Tag: Buffalo Bills

Apr 10

2022

Monday Morning Read

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Below is the latest “What I’m Reading” portion of our email newsletter that publishes every Sunday. You can subscribe for free here. Let’s discuss “opportunity costs” for a few minutes. An opportunity cost is when you spend money on something at the expense of spending it on something else. An example: You’ve got $100 to spend. You put it towards a nice dinner rather than, say, buying a new winter jacket. That said, the decision by state — and soon, county officials — to spend $1.13 billion to build and maintain a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills involves a huge opportunity[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Apr 3

2022

Monday Morning Read

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This week’s reposting of the “What I’m Reading” section of my weekly newsletter is topped by a couple of  fresh items that published in newspapers Sunday. You can subscribe to DailyPost here. It’s free and arrives via email at 6 a.m. every Sunday. I devoted the entire newsletter this week to coverage of the Bills stadium deal, which has generated a lot of attention – and press – across the state and beyond. For perspective, consider this story from USA Today. The Tennessee Titans are planning a new stadium and the speaker of the state House of Representatives told a[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Mar 30

2022

Conflicting cost estimates to rehab stadium

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This story was updated Friday, April 1, at 12:39 p.m. Last November, a consultant working for New York State said it would cost $862 million to renovate the current home of the Buffalo Bills, Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.  That number was often cited by team representatives and local and state officials as they advocated for what they said was a more cost-effective alternative: a new $1.4 billion stadium. “Many people believe you can renovate the stadium,” Jim Wilkinson, a spokesperson for Pegula Sports and Entertainment, told the Buffalo News in August. “That’s just not realistic.” Erie County Executive Mark[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Mar 29

2022

State lawmakers object to Bills stadium deal

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New York state Assemblyman Ron Kim did not hold back on Tuesday when asked for his thoughts on the plan to commit $1.13 billion in public funds to help the billionaire owners of the Buffalo Bills build a new $1.4 billion stadium in Orchard Park.  Tempering enthusiasm expressed on Monday by Gov. Kathy Hochul and other advocates for the project, the Bronx Democrat described the Bills stadium proposal as “one giant scam” that he predicts will be a “horrible” deal for New York State.  “The process of how we got here speaks volume of where we are in the state[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Mar 28

2022

Taxpayer hit on Bills stadium tops $1 billion

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The fear: A new Bills stadium would cost taxpayers $1 billion. The reality: It’s going to cost even more. The deal announced Monday commits the state to spending $600 million upfront to help cover construction costs. Erie County would put up an additional $250 million. But the subsidies don’t stop there. The state is also on the hook for $100 million over 15 years to cover stadium maintenance and repairs. The county and the state authority created to oversee the stadium would be obligated to kick in $180 million over the 30-year lease for capital improvements. Most, if not all of[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Mar 21

2022

Smart reads on the Bills stadium

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I’ve got three items related to the Bills stadium situation that I want to share. The Citizens Budget Commission came out Monday in favor of an idea that’s bound to go nowhere because it makes too much sense: base the state’s investment in a new Bills stadium on the actual benefits it would produce for taxpayers. Said the commission:  All economic development spending, whether direct, through tax incentives, or through reduced utility or other costs, should be justified by a rigorous analysis that shows that the public benefits that would accrue will exceed the public’s costs. New York does not[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Mar 16

2022

Bills stadium plans are an outlier

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Most modern NFL stadiums operate as year-round destinations. Their development includes shops, restaurants, bars and the like, or they are built in proximity to existing entertainment venues.  While the offerings vary, the goal is the same: provide reasons for people to visit beyond 10 football games a year.  The Bills are demanding a $1.4 billion, 62,000-seat, open-air stadium in Orchard Park. Those plans make no mention of ancillary development common at most other stadiums. What’s more, Town of Orchard Park officials told Investigative Post the team has not spoken to them about any related development. The apparent lack of ancillary[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Mar 9

2022

Bill targets federal stadium subsidy

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It’s not clear whether the Buffalo Bills will seek federal help to build a $1.4 billion stadium in Orchard Park. But a bill recently proposed by three Democratic members of Congress would prevent the team from getting at least one federal subsidy that several downstate projects have enjoyed.  The three Congress members — Jackie Speier, (D-California), Earl Blumenauer, (D-Oregon), and Congressman Don Beyer, (D-Virginia) — last month introduced the No Tax Subsidies for Stadiums Act of 2022. The bill that would bar major league teams from using tax-exempt municipal bonds to help finance stadium construction.  “This issue comes down to[...]

Posted 3 years ago
Investigative Post