'San Diego Bills'? Did Buffalo Almost Lose NFL Team Over New Stadium Deal?

Had all parties not figured out a new stadium deal for the Bills, says a key official, "Some other community would have (said), 'Welcome to San Diego.' 'Welcome to Austin. Here’s your brand new stadium.'"

The good news, of course, is that the Buffalo Bills are staying where they belong, and that they will do so in a $1.54 billion stadium scheduled to open in Orchard Park in 2026.

The scary news? An area politician insists that had the state and county told the NFL to "pound salt'' and not offered financial support, the Bills might not have stayed.

"I don’t think the Pegulas would have built the stadium for themselves here in Western New York if we told them to go pound salt," Poloncarz said of the Bills new ownership family. "I think they would have moved their team, because the history of the NFL is that’s what happens. 

"Some other community would have (said), 'Welcome to San Diego.' 'Welcome to Austin. Here’s your brand new stadium.'"

Instead, the Bills have a 30-year lease on the new building, which is being built in part thanks to $600 million from the state and $250 million in county funds. Per The Buffalo News, Poloncarz - who was a key figure in the arrangement - called it "priority No. 1" to keep the Bills in Buffalo. 

But, he said, he would not have approved a deal "at all costs ... If they came back and came up with such a ridiculous number that the county couldn’t afford, then I would have walked away. It would have been a tough decision, but I just can’t give them a blank check."

Instead, the government didn't walk away from the deal to build Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, which has been the Bills' "home neighborhood'' since 1973. And the Bills, who have played in small-market Buffalo since their formation as a franchise in 1960, aren't walking away to San Diego or Austin.

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