In a modern NFL that’s done little to hide its love of glamorous markets and multi-billion dollar football palaces, the Buffalo Bills’ long-term stability in Western New York has been oft-questioned.
The Bills, who play in the league’s second-smallest television market and fourth-oldest stadium, appear to be in danger of ultimately relocating to a more attractive destination, if you talk to certain people around the NFL.
And as the team’s lease at the near-50-year-old New Era Field nears its 2023 expiration date, an eventual departure from Orchard Park is starting to look like a realistic possibility.
Where could the Bills hypothetically relocate, you ask?
That’s easy. Buffalo.
A move from the suburbs to Buffalo-proper has been long-rumored, an inevitability that some feel will finally propel the Bills into the modern NFL. The theoretical move has a strong supporter in Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, who expressed his desire for a new downtown stadium during a Thursday-evening appearance on WIVB-TV.
“I’ve said it many times. I’ve said it every single time that I am asked,” Brown said. “I certainly would like to see a new stadium in the city of Buffalo, where so much progress is being made, where so much investment is taking place. I think the stadium being where it’s located, when it was located there decades and decades ago, it was one of the major planning mistakes in this region. We talk a lot about the planning errors that took place in the region, I certainly think that is one of them.
“I know the Pegula’s are looking at this very extensively, they have a study going on. They are major decision-makers in this process, of course, with other stakeholders. But certainly, as Mayor of the City of Buffalo, the largest municipality in this region, would love to see the stadium in the city of Buffalo.”
As Mayor Brown alluded to, team owners Terry and Kim Pegula are currently exploring their options in regards to the Bills’ stadium. The ownership group hired CAA Icon to conduct a “comprehensive study of New Era Field” in November 2018, a study that will help determine the feasibility of renovations to the current stadium or the construction of a new venue entirely.
In September 2019, Pegula Sports and Entertainment revealed that the results of the study will not be released publicly.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently spoke about Buffalo’s stadium situation, citing both renovations and the building of a new stadium as possible outcomes.
“A stadium that is going to be competitive with other stadiums around the league is going to be important in that context,” Goodell said while speaking to the media last Wednesday. “I think everyone is committed to that, whether it’s a new significant renovation or a completely different facility in a new place.”
What PSE ultimately decides to do in regards to its football team’s stadium remains to be seen, but one thing is clear – Buffalo’s mayor is willing to play ball.
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