Tag: Buffalo Bills

Dec 23

2021

iPost suit prompts release of stadium reports

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Since August, Investigative Post has been pressing Kathy Hochul’s administration to release two studies related to a proposed new stadium for the Buffalo Bills.  The state’s response: We couldn’t possibly. The governor’s people told us the documents, “if disclosed, would impair present or imminent contract awards.” Our response: We filed a lawsuit seeking their release under the state Freedom of Information Law. In the face of that litigation, the Hochul administration Thursday released what appears to be one of the two studies, along with two other documents that may be a portion of the other report we’re suing to obtain.[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Dec 21

2021

Poor leadership on display in stadium talks

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It looks like Buffalo is going to keep its losing streak intact when it comes to major planning decisions. You know the history.  Expanding the University at Buffalo campus in Amherst is the mother of bad planning decisions. Add to the list running the Scajaquada Expressway through the middle of Delaware Park and dividing the East Side, and its majestic Humboldt Parkway, with the Kensington Expressway. The Skyway, anyone? And, of course, building a football stadium in Orchard Park. We’re about to see history repeat itself with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s announcement Monday that she’s good with replacing the stadium in[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Dec 13

2021

Little economic benefit from new stadium

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A new stadium for the Buffalo Bills would boost the Western New York economy as much as a new Target store. Which is to say, very little. While some supporting construction of a new stadium maintain it would be an economic boon, research by economists across the political spectrum has found stadiums generate limited new spending. Rather, they simply redirect how leisure dollars are spent.  “All you are doing is moving time and money around. People are going to the game instead of the movies,” said Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, a national subsidy watchdog group. Nor[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Dec 1

2021

iPost sues to obtain Bills stadium studies

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Investigative Post filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court today seeking the release of two studies that are central to negotiations involving a proposed new stadium for the Buffalo Bills. Both studies were commissioned by Pegula Sports and Entertainment, which is affiliated with the Bills, and shared with Empire State Development, the state’s primary economic development agency.  One study considered the feasibility of building a new stadium or renovating Highmark Stadium, the cost of doing so, and the possible location of a new venue. The other study evaluated the economic impact of the Bills and other sports and entertainment holdings[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Nov 24

2021

Downtown Bills stadium could displace 3,000

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Building a football stadium on the edge of downtown could displace up to 3,000 residents, as well as schools, churches and other neighborhood “institutions,” according to a report published by The Athletic.  A downtown facility would impact more residents in and around the Old First Ward than previously reported because the stadium would require more land to comply with a “mandatory Department of Homeland security perimeter,” event staging and game day requirements. In short, a stadium located along South Park Avenue near Louisiana and Hamburg streets would require a much larger footprint than previously believed. The site would need to[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Sep 1

2021

Leaked plans for proposed Bills stadium

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Details are starting to leak on the proposal by the Buffalo Bills to build an open air stadium in Orchard Park. The team and public officials they are negotiating with are refusing to release the study the proposal is based on, but the Associated Press reports that plans call for a 60,000-seat facility. Our partners at WGRZ reported on the latest development Wednesday; their story included comment from our Mark Scheer, who is covering the stadium for Investigative Post.

Posted 4 years ago

Mar 26

2015

Panel split on need for new Bills stadium

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A new stadium for the Buffalo Bills would cost $1 billion to construct and require up to $600 million in public infrastructure improvements, an entrepreneur who has proposed building a facility on the Outer Harbor says. A new Bills stadium was the topic of discussion for a panel of speakers Wednesday during a happy hour discussion at Allen Street Hardware sponsored by Investigative Post. But do the Bills really need one, especially considering the $130 million in renovations to Ralph Wilson stadium that the team unveiled this past season? “Absolutely yes,” said George Hasiotis, vice president of the Greater Buffalo Sports &[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Sep 11

2014

Some perspective on Pegula’s purchase of Bills

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My buddy Jerry Sullivan, reacting to the news that Terry and Kim Pegula purchased the Buffalo Bills, wrote that Tuesday was “a day for people to cry and embrace … in communal joy, relief and celebration.” Well, I was happy to hear the news, but mostly for different reasons than what Sully had in mind. Pegula’s purchase means we’ll no longer be bombarded with stories speculating whether the Bills will leave town. The hand wringing has been going on for more than a decade, speculation passing as reporting, and it’s behind us now. Which frees the press to report on[...]

Posted 11 years ago
Investigative Post