A New Stadium for the Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills Defense Rushing the Passer
Buffalo Bills Defense Rushing the Passer

Terry Pegula and his wife Kim have finally stated that they are going to build a new football stadium for the Buffalo Bills which will result in ending the Bills’s annual home games in Toronto, Canada.

Terry Pegula is a multi-billionaire who owns both the Buffalo Bills American football team but also the Buffalo Sabre’s professional hockey team. That is, of course, in addition to his interests in natural gas and real estate.

This announcement comes just a few months after Pegula made a $1.4 million all cash purchase of the team. Having previously bought the Buffalo Sabre’s, and having shown a commitment and appreciation for the Western New York area, he was a shoe-in. His purchase and subsequent reinvigorating of the Sabre’s hockey community endeared the billionaire to Buffalo.

Buffalo is not the largest sports market and has some stiff local competition in New York City. Pegula mentioned this in a recent interview regarding the announcement, and said that this was an deciding factor in the decision to build a new stadium stating the need to be as competitive as possible.

They have not finalized a location for the new stadium, nor have they decided on a timeline, stating the need to do research to make an informed decision. There are many factors to take into account and their in no rush to build it since $140 million was just invested in the Buffalo Bills’s current stadium, Ralph Wilson Stadium.

The first priority, in fact,  for Pegula is to end the home games being played in Toronto. The Bills play a home game in Toronto each year but hold a 1 – 5 record in games played on the other side of the border. Toronto is Canada’s largest city and, in theory, part of the Bill’s market. However, the support from fan’s in the city has been sub-par.