New Stadium not in immediate future for the Buffalo Bills

Despite the constant murmurs and not so subtle hints from the league, a new stadium remains outside of the immediate future for the Buffalo Bills. While the league has been on a push in recent years to either replace or relocate teams from older stadiums, the Buffalo Bills franchise remains steadfast in its belief that it’s current home — Ralph Wilson Stadium/New Era Field — is good enough thanks to recent upgrades.

However, even with the consistent disappointing end to these new stadium rumors, they continue to persist year after year. That said, this offseason looks to be just a tad bit different when it comes to these rumors. Issuing a statement on these rumors, Howard Zemsky — head of Empire State Development which is New York’s state funded development arm — all but squashed any hope of a new stadium in the near future.

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“A lot of work and money have been invested in the stadium in recent years. I think there would be a partnership if there ever were a new stadium led by the team, the state and the county. That isn’t an item of keen conversation this year. I think that’s the kind of thing that’s led by the team and their plans, first and foremost.”

So the good news from this statement? Zemsky did leave open the door for state and county involvement should a new stadium ever come to pass for the Buffalo Bills. The bad news though is that the state and county look to have zero interest in having these conversations so soon after investing millions in upgrades to the Orchard Park facility.

Quite frankly though, Zemsky threw the ball firmly into the court of the Pegula family. With his final statement basically saying that all plans and logistics must be made by the owners of the Buffalo Bills, the state put the Bills in the hot seat. With his wording, the Buffalo Bills must be willing to pony up the cash and plans to get such a new stadium done.

In an era of handouts for major professional sports teams, this news will be music to the ears of those that hate these types of stadiums deals. That said, I don’t expect these rumors to ever end, that is, until a new home stadium is built for the Buffalo Bills. Will that happen in the near future? I wouldn’t bet on it.

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