Public Hearings on Proposed New Bills Stadium– December 6-8, 2021- How You Can Join In on Zoom.ESD-Bills-Stadium-Analysis-Summary-FINAL-11-1-21

The hearings will take place next Monday through Wednesday at 6 p.m. each day. You can register to speak at the links below. News 4 is planning to live stream the hearings on WIVB.com.

Our Perspective and Questions

  1. Stadium Location– Orchard Park or Downtown
    1. Downtown – Entertainment District including Bills Stadium-Downtown Bills Stadium- Financials
      1. Room for tailgating- key fun part for fans
      2. Number of seats (60 vs 70,000)
      3. Cost of parking
      4. Cost of tickets for games
      5. Traffic congestion- impact on other venues
      6. Benefit to other venues- 3,000 residents, schools, churches, etc.
      7. Impact on community
      8. What happens with old stadium
      9. What happens with ADPRO training center
    2. Orchard Park
      1. Offers tailgating space
      2. Potentially less traffic nightmare
      3. What happens with old stadium and ADPRO training center
      4. Cost for 70 vs. 60,000 seats- How MUCH more for those 10,000 extra seats.
      5. Cost of tickets for games
  2. Stadium Use
    1. Propose More Public Usage of Public Funded Stadium beyond Buffalo Bills
    2. Orchard Park ProposalThere is one pre-season game and nine regular season games played in Buffalo in 2021/Jan. 2022. The proposed construction has a projected cost of a new stadium is $1.4 Billion while the stadium has already had $130 million worth of renovations in 2014. Based on TEN days of use, that is 355 days of non-use by the Buffalo Bills. Or, $140 MILLION per game played.Given that at least half, or more, of the stadium is to be funded by the public, the public should be able to have usage of at least half for other events- concerts, other sports, etc.Even in the downtown proposal, consideration should be given to alternate uses of this expensive stadium.
  3. Ticket Prices for New Stadium
    1. Fans will have to pay for a new stadium-ticket prices- while in 2021 season tickets have gone up $8, how much do you think tickets will go up with a new stadium when the current average price is $101 in 2021? And, the last stadiums built – Las Vegas Raiders in 2020- tickets are $373, Los Angeles Rams and Chargers- 2020 –Rams season tickets start at $600 per game and Chargers are $50 to 90 per game.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_National_Football_League_stadiums