No recent progress on new Buffalo Bills stadium, says Kim Pegula

Even before Kim and Terry Pegula bought the Buffalo Bills last fall, fans were speculating on what the new owner would want from a new stadium. It was even posited that potential owners needed a stadium plan in order to make a successful bid on the team. In an appearance on The John Murphy Show this week, Kim Pegula said that a new stadium was not on the fast track, but said that an eventual successor for Ralph Wilson Stadium had been discussed.

"I have talked to Russ (Brandon) about that internally, but we have not come to any conclusions yet," Pegula said. "I think part of that is we did have a lot of things going on this offseason, that being our first offseason as well, that we weren't planning on. A lot of other things kind of came up, and since we had the big investment in the upgrades last year, our thinking was, 'let's just sit back and let the whole process play out, and (see) what these new renovations from last season mean, and when we catch our breath come back and revisit that.'"

When taking over control of the team last October, Terry Pegula said "there will be a new stadium," but that was the last time we had heard anything on the subject. Prior to the team selling, the Bills had begun preliminary work on a new stadium, joining forces with local and state representatives in a new stadium working group.

"Of course, it's not just about us, it's about the community, it's about the state, and our county, so it's something we're all going to kind of come to and have a discussion about - but we have not started that process yet," noted Kim Pegula.

That group was (and continues to be) tasked with doing the background work to build a new stadium - or renovate the old one - when the time came. It was so important to all interested parties, they even wrote it into the new lease the team signed in December of 2012. The stadium received an upgrade of $130 million last fall, buying the new owners time to plan, while fans received new concession options, a new entryway and team store, and wider concourses.

Jon Murphy and Pegula both expressed their affection for the current stadium, holding it up against the rest in the league. Murphy, in particular, likes to discuss the stadium sight lines, and how there isn't a bad seat in the house.

"I think maybe talk or rumors, or people thinking that because of the age of The Ralph that it was something that really needed to be changed over and fast, but I think there was maybe one away game that we did not go to last year - I was surprised," said Pegula. "Sure, there are newer stadiums, and sure there may be bigger ones, but there is not one that I saw - and I haven't seen them all - that gave you the same feeling as The Ralph does.

"With the way the bowl is under the ground, the sight lines that you can see, and then of course the tailgating, which is very much a part of our own Buffalo community. I have not yet seen it in another stadium, and those are things that are going to have to go into consideration," Pegula continued. "At the same time, we don't want to lose that feeling of who we are, and how we celebrate our sports in our community."