a more serious tone in recent weeks.
Pegula Sports and Entertainment told Mayor Byron W. Brown this week that it will seek a "public-private partnership" with state and local government to build a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park.
A spokesman for Pegula Sports & Entertainment said the $1.1 billion figure for the stadium's cost was inaccurate, but declined to say whether the figure was higher or lower.
Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the team’s owners, have pitched a $1.5 billion proposal for a new stadium in Orchard Park and to help cover some renovation costs at KeyBank Center downtown.
Lawmakers don’t have a specific seat at the negotiating table, but they are likely going to have to be willing to approve – for years to come – annual state budgets that will, if the Buffalo Bills have their way, include payments of some kind for a new NFL stadium.
The Buffalo Bills' current lease for the county-owned Highmark Stadium expires in 2023. As a result, sources told The News that negotiations between Pegula Sports & Entertainment, the state and Erie County are taking on a more serious tone in recent weeks.
