WEST PALM BEACH, FL (WKBW) — On Tuesday the Bills, New York State, and Erie County reached an agreement for a new $1.4 billion stadium to be built in Orchard Park. A day after the agreement was announced, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell expressed his excitement to see everything work out.
"I am happy to see a resolution. I think the Buffalo Bills mean a great deal to the community and that community means a great deal to the NFL," Goodell said when speaking at the NFL Owners Meetings on Tuesday afternoon. "I believe firmly that a stadium was necessary. The current stadium was nearing the end of its useful life. There's a 30-year commitment to be there which I think is important for the fans. I think it's a good resolution and I'm thrilled the Bills will be there for at least my lifetime."
Goodell has roots in Western New York. He was born in Jamestown and has often come back to Buffalo in the summers for Jim Kelly's annual golf classic. It was at that classic last August that Goodell expressed his belief that a stadium deal would eventually get done.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: A new stadium is what's needed and it has to be one that fits Buffalo. @WKBW pic.twitter.com/MJiJVHqC1y
— Jenna Callari (@jennacallari) August 23, 2021
"The credit I give number one to the Governor for her leadership and for stepping into a situation where she had to find a solution. She took on a leadership role. She worked with the county, worked with others, worked with the Bills, worked with us," he said during the Owners Meetings. "I look at this as a public-private partnership. There is public money in this which is not uncommon with stadiums, there's the NFL money, the Bills are going to be putting in money."
