After numerous reports regarding the future of the Buffalo Bills’ stadium in Orchard Park, most of which came from outside of the team, a new one with insight from the club has emerged.
Via The Athletic, new updates have come about on Tuesday. The top headline from last week’s report included the idea of fully-funded taxpayer stadium, one with a construction budget of $1.1 billion.
The latest insists both of those are a bit off. The budget is actually at $1.4B and says Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula do not expect taxpayers to front the entire costs of construction.
In addition, a timeline for the building of a new stadium in Orchard Park is mentioned.
Senior writer at the The Athletic, Tim Graham, states:
Contrary to the much-repeated, published report, I have confirmed PSE’s budget for an Orchard Park stadium is $1.4 billion. The construction timeframe would be inside four years.
In addition, the report adds that the “hope is for shovels to be in the ground next year.”
If that timeline does hold true, the Bills and local government would have to look into extending the team’s lease to play at their current venue, Highmark Stadium. The current agreement runs until July 2023.
While refuted by The Athletic, previous reports suggested that the Bills could consider playing elsewhere during the stadium’s construction such as Toronto or Penn State.
No further details on how much taxpayers might need to front for the stadium’s constructions were mentioned in the update. However, it’s still very early in the negotiations between the team and local government regarding the stadium… so that makes sense.
Bills Wire will continue to follow the stadium topic as it unfolds. Check back for future updates.
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