Bills new home cost ‘north of $2.1 billion’

Image: Buffalo Bills, Gilbane, Turner, and Populous

The projected cost of the National Football League (NFL) team Buffalo Bills’ (US) new stadium has ballooned to what the team officials recently said is “north of $2.1 billion” with Owners Terry and Kim Pegula responsible for picking up the more than $560 million in overruns.

‘AP’ stated that the Bills President Pete Guelli said he was not surprised by the amount given how the numbers have been tracking up since construction began 16 months ago. And he said the projected total represents the commitment the Pegulas have to the community because they are sticking to their vision for the facility without cutting corners to reduce costs.

The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metropolitan area (US). The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference East Division.

The 71,608-capacity Highmark Stadium is a stadium in Orchard Park, New York, United States, in the Southtowns of the Buffalo Metropolitan area. It is the home venue of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). The stadium opened in 1973.

The 62,000-capacity Highmark Stadium (also referred to as the New Highmark Stadium and colloquially as The Pit) is an American football stadium that is under construction in Orchard Park, New York (US). It will replace the Bills’ existing stadium of the same name and is expected to open in time for the 2026 NFL season.

New York (US)-based the National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams divided equally between the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference.

Added Guelli, “To sum that up, the Pegulas will not deviate from building a best-in-class stadium in Buffalo. It’s going to be an exceptional fan experience and an incredible place to play. I think we’re very proud that we can build a facility like this in Buffalo and have it available to our fans. We need this project to be a success for the team on and off the field and it will be.”

‘AP’ further stated that Guelli said the increased costs will not impact the timetable for completion. The stadium is being built across the street from the Bills’ current home and is on track to open by June 2026.

The taxpayers are committing a combined $850 million to the project – $600 million from the State and $250 million from the county. At the time of the deal reached two years ago that represented more than half the cost of the construction but now the taxpayers will be responsible for about 40 percent. The Bills are responsible for any overruns beyond $1.54 billion.

Maintained Mark Poloncarz, Erie County Executive, “I’m very pleased knowing that when all is said and done – and it still isn’t done, so it could go up even more – that the county is going to probably have contributed no more than 12 percent of the total cost which is a pretty good deal.”

The Pegulas are now on the hook for $1.25 billion in construction costs plus $144 million more as part of a community benefits package to be spread out over the 30-year lease.

The Bills are funding their share through an NFL loan program as well as raising money through a first-time seat licensing fee for the season ticket holders. Preliminary plans are also in the works to establish an entertainment zone featuring restaurants, bars and shops to be built once the existing stadium is razed.

Pegula is also raising money by seeking to sell off a minority share – no more than 25 percent – of the franchise though Guelli said the reasons behind the move are not connected to the increased construction costs. The Bills met with several interested groups over the Summer and into September with Pegula expected to identify a new partner by the end of the year.

The Pegulas bought the Bills for $1.4 billion from the estate of Late Hall of Fame Owner Ralph Wilson in 2014. Forbes most recently valued the Bills at $4.2 billion.

The new building will seat about 60,000 down from about 72,000 from the team’s existing stadium that opened in 1973 and is considered technologically outdated and experiencing cracks in its structure. Though the new stadium doesn’t include a roof it will feature curved sides to cover a majority of the seats.

And unlike the current facility which faces East-West the new building is positioned facing North-South to better protect the fans from the winds that blow in off nearby Lake Erie.

John Polka, Vice-President of Stadium Development, said inflation played a significant role in the price jump by pushing up the material construction costs. Two more contributing factors, he said, were increasing the labor costs and the design features that were added after the Bills completed their agreement with the State and the county.

Pointed out Polka, “We could have stopped at some point and said, let’s cut back. And that was not the case at all. In some cases, we’ve actually gone back in recent months and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got an idea or something that we think will enhance the fan experience or give us a better competitive advantage.’ And that’s really a testament to the Pegulas saying: ‘This is what we want to build. We designed it. This was our intent. There were the reasons behind it and we’re going to move forward with that.’”

New York’s Empire State Development (the primary economic development agency which aims to promote economic growth and job creation) which will oversee the operation of the new stadium noted that aside from having the State’s share reduced to about 29 percent the negotiated deal also resulted in $462 million in contracts awarded to the minority and the women-owned businesses.

Guelli, who took over as the President of the Bills and the Pegula-owned National Hockey League (NHL) team Buffalo Sabres in March, noted the significance of what the new stadium represents by recalling Bills fans’ fears of the franchise relocating when he previously worked for the team in the 2000s – “People were talking about the Bills potentially leaving and now there’s a $2 billion stadium going up across the street to keep the team in Buffalo long term. It’s pretty gratifying for everybody to be a part of it, especially with the Pegula family.”

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