For some inexplicable reason, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle got an interview with New York state governor Kathy Hochul that ran this morning, and decided to spend it asking her all about how much she loves the Buffalo Bills. After a whole lot of reminiscing about how no one in her house growing up was allowed to talk when the Bills game was on TV — the Hochul family sounds like a blast — the governor gets around to discussing her role in giving Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula $1 billion in public money for a new stadium, and, well:
The stadium was important to me to have the fans have an experience they wanted. And when I first found out I was going to become governor, I knew that the owners, Terry and Kim Pegula, were frustrated that they weren’t getting an answer out of the administration on whether or not there’d be support for a new stadium. And the lease was up, and there were repairs that were definitely needed; they were expensive. And the Bills had options to go elsewhere. They absolutely were being recruited by other cities. So, it was a perilous time for the Bills.
And I became the first governor from Buffalo since Grover Cleveland and knew what I had to do. And first conveyed to them my strong feelings of getting a new stadium built.
But as a new governor, I had to expend tremendous political capital to get it through the Legislature. I’m not sure they wanted to commit that much money to a sports venue in a place that most of them had never been to. But I was able to be successful. And I showed the economics that, in fact, the Buffalo Bills in the region is about $300 million a year.
I figured out the economics of it. I had to pitch it. I had to negotiate hard. I had two main criteria. One was that the Bills commit to staying 30 years … as well as we would not be responsible for cost overrides, which is fortunate because a lot has happened with inflation and tariffs and costs could go up. But I kept the size of the state’s share the same. So, in comparison to other stadiums, ours comes out as a much better deal for the taxpayers.
As the next followup question from the D&C reporter was “What are you most excited for ahead of the new season?”, we’ll have to pick apart Hochul’s answers ourselves. One at a time:
The stadium was important to me to have the fans have an experience they wanted.
When New York residents were asked if they wanted the state to fund a new Bills stadium, 63% said no, vs. only 24% who said yes. And while many of those were likely downstate fans of the New York Giants and Jets, even those in the Buffalo region opposed the deal by a wide 65-31% margin. And now that the stadium is open, many fans are complaining that it’s not at all the experience they wanted.
I knew that the owners, Terry and Kim Pegula, were frustrated that they weren’t getting an answer out of the administration on whether or not there’d be support for a new stadium.
Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, gave lots of answers about a new Bills stadium, but none was “Here’s a check,” so it’s possible the Pegulas were frustrated by that.
There were repairs that were definitely needed; they were expensive.
This is a common claim by Bills officials, but any evidence in support of it was blacked out of public documents as “a threat to public safety,” so no way to know what repairs were actually needed or the cost. (Time to re-file that FOIL request now that the old stadium is being torn down and can’t be a threat to anyone!)
And the Bills had options to go elsewhere. They absolutely were being recruited by other cities.
“We did not have conversations with other cities,” said Bills stadium czar Ron Raccuia in 2022 shortly after the stadium was approved.
I had to expend tremendous political capital to get it through the Legislature.
Mostly, Hochul won support for her stadium plan by doing an end run around the usual budget process and instead dropping the bill on legislators’ desks too late for any public debate. It’s possible she also had to arm-twist individual reluctant legislators into voting for the bill, but she may want to consider that’s not really the flex she thinks it is.
I showed the economics that, in fact, the Buffalo Bills in the region is about $300 million a year.
That’s not even English, let alone economics, but presumably she means that the economic impact of the Bills in the region is $300 million a year. Economic impact is famously a meaningless number, as “an airplane landing at an airport and everyone gets out and gives each other a million bucks, then gets back on the plane” counts as $200 million in economic impact; what matters is fiscal impact, the amount of money that actually ends up flowing to local governments. The only impact report done for the state actually said that the amount of city, county, and state tax revenue associated with the Bills is $27 million a year, and as that report was done by an engineering firm whose “national director of sports economics” had a degree in accountancy, not economics, it’s doubtful this accounted for things like money that would be spent elsewhere in the state if the Bills had left.
We would not be responsible for cost overrides, which is fortunate because a lot has happened with inflation and tariffs and costs could go up.
They’re generally called cost “overruns,” but fair enough, the Pegulas did agree to cover those, and they were substantial. So one thumb up for Hochul’s negotiating.
In comparison to other stadiums, ours comes out as a much better deal for the taxpayers.
Sports economist Victor Matheson called the Bills deal “one of the worst stadium deals in recent memory – a remarkable feat considering the high bar set by other misguided state and local governments across the country” and “a return to the bad old days” where taxpayers put up the bulk of money for NFL stadium costs.
In conclusion, Hochul is clearly a huge Bills fan, and also kind of a dissembler. We knew both of those things before today, but I suppose it’s nice to have a reminder — though it would have been even nicer if the reporter doing the interview had pressed Hochul on some of her more questionable statements, since I doubt she’s going to reply to this post.
I hate to cast aspersions on local newspapers because PE is hollowing them out one by one by depressing one, but at this point, they’re merely public relations arms for the richest, most powerful, and most influential people and organizations in the areas that they cover… and in retrospect, their paths to becoming PR arms were well-trodden even before those vultures started circling.
Even the odd op-ed or letters to the editor expressing skepticism are usually relegated to the corners toward the back end of the news section. Otherwise, there are few dissenting voices to be “found,” let alone published, at the local and regional levels. I think most everyone by now can see that’s entirely by design, but that doesn’t make it any less unseemly or easier to level with.
The hollowed out sports section of the sad remains of my local daily is given to running reprints of recent columns from other less moribund dailies. Recently they ran a column by one Sarah Hepola of the Dallas Morning News on Dak Prescott’s philanthropic work that left one wondering if perhaps Martin Luther King, Jr. hadn’t returned to earth in the form of the Dallas Cowboys quarterback. I emailed her to ask if writing such jock-sniffing/celebrity worshipping public relations copy wasn’t a bit embarrassing. I got a one word reply: “No.”
Given some of her other work, I can see that response:
“Sarah Hepola ‘s writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, New Republic, Glamour, Slate, Guardian, and Salon, where she was a longtime editor. She has worked as a music critic, travel writer, film reviewer, sex blogger, beauty columnist, and high school English teacher. She lives in Dallas.”
Hochul’s ‘involvement’ in the Bills Stadium push bordered on a criminal act.
Being a huge fan of a team while also an elected official in charge of budget is not an excuse to funnel money to the team owner. in fact, doing so is no different than using the state budget to remodel your house. You are taking public money that is meant for public benefit and using it on one of your hobbies.
It is shameless self dealing, corruption and influence peddling all rolled into one.
If we actually lived in a democracy she would already be defending herself in court and have been removed from office for corruption.
Instead, she’ll probably get a comped luxury suite and a statue outside the stadium (paid for by future gifts from the unconsulted taxpayer to team ownership).
I’ve taken a liking to your page after losing all 3 of our teams here in Oakland. We kept our taxpayer money but Jesus Christ did it destroy our culture. Anyway, I’m willing to take one for the team here because giving Mark Davis and John Fisher over a billion dollars would have been an even worse outcome.
This piece about Buffalo is hilarious! Maybe they’ll win a Super Bowl someday, but probably not.