New York State was the first government to put up stadium money in a new wave of new stadium demands.
National Football League team owners whose teams play in ancient facilities, with the term ancient meaning places that opened say in 1999, are telling politicians that they need new stadiums. And politicians are beginning to fall into line and are ready to or have delivered that money for a new stadium or a renovated venue. In New York, the state, Erie County and the Buffalo Bills ownership cut a stadium deal that will see $850 million in public funding going into the construction of a building that will seat about 60,000 people to be complete in 2026. The Seneca Nation paid the state $564.8 million to settle a five-year-old legal battle over revenues from its three Buffalo-area casinos and about 80 percent of that money will go to the Bills stadium. Meanwhile Kansas City Chiefs ownership is looking for a new stadium by the 2032 season and the team is not only looking in Kansas City, Missouri for a spot. The team is also listening to people in Kansas that might want the Chiefs NFL business to cross state lines and relocate to Kansas.
In Nashville, politicians led by the governor of Tennessee are looking for money to allow Tennessee Titans ownership to build a stadium to replace a facility that opened in 1999. Maryland politicians are talking to the owners of Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles and the NFL’s Ravens about lease extensions at the two Baltimore venues with the state paying for stadium facelifts. Maryland could also be in a bidding war for Daniel Snyder’s Washington Commanders NFL team. Snyder’s business uses a Landover, Maryland stadium for its games but Virginia politicians may be ready to spend more than three billion dollars to lure Snyder to Virginia with a stadium-village plan. Ohio politicians may soon have to deal with aging stadiums in Cincinnati and Cleveland.
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
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Buffalo Bills running back Devin Singletary, second from left, celebrates his touchdown with his teammates during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the New England Patriots, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)