ALBANY – The start of any negotiations involving a complex deal whose end product could be expensive, impactful and controversial can be an anxious time.
It’s an anxious time right now in Buffalo and at the State Capitol in Albany.
Preliminary talks have begun between the owners of the Buffalo Bills, the State of New York and Erie County as officials consider a pitch by the team to build a new NFL stadium.
In fact, it’s one of the largest asks for public money in pro sports stadium negotiations: Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the team’s owners, have pitched a $1.5 billion proposal for a new stadium in Orchard Park and to help cover some renovation costs to the Pegulas’ NHL Sabres arena in downtown Buffalo.
The team can afford to build it, while the public can lease the
land to them and collect taxes on gameday sales.
I would like to build a very large restaurant with underground parking. How can I get the taxpayers to pay for the needed land and construction?
No tax payer funding for any PRO-SPORTS team since they allow players to disrespect the US FLAG and these multimillionaires can afford to build their own stadiums without any type of tax breaks.
Teams owning their stadiums will put the maintenance on them,
too, not the taxpayers. Problem is, there’s always a bunch of well-funded
politicians that hoodwink the public into believing that public ownership is
a better deal.