New Buffalo Bills Stadium Group, Fund Assembled

On the same day that the Buffalo Bills, New York State and Erie County announced a 10-year lease agreement for Ralph Wilson Stadium to keep the Bills in Buffalo, the three parties also announced the formation of the New Stadium Working Group.

What is the New Stadium Working Group, you ask? It consists of representatives from the team, county and state that will, to quote the official press release (clipped here by the Democrat and Chronicle), "explore the potential for the construction of a new stadium in the future."

The lease agreement also outlines an undisclosed fund that will be available for any development and planning needed in that group's new stadium exploration, as well.

The Bills, for all intents and purposes, are now bound to Western New York for at least the next seven years. To truly be secure in the region long-term, however, it's common knowledge that the team will need to build a new stadium to replace The Ralph, which opened for business in 1973. Here, all three parties essential to making that a reality are starting work toward that end.