Executive

Waste of the Day: $850 Million in Taxes Will Go to New Buffalo Bills Stadium

The Buffalo Bills are getting a new stadium at taxpayer expense from all the State of New York, to the tune of $850 million.

Published

10 months ago

January 23, 2024

Adam Andrzejewski

Topline: The Buffalo Bills broke ground on a $1.6 billion new stadium last June, and New York taxpayers are on the hook for $850 million of those funds, the largest-ever public investment in an NFL stadium.

Key facts: The Bills’ new stadium is funded in part by $600 million in New York state taxpayer money and $250 million directly from Erie County, where it’s located.

The price tag tops the record $750 million in taxpayer funds the Las Vegas Raiders used to build their stadium in 2020.

Waste of the Day: $850 Million in Taxes Will Go to New Buffalo Bills Stadium — Waste of the Day 1.23.24 by Open the Books

While 61% of the Bills’ stadium is being paid for by the public, Gov. Kathy Hochul says is a low rate relative to other NFL teams. The Bills’ current stadium was entirely financed by taxpayers in 1973.

Renovating the Bills’ current home of Highmark Stadium would have cost $862 million, which the Bills and the state agreed was inefficient.

Hochul, a Buffalo native, says the Bills bring in $350 million to the Buffalo area every year and that the stadium will create 10,000 jobs. She also said the team generates $27 million in annual taxes.

Background: Auditors at OpenTheBooks.com found that Erie County’s investment of $250 million is three-quarters of what the county paid to all vendors in 2021 ($326 million).

The $650 million in state taxes being used for the stadium is more than two-thirds the $910 million the state used to finance the Buffalo City School District in 2022.

The new stadium does not include a roof, despite frequent snowfall during football season, which was one of the main criticisms of the Bills’ old stadium.

However, 80% of the new seats are weather protected.

The deal does include language allowing New York to sue the Bills for the entire cost of the stadium if they try and relocate the franchise within the next 30 years.

The initial proposal drew backlash because Hochul’s husband, William, was employed by Delaware North, which runs concession stands at the Bills’ stadium. William Hochul resigned from Delaware North last August.

Supporting quote: “I’m pleased that after months of negotiations, we’ve come out with the best answers possible,” Hochul said. “The Bills will stay in Buffalo for another 30 years, the project will create 10,000 union jobs and New Yorkers can rest assured that their investment will be recouped by the economic activity the team generates.”

Summary: There’s no denying that the Bills are important to Buffalo’s economy, especially during their current run of five straight playoff appearances. However, taxpayers are now paying a large price to keep the franchise in New York.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.

Adam Andrzejewski

CEO at OpenTheBooks.com | Website | + posts

Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) was the CEO/founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Before dedicating his life to public service, Adam co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). His works have been featured on the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes, Newsweek, and many other national media.

Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." In 2022, OpenTheBooks.com captured nearly all public expenditures in the country, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending; 50 of 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.

The group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments, and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings, and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits; Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports; federal legislation; and much more.

Our Honorary Chairman - In Memoriam is U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, MD.

Andrzejewski's federal oversight work was included in the President's Budget To Congress FY2021. The budget cited his organization by name, bullet-pointed their findings, and footnoted/hyperlinked to their report.

Posted on YouTube, Andrzejewski's presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida received 3.8 million views.

Andrzejewski has spoken at the Columbia School of Journalism, Harvard Law School and the law schools at Georgetown and George Washington regarding big data journalism. As a senior policy contributor at Forbes, Adam had nearly 20 million pageviews on 206 published investigations. In 2022, investigative fact-finding on Dr. Fauci's finances led to his cancellation at Forbes.

In 2022, Andrzejewski did 473 live television and radio interviews across broadcast, major cable platforms, and radio shows. Andrzejewski is the author of The Waste of the Day column at Real Clear Policy. The column is syndicated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates across USA.

Andrzejewski passed away in his sleep at his home in in Hinsdale, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. He is survived by his wife Kerry and three daughters. He also served as a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church and finished the Chicago Marathon eight times (PR 3:58.49 in 2022).

Waste of the Day articles published after August 18, 2024 are considered posthumous publications.