Bills Announce 30-Year Agreement for $1.4B Stadium; Set for Completion in 2026

The Buffalo Bills are staying put.

Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula released a statement announcing a 30-year agreement for the franchise to play in a new, $1.4 billion stadium set to open in 2026: 

"We took another step today to solidify our collective goal of constructing a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park. We are grateful for the time, efforts and unwavering commitment made by Governor [Kathy] Hochul and her team throughout this process. While there are more hurdles to clear before getting to the finish line, we feel our public-private partnership between New York State, Erie County, led by County Executive Mark Poloncarz, and the National Football League will get us there."

The new stadium will cost at least $850 million in public funding. The Pegula family will add $350 million of its money, while the NFL kicks in the remaining $200 million.

Negotiations over the new stadium have been ongoing for several months as the Bills looked to stay in the area. They have been located in Orchard Park, which is about 15 miles outside Buffalo, since Highmark Stadium opened in 1973. The stadium is the fourth-oldest in the NFL behind Soldier Field (Bears), Lambeau Field (Packers) and GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium (Chiefs).

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been navigating the tough waters of keeping the Bills in Buffalo while taking public criticism over spending taxpayer money on a football stadium. Terry Pegula has a net worth of $5.8 billion.

"If the Bills left Western New York, it would be a devastating loss to the psyche and the fabric of our community, so losing the Bills is not an option," state Sen. Tim Kennedy told Luis Ferre-Sadurni and Ken Belson of the New York Times. "How we get there and how we finesse this through the budget process is something that I think still has to take shape."

The stadium cost, while significant, is on the lower end of facilities built for NFL teams in the last five years. SoFi Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, cost $5.5 billion to build, while the Las Vegas Raiders' Allegiant Stadium ($1.9 billion) and the Atlanta Falcons' Mercedes-Benz Stadium ($1.6 billion) both cost more than the projection for the Bills' stadium.