A couple weeks ago, Buffalo Bills fans and New York taxpayers were in a tizzy over the team requesting 100 percent public funding for their new stadium. We told you that was a negotiating technique and not going to come to fruition. Maybe it was tone-deaf, but it wasn’t reality, if it even happened at all.
Today, The Buffalo News posted an article on the situation for the third straight weekend, as their articles have begun to soften each week. With Albany sources trashing the Pegulas, it was easy to sway public opinion toward the state. With more people coming on the record—and specifically folks from Pegula Sports and Entertainment—the narrative is beginning to change.
“[The Pegulas] want to win, and they have continued to provide the resources necessary to do so,” PSE Executive Vice President Ron Raccuia told TBN on Friday. “When it comes to the future new home of the Bills, they have always known that, like virtually all NFL stadiums, this will ultimately be some form of a public/private partnership.”
The Mayor of Buffalo echoed that statement. While not a member of the negotiations at this point as the state and county would provide the funding and the current stadium is in Orchard Park and not the City of Buffalo, Byron Brown says he has spoken with the team about their plan and never felt like 100 percent private funding was something they desired.
“They made it clear to me they are willing to be a financial partner in a new stadium and expect to be,” Brown told the News. “I’m sure they expect a public partnership as well. They see it as a public-private partnership.”
In the article, The Buffalo News has people on record saying they were told the team asked for 100 percent financing. Those people were not in negotiations.