The bills aren't getting a new stadium

by Steve

First came this "report" from WGR about some bullshit regarding the Bills talking to the makers of Dallas stadium.

WGR 550) -- It's just a blurb, but this is Buffalo. With the future of the Bills often on the minds of their fans, a Fort Worth Star-Telegram report is worth mentioning.

The firm that built the Dallas Cowboys' new palace listed the Buffalo Bills as one of six professional sports teams at least discussing something stadium-related. HKS Inc. say they've been working with the Vikings for nine months, that the Bills, Falcons, Chargers and 49ers are "thinking about doing something" -- really, can that get any more vague? -- and that the Dodgers are talking renovation.

The report also follows the sentence about the Bills by saying, "Those are the potential new stadiums."

Then came the obligatory denial from the Bills..

Buffalo Bills officials said today they have made no inquiries or plans to study the building of a new stadium.

The question of a new stadium for Buffalo was raised in an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

An executive of the firm that designed the new stadium for the Dallas Cowboys was asked about his company's prospects for future stadium construction.

Mark Williams, associate principal architect for HKS Inc. stated: "We've been working with the [Minnesota] Vikings for about nine months, and they are still trying to get their funding. The [San Francisco] 49ers and the Buffalo Bills are thinking about doing something and also the [San Diego] Chargers and maybe the Atlanta Falcons. Those are the potential new stadiums in the NFL."

Bills officials maintain no firm has been contacted and no initiative toward a new stadium has been planned.

Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. has steadfastly maintained that he is happy with the current stadium in Orchard Park and that he has no desire to ask taxpayers to contribute to the construction of a new stadium.

Furthermore, the Bills' management has maintained that it would be very hard to make a new stadium pay off financially for the team.

One of the financial strengths of the Bills' franchise is it is carrying no debt load. So none of the team's revenues goes toward paying off loans. Further, the advantage of building a new stadium to NFL teams is the ability to charge much higher prices for luxury suites and personal-seat licenses.

It's hard to see which companies in Western New York would be willing to pay significantly higher prices for luxury boxes under the current economic climate or how the Bills would find many more companies in the region to buy more luxury suites.

Ralph Wilson Stadium, opened in 1973, is the fifth oldest in the NFL. However it underwent an extensive refurbishing at taxpayer expense in 1998.

Lets face it, the Bills aren't getting a new stadium. There is no money, there is no location, a waterfront stadium is probably a terrible idea, no debt for the team is huge, who the fuck knows who is going to own the team once Ralph bites it, there was no concrete evidence to suggest the Bills were looking into it, and the bills only play 8.5 games a year in Buffalo.

True is I'd love a multiuse retractable roof dome I just can't fathom it happening. Esp with buffalo's storied history of obstructionist, preservation asshole-ism that prevents a lot of things from happening. Putting it where the perry st projects currently are makes sense The Bulls could play a marquee game there or all their games eventually. Buffalo could host large events hsbc is not equipped for, and possibly large conventions etc. and hey if we ever got 200,000 more people perhaps baseball in the future? who knows just know it won't happen in the next 10 years.