NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: Bills need new stadium

The 80,000-seat Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo is one of the NFL's oldest venues. (Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that

The 80,000-seat Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo is one of the NFL's oldest venues. (Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that the Buffalo Bills need a new stadium to remain in Western New York but that the league is committed to keeping the team there.

Longtime Bills owner Ralph Wilson died in March at age 95. It was reported that they could be sold by this summer with league approval coming as early October, when league meetings are scheduled.

Ralph Wilson Stadium went through $130 million in upgrades this offseason. The Bills still have eight years on their lease with Erie County.

"We said at the time when they entered into a new lease that this is really a short-term solution," Goodell said, according to The Buffalo News. "We need to find the right long-term solution that's good for the community and can help the Bills to continue to be successful in western New York."

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Ralph Wilson Stadium opened in 1973 and seats 80,000. Goodell said that the potential new owner could relocate the team, but the sale of the team and relocation talk are two separate issues.

"There's two votes. There's one vote to approve an ownership, and if a team potentially relocates, it's another vote," Goodell said. "We're not making those one vote."