John Kryk of The Toronto Sun reported on Wednesday a clarification of previous reports regarding the Buffalo Bills stadium lease: that a reported $400 million relocation buyout option does not exist, at least in the way we have understood it for 16 months.
Instead, Kryk reports that the payment - which still drops to $28 million between the 2019 and 2020 seasons, giving any new Bills owner intent on moving the franchise a one-time out within the next nine years - exists as a sort of backup plan in the event that said owner wins a court battle to break the Bills' lease agreement with Erie County. Kryk's report, based on a conversation with Marc Ganis of Sports Corp, Ltd., strongly hints that the idea of anyone winning that court battle is extremely unlikely.
It's an important distinction, and further cements the idea that the Bills aren't going anywhere, regardless of who buys them, for at least another six years. The lease for Ralph Wilson Stadium currently runs through 2022. The Bills, Erie County and New York State have already begun assembling a committee to investigate the possibility of a new stadium in Western New York, while $130 million in renovations are already underway for the team's current beloved facility in Orchard Park.