Barstool Sports Stadium? Company will ‘enter process’ for Bills naming rights

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy says the company will ‘enter the process’ for naming right of Buffalo Bills stadium.

On Thursday, the Buffalo Bills announced that they have a new name for their stadium after jointly agreeing with New Era to remove their name from it earlier the offseason. The new name is, albeit, a temporary one.

That name? Bills Stadium.

An easy way for clubs to make a buck is off naming rights in the NFL. Sell them to a company, perhaps not New Era, and that’s a few million in your pocket.

But going the route of Bills Stadium makes it appear that the club did not receive any realistic bids for it at this time. New Era and the Bills had their split back in July. Makes sense considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused an economic down turn. However, it appears there might have been one bid that’s at least en route.

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said via his social media account that his company plans to make a bid for the naming right on the Bills stadium:

Barstool Sports and Portnoy, specifically, has had a grudge with the NFL for several years. The outlet’s most-popular podcast, Pardon My Take, does often interact with the league’s players and employees. They’ve had Bills quarterback Josh Allen and even general manager Brandon Beane on for interviews.

But the show, along with Portnoy, have attempted to sneak into league events, such as the Super Bowl and Scouting Combine in that past and are kicked out by security. The feud runs even deeper than that, so it remains to be seen if there’s an actual attempt by Barstool Sports at any sort of naming rights.

Not a bad play though, some free publicity, at minimum, with a social media message via a mentioned bid for the naming rights as Portnoy likely knows would not be accepted due to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s personal stance against the blog/ company.

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PODCAST: What should the Bills name their stadium?

Kyle Silagyi is joined by Justin Diloro and Travis McDonald to look at 32 potential names for the Buffalo Bills’ stadium.

A Western New York institution is in search of a new name.

The Buffalo Bills and New Era Cap Company announced last week a joint decision to prematurely end their stadium naming rights agreement, leaving the Bills’ home field without a corporate sponsor for the first time since 2016.

After the news broke, what the team will ultimately decide to name the stadium became a hot topic of discussion. On this episode of The Kyle Silagyi Variety Hour, host Kyle Silagyi is joined by BillsWire staff writer Justin DiLoro and friend of the show Travis McDonald to look at 32 potential names for the stadium and determine which option is best.

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Buffalo mayor ‘certainly would like’ to see new Bills stadium downtown

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown would like to see a new Bills stadium constructed in downtown Buffalo.

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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