THE VALLEY VIEWPOINT

$850 Million Later, Some Bills Fans Still Can’t See the Field

There are certain things you would think $2.1 billion could buy.

A decent football stadium, for instance.

Maybe some bathrooms reasonably close to the people sitting in the upper deck.

A video board large enough to see without binoculars.

And, call me old-fashioned, but perhaps a seat from which you can actually see the football game.

Welcome to the new Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.

The Buffalo Bills unveiled their new home to more than 50,000 fans at their August 8 “Return of the Blue & Red” practice. Almost immediately, photographs began circulating showing some pretty remarkable sightline problems. Fans complained about stairwells, railings and other obstructions, along with video boards some thought surprisingly small for a brand-new NFL stadium. (New York Post)

The Bills have responded, saying they are listening to fans and addressing concerns. The organization also says the particularly awful seats making the rounds on social media aren’t actually sold for football games, and that fewer than 1% of PSL holders have raised concerns. That’s important context. (Talksport)

But here’s where this becomes more than a Buffalo sports story.

You helped pay for it.

New York State taxpayers contributed $600 million toward the stadium.

Erie County taxpayers contributed another $250 million.

That’s $850 million in public money committed to building a stadium for one of the most valuable franchises in professional sports. Empire State Development confirms those numbers and says the Bills were responsible for the remaining costs, including construction overruns. (Empire State Development)

The final cost eventually climbed above $2.1 billion. (Governor Kathy Hochul)

Think about that for a moment.

New Yorkers were told this was an investment.

Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration argued that the stadium would keep the Bills in Western New York for the next 30 years, protect jobs and generate an economic impact exceeding the public contribution. Those aren’t frivolous considerations. The Buffalo Bills are woven into the identity and economy of Western New York. Losing the franchise would have been painful.

But government calling something an “investment” doesn’t relieve government of the obligation to explain why taxpayers should be making it.

Especially when the recipient is an NFL franchise.

This is the part of corporate welfare that has always fascinated me.

If a small business owner in Poughkeepsie wants to expand his restaurant, Albany doesn’t write him a $600 million check.

If a family-owned manufacturer in Newburgh needs a new building, taxpayers aren’t asked to construct it.

If a Hudson Valley business makes a bad investment, government generally doesn’t announce that preserving the company’s “economic impact” requires taxpayers to pick up the tab.

That’s called capitalism.

But professional sports apparently operate under a different economic system.

The profits are private.

The franchise appreciation is private.

The luxury suites generate private revenue.

The sponsorships generate private revenue.

The television contracts generate private revenue.

And somehow taxpayers end up helping build the stadium.

We have managed to create an economic philosophy in which billionaires become socialists precisely when it’s time to build an arena.

And New York didn’t simply contribute a few dollars toward infrastructure surrounding the project.

The public commitment was $850 million.

That’s real money.

Money collected from people who will never attend a Bills game.

Money collected from businesses hundreds of miles from Orchard Park.

Money collected from families struggling with property taxes, utility bills, groceries and one of the highest overall tax burdens in America.

Which is why taxpayers have every right to ask uncomfortable questions.

Was this really the best possible use of $600 million in state resources?

Could the Bills have remained in Buffalo with a smaller public subsidy?

What return are taxpayers actually receiving?

And perhaps most importantly, why does government repeatedly demand fiscal discipline from ordinary citizens while discovering extraordinary generosity whenever powerful institutions arrive at the negotiating table?

The stadium itself may ultimately turn out wonderfully.

There are already fans praising its wider concourses, improved concessions, acoustics and intimacy with the field. (Buffalo Rumblings)

And some of the early complaints may prove relatively minor once the Bills work through the opening-day problems.

But none of that changes the larger question.

Government should never become casual about spending somebody else’s money.

Governor Hochul proudly stood behind this project. Her administration called it the largest construction project in Western New York history and celebrated the completion of a stadium that will keep the Bills in Buffalo for decades. (Governor Kathy Hochul)

Fine.

Then own the investment.

Own the cost.

Own the deal.

And own the scrutiny that comes with spending $600 million belonging to New York taxpayers.

Because whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, Bills fan, Giants fan or someone who couldn’t tell Josh Allen from Woody Allen, there ought to be one principle we can agree on:

When government spends $850 million of the public’s money helping build a football stadium, the public has every right to ask whether it got its money’s worth.

And after the first weekend at the new Highmark Stadium, some Bills fans were asking an even simpler question:

Can I at least see the field?