EDIT: Total cost to taxpayers? Bills select sports firm to represent ownership in building new open air stadium in OP, targeted for 2025

[CountDorkula]

30 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

This is what happens when the Pegula’s see how Bills Mafia mounts up and donate to charities 

I know its a joke

 

but major difference between

50,000 people donating $50  to charity

to

850,000 being forced to pay $2,000 to billionaires. 

3 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

That’s pretty much how I see it myself.

 

I appreciate that the Pegulas bought the Bills and built a marvelous new training center and hired a GM and coach who seem to have turned the thing around.

 

But they are multi-billionaires with mansions and a yacht.  If they need $1.54 billion of taxpayer money as the price of keeping the team in Buffalo , Nuts.

Honestly if that's the Pegula stance they can all go to hell and take their Super Yacht with them. 

[Mango]

30 minutes ago, BuffaloBills1998 said:

Judas Priest dude the Bills aren’t going anywhere. They’re staying in Buffalo, everyone on this board needs to calm down and relax.

I don’t think most of the posts (my own included) think the Bills are leaving. Most are offended by the gravity of the ask and the meaningless threat from Pegula. 
 

Do I think they’re going to leave? No. I think the state and the county should call their bluff. It is an absurd and disrespectful ask.
 

And if they call their bluff wrong? See ya later. 

[Doc Brown]

Me last night thinking the Bills will be Super Bowl contenders here for the next decade plus with Josh Allen as our quarterback.

 

[billsfan_34]

1.5 billion in a tax payer completely funded stadium that will sit vacant except 10 games a year plus playoffs is fiscal insanity.

 

Further economic destruction of NYS that just never ends if this happens.

[CountDorkula]

Just now, Mango said:

I don’t think most of the posts (my own included) think the Bills are leaving. Most are offended by the gravity of the ask and the meaningless threat from Pegula. 
 

Do I think they’re going to leave? No. I think the state and the county should call their bluff. It is an absurd and disrespectful ask.
 

And if they call their bluff wrong? See ya later. 

Also congrats on creating a huge distraction on this season.

 

Every single player is now going to be asked about this.

 

This will be constant noise in and around the team.

 

You wan to to create a toxic environment around the Bills like the Sabres, this is a good way to start. 

[GETTOTHE50]

PFT can ***** right off with that Austin threat. That ***** pisses me off

[SCBills]

2 minutes ago, billsfan_34 said:

1.5 billion in a tax payer completely funded stadium that will sit vacant except 10 games a year plus playoffs is fiscal insanity.

 

Further economic destruction of NYS that just never ends if this happens.

The ask is ridiculous, but you’re blowing the amount of money involved way out of proportion. 

[BillsVet]

6 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

I never understood why fans get upset about paying money for a sports team. It's one of the few things in life outside of family that I pay money on. 

 

I don't need to hear the economics of a stadium. When I spend money on the Bills I do it for my own pleasure, not the community. 

 

As for the Pegulas, they've spent billions already on western New York. 

 

I can almost guarantee you will be seeing PSL's for the Buffalo Bills with this stadium.  If you're looking for how that impacts the fans, that's it.  The cost of tickets will skyrocket...just ask Jets and Giants fans at their new home.  

 

As to the economics debate, I get that many fans don't want to talk about it...because they don't understand nor want to research this aspect to the debate.  Anyone has the right to stick their head in the ground and pretend nothing's wrong.  Still doesn't make sense from an economics and civics perspective for the State and local government to provide major funding to billionaires who, regardless of their local investment, don't strike me as very intelligent pro sports owners.  

 

EDIT:  Never has the phrase "panem et circenses" been more appropriate than now.  Works every time.   

Edited August 1, 2021 by BillsVet

[BuffaloBills1998]

5 minutes ago, Mango said:

I don’t think most of the posts (my own included) think the Bills are leaving. Most are offended by the gravity of the ask and the meaningless threat from Pegula. 
 

Do I think they’re going to leave? No. I think the state and the county should call their bluff. It is an absurd and disrespectful ask.
 

And if they call their bluff wrong? See ya later. 

No it won’t be see ya later. Because Terry would have to give up the Sabres, a million dollars says he isn’t giving up his dream team

[Mat68]

Just now, CountDorkula said:

Also congrats on creating a huge distraction on this season.

 

Every single player is now going to be asked about this.

 

This will be constant noise in and around the team.

 

You wan to to create a toxic environment around the Bills like the Sabres, this is a good way to start. 

Why wouldnt they ask for all of it?  Didnt the state give Brandon 150 mil to upgrade the stadium 10 years ago or so?  1.5 bil is alot but the cost of doing business.  

[Mango]

6 minutes ago, CountDorkula said:

Also congrats on creating a huge distraction on this season.

 

Every single player is now going to be asked about this.

 

This will be constant noise in and around the team.

 

You wan to to create a toxic environment around the Bills like the Sabres, this is a good way to start. 

Just wait for the next power point? Who is the guy running the junior football camps? Bean should watch his back. The Bills are looking for the next Kevyn Adam’s. 

[The Wiz]

I'm sure it's already been said but BIG IF  it is funded 100% by nys taxpayers then PLS should be of the table.... as a start. 

[HappyDays]

18 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

But they are multi-billionaires with mansions and a yacht.  If they need $1.54 billion of taxpayer money as the price of keeping the team in Buffalo , Nuts.

 

It would be taxpayer money from the whole state, not just Erie County. Our tax dollars have gone to NYC infrastructure. NYC taxpayers will be okay if some of their tax dollars go to a new stadium in Orchard Park. Ideally by building a big new stadium you'll invite more events to Buffalo which in turn will bring business to Buffalo. It isn't a project that exclusively benefits the Pegulas. Infrastructure spending has trickle down benefits. I bet once the official deal is in place the average NYS taxpayer will barely notice a difference.

[Mango]

9 minutes ago, BuffaloBills1998 said:

No it won’t be see ya later. Because Terry would have to give up the Sabres, a million dollars says he isn’t giving up his dream team

Right. Which is why I lead with, “do I think they’re leaving? No”. And “if they call their bluff wrong? See ya later”.
 

As in I don’t think they’re going anywhere. It’s a terrible ask. But if the ask happens to be real, I’ll help them load the trucks. 
 

But yes, TP isn’t leaving. 

Edited August 1, 2021 by Mango

[TheFunPolice]

Meanwhile, the guys at WGR are off the hook planning shows this week

 

Sal's camp reports:

 

"Can't tell you who lined up where, who was 1st team, what plays were run, or what happened"

 

"Everyone practiced today. That's our camp report!"

 

Followed by 8 hours of furious Bills fans talking about this story.

 

Only real question is whether Schopp goes full heel here on the afternoon show. This story is tailor made for his radio character. 

 

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by TheFunPolice

[Mango]

1 hour ago, SCBills said:

This entire pandemic has resulted in a massive shift of money/real estate/equity from the middle class to the billionaire class… I can’t get too worked up about this.   At least in this scenario, we get a new football stadium. 
 

 

The developer class has very silently been its own special socio-economic group. It’s not nee. They just don’t try to hide it anymore. 
 

Can’t wait for the state to just give free money again to Savarino, Sinatra, Montante, Paladino, Ciminelli, etc. 

[Wayne Cubed]

1 minute ago, BillsVet said:

 

I can almost guarantee you will be seeing PSL's for the Buffalo Bills with this stadium.  If you're looking for how that impacts the fans, that's it.  The cost of tickets will skyrocket...just ask Jets and Giants fans at their new home.  

 

As to the economics debate, I get that many fans don't want to talk about it...because they don't understand nor want to research this aspect to the debate.  Anyone has the right to stick their head in the ground and pretend nothing's wrong.  Still doesn't make sense from an economics and civics perspective for the State and local government to provide major funding to billionaires who, regardless of their local investment, don't strike me as very intelligent pro sports owners.  

It’s tough for both sides really. The only places that make sense for these stadiums to be privately financed, have already been built. LA, NYC/NJ and Foxboro, all privately financed because their owners realise there is money to be made off of them outside of the NFL.

 

Add in they make even less sense now because you are competing against better TVs, cameras with all the angles and being able to relax in your home. 

[Rc2catch]

20 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

Me last night thinking the Bills will be Super Bowl contenders here for the next decade plus with Josh Allen as our quarterback.

 

That was REALLY good. Possibly the best laugh I’ve ever had on here. 

[Inigo Montoya]

The governor could use some good news. Meeting with Terry and Kim to work on a stadium might bolster his support in WNY.  There’s not a politician in this country above handing out other people’s money to buy some friends when their back is up against the wall.  That’s how the game is played.  If daycare is infrastructure, surely a football stadium is too....

 

🤔

[716er]

Bills could easily nip this by coming out and saying they are staying in Buffalo

 

They won't, though

[Buffalo_Stampede]

If you calculate how much money NFL owners spent on buying a team and building a stadium I'm sure Terry Pegula is near the top. 

 

$1.4 billion. Add in a possible $600 million for a stadium. That's a lot of money for our market. For perspective, that will be almost double what Jerry Jones has spent on the Cowboys. 

[Rc2catch]

2 minutes ago, 716er said:

Bills could easily nip this by coming out and saying they are staying in Buffalo

 

They won't, though

That might be the worst negotiation tactic ever. 

[SCBills]

Just now, Rc2catch said:

That might be the worst negotiation tactic ever. 

PGSE:  We’re not leaving, but we want a billy for the new stadium.  
 

NY: No

 

PGSE: ….

[davefan66]

The Bills and the State know what the end game is.  This is a dance meant to rile up fans to put “pressure” on the state.  

Mostly it’s about selling it to residents of NYS.  Tell ‘me the Bills are leaving, get them freaked out and they won’t fight public payout.

[CountDorkula]

22 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

It would be taxpayer money from the whole state, not just Erie County. Our tax dollars have gone to NYC infrastructure. NYC taxpayers will be okay if some of their tax dollars go to a new stadium in Orchard Park. Ideally by building a big new stadium you'll invite more events to Buffalo which in turn will bring business to Buffalo. It isn't a project that exclusively benefits the Pegulas. Infrastructure spending has trickle down benefits. I bet once the official deal is in place the average NYS taxpayer will barely notice a difference.

This bolded part has been proven to be false, time and time again. 

[Rc2catch]

2 minutes ago, CountDorkula said:

This bolded part has been proven to be false, time and time again. 

Especially in cold weather states 

[The Wiz]

24 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

Meanwhile, the guys at WGR are off the hook planning shows this week

 

Sal's camp reports:

 

"Can't tell you who lined up where, who was 1st team, what plays were run, or what happened"

 

"Everyone practiced today. That's our camp report!"

 

Followed by 8 hours of furious Bills fans talking about this story.

 

Only real question is whether Schopp goes full heel here on the afternoon show. This story is tailor made for his radio character. 

 

 

Well, you're already wrong. 

 

He can't go a day without taking about the Mets for 15 minutes and Lamar for another 20.

24 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

Meanwhile, the guys at WGR are off the hook planning shows this week

 

Sal's camp reports:

 

"Can't tell you who lined up where, who was 1st team, what plays were run, or what happened"

 

"Everyone practiced today. That's our camp report!"

 

Followed by 8 hours of furious Bills fans talking about this story.

 

Only real question is whether Schopp goes full heel here on the afternoon show. This story is tailor made for his radio character. 

 

 

Well, you're already wrong. 

 

He can't go a day without taking about the Mets for 15 minutes and Lamar for another 20.

24 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

Meanwhile, the guys at WGR are off the hook planning shows this week

 

Sal's camp reports:

 

"Can't tell you who lined up where, who was 1st team, what plays were run, or what happened"

 

"Everyone practiced today. That's our camp report!"

 

Followed by 8 hours of furious Bills fans talking about this story.

 

Only real question is whether Schopp goes full heel here on the afternoon show. This story is tailor made for his radio character. 

 

 

Well, you're already wrong. 

 

He can't go a day without taking about the Mets for 15 minutes and Lamar for another 20.

24 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

Meanwhile, the guys at WGR are off the hook planning shows this week

 

Sal's camp reports:

 

"Can't tell you who lined up where, who was 1st team, what plays were run, or what happened"

 

"Everyone practiced today. That's our camp report!"

 

Followed by 8 hours of furious Bills fans talking about this story.

 

Only real question is whether Schopp goes full heel here on the afternoon show. This story is tailor made for his radio character. 

 

 

Well, you're already wrong. 

 

He can't go a day without taking about the Mets for 15 minutes and Lamar for another 20.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

1 minute ago, davefan66 said:

The Bills and the State know what the end game is.  This is a dance meant to rile up fans to put “pressure” on the state.  

Mostly it’s about selling it to residents of NYS.  Tell ‘me the Bills are leaving, get them freaked out and they won’t fight public payout.

I think it'll be easier if they speak in actual taxes it would cost an individual tax payer rather than saying $1.5 billion. 

 

This is $1.5 billion over 30 years. 

[Beast]

If the Pegula's have to ante up for a stadium people aren't going to like what the ticket prices are going to be.

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by Beast

[Allen2D̶i̶g̶g̶s̶TBD]

If we're going to pay for the entire stadium, then anyone living in the county should get free tickets since it should be considered public property.

Edited August 1, 2021 by Allen2Diggs

[McBean]

Better chance of hell freezing over than the Buffalo Bills moving to Austin under the Pegula’s.

[Maynard]

God, I hate hearing this stuff. Just a damn distraction and pisses me off. I just read about this Austin business today and it makes me furious. I live on the west coast now, but I’d easily hand over $10k right flipping now to help support a new stadium. If the “Buffalo” Bills don’t exist I’m done with the NFL. My wife wouldn’t mind I guess if Sunday’s weren’t all about the Bills….

[Mike in Horseheads]

Have the Pegulas responded to this? I always love reported by sources stories. 

...If you ask me if this happened it was like trying to sell your house, who ever lists it for what they want to get, ya jack the price up so you can negotiate the price to what ya want to get

[Maynard]

Just now, Maynard said:

God, I hate hearing this stuff. Just a damn distraction and pisses me off. I just read about this Austin business today and it makes me furious. I live on the west coast now, but I’d easily hand over $10k right flipping now to help support a new stadium (chump change I know). If the “Buffalo” Bills don’t exist I’m done with the NFL. My wife wouldn’t mind I guess if Sunday’s weren’t all about the Bills….

 

[Dickie]

didn’t the state just recently bail on the Amazon faculty in Manhattan because they were asking for a couple jillion in tax dollars? That projected was also estimated to create thousands of jobs…unlike this one

[Gen2]

Honestly who can say if some city (let's say St. Louis) says to Pagula "we will finance 50% of the stadium, our economy will support you tripling your ticket prices, and since it's a new stadium you can sell PSLs to help recoup your share of the stadium" that Pagula wouldn't be an idiot to turn it down.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm as big a Bills fan as everybody else and have been for longer than most, so it would break my heart if WNY lost the Bills, but I for one see it as a real possibility.

 

And don't give me that "well he'd have to sell the Sabers argument" IMHO he'd dump that train wreck of a team in a New York nanosecond for a sweetheart deal for the Bills

[Billsflyer12]

54 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

It would be taxpayer money from the whole state, not just Erie County. Our tax dollars have gone to NYC infrastructure. NYC taxpayers will be okay if some of their tax dollars go to a new stadium in Orchard Park. Ideally by building a big new stadium you'll invite more events to Buffalo which in turn will bring business to Buffalo. It isn't a project that exclusively benefits the Pegulas. Infrastructure spending has trickle down benefits. I bet once the official deal is in place the average NYS taxpayer will barely notice a difference.

Almost every study done on public funding for stadiums has shown it has done almost nothing for local economies as they always sell, yet always enriches the team owners.

Edited August 1, 2021 by Billsflyer12

[LeGOATski]

Get er done NY!

[SirAndrew]

2 hours ago, Mango said:

If getting $1.5B in tax payer dollars after a pandemic where people lost their entire livelihoods, family, friends, children, etc. is important enough to the Pegulas to pick up an take the Bills out of Buffalo. They’re welcome to leave. 
 

I understand this is the start of a negotiation. But I can’t get behind billionaires asking for billions in a billion dollar industry so that they can keep making billions, while still in the thwarts of a pandemic. Meanwhile some are still struggling to get by and ultimately he’s asking for their tax dollars to keep money in his pocket. 

Solid take. It’s always good to hear someone who can be a fan, without delusions about the importance of the sport. We all love our Bills football, or we wouldn’t be here. That doesn’t mean there aren’t more significant things in the world as a whole. It’s kind of a lame threat imo. The Pegula’s and the rest of the planet have always known there’s more money to be made elsewhere. Buffalo was the spot because they allegedly felt some attachment to the city. Use any city you want as leverage, but in the end they either want to be in Buffalo, or elsewhere. I think it’s just a threat, but it’s a ridiculous one. 

[BuffaloBills1998]

18 minutes ago, SirAndrew said:

Solid take. It’s always good to hear someone who can be a fan, without delusions about the importance of the sport. We all love our Bills football, or we wouldn’t be here. That doesn’t mean there aren’t more significant things in the world as a whole. It’s kind of a lame threat imo. The Pegula’s and the rest of the planet have always known there’s more money to be made elsewhere. Buffalo was the spot because they allegedly felt some attachment to the city. Use any city you want as leverage, but in the end they either want to be in Buffalo, or elsewhere. I think it’s just a threat, but it’s a ridiculous one. 

That’s what it is, nothing more than a threat. You guys need to crack open a cold one and relax. The Buffalo Bills aren’t going anywhere. 

33 minutes ago, Gen2 said:

Honestly who can say if some city (let's say St. Louis) says to Pagula "we will finance 50% of the stadium, our economy will support you tripling your ticket prices, and since it's a new stadium you can sell PSLs to help recoup your share of the stadium" that Pagula wouldn't be an idiot to turn it down.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm as big a Bills fan as everybody else and have been for longer than most, so it would break my heart if WNY lost the Bills, but I for one see it as a real possibility.

 

And don't give me that "well he'd have to sell the Sabers argument" IMHO he'd dump that train wreck of a team in a New York nanosecond for a sweetheart deal for the Bills

How do you see this as a real possibility?? Your missing a lot and your very wrong. First off Pegula would have to give up the Sabres which something he will never do. That was and is his dream team to own, also he’s publicly stated that one of the reasons he bought this team was to keep them in Buffalo and keep them out of Bon Jovi’s hands.