Team owners Kim and Terry Pegula have made it a habit to renovate and upgrade facilities for their professional sports franchises. Tweaks and adjustments have been routine for the Buffalo Bills but the ribbon-cutting on the new “Sports Performance Center” is expected to go beyond a mere modification. The 41,000 square-foot facility includes a 26,000 square-foot weight room and cutting-edge recovery equipment. From Cryotherapy to saunas and even a hyperbaric therapy room and far more, the facility is packed with options for players.
“The health and safety of all the players is paramount, and not just on game day.” Kim Pegula noted saying it “...will not only help them through their career, but their whole life.”
Head of strength and conditioning, Eric Ciano indicated the new facilities improve the flow of communication for training and rehabilitation. The variety of options in a single location will help them customize programs from players, starting at screening processes.
“Anything we might come across with a player we can address with the facilities we have,” said Ciano.
Players arrived on Monday for voluntary workouts and got their first glimpse of the new facility. When asked his opinion of the new facility, Tremaine Edmunds was impressed.
“It’s amazing. I think it really speaks for itself,” said Edmunds. “The owners really did pretty much what we could ask for and beyond that. We have the resources to be successful and that’s where I think it starts there. Take advantage of it, use everything they put in there, and go to work from there.”
“The pictures don’t do it justice”, said quarterback Josh Allen. “Being in there and seeing how big it is and how nice it is and everything that went into it … they thought of everything. Mr. and Mrs. Pegula have blown me away. It’s pretty awesome. It’s definitely going to help us out and I’m super excited to get in there and start working.”
In the NFL, the quality of facilities can be a draw for players. Lorenzo Alexander, who has spent time with five different teams and made numerous connections in his career had this to say:
“This is the best facility I’ve ever been around organizationally. I would say it’s probably top-two in the league just hearing and talking to other guys in the league about what their facilities look like.”
It’s fair to wonder if potential free-agent signings were given a sneak peek of the new facilities. Newcomer Cole Beasley compared the Bills’ facilities with that of the Dallas Cowboys in a now-deleted tweet. Beasley indicated that “From a players perspective Buffalo [expletive] on Dallas. Facilities for recovery and training are top notch.”
The entire story from the Bills’ perspective can be found here.