New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that she is “unwilling to let anything slip” as the state “officially takes the reins of the lease” for the Bills’ new $2.2B stadium, according to Michael Petro of the BUFFALO NEWS. Erie County transferred the entire Bills stadium campus earlier this month, ending a more-than-five-decade run as the stadium lease holder. Hochul “plans to keep the stadium commission, the Erie County Stadium Corp., activated to serve as her eyes and ears for what’s happening at the new building.” The state entity overseeing stadium operations and management will “provide regular reports and make sure maintenance of the building is a top priority.” Hochul said, “We want to be very involved. I don’t want to get to a point where there is such pressure because things are falling apart and the team has to go.” The state will provide $280M and the county will provide an estimated $120M “over the course of the 30-year lease to repair and maintain the new stadium.” The new stadium will have a “capital improvement fund and maintenance and repair fund, which will be funded annually for up to 15 years.” Those costs “could increase with inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, capped at 2.2% annually.” In year one of the new lease, which is expected to be 2026, total payments to the capital improvement fund would be $10.9M, while total funding to the repair and maintenance fund would be about $6.7M (BUFFALO NEWS, 8/20).
