Clock ticks on Bills stadium deal

Getty Images

April Fool’s Day is coming. It’s perhaps a fitting deadline for a New York budget that is expected to devote a whopping $1 billion in taxpayer money for a new Bills stadium.

The New York Times takes a closer look at the situation, the latest example of the tension between doing whatever it takes to keep a professional football team and telling billionaires to pay for their own stuff. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has said that she expects a stadium deal to be in place before April 1, the deadline for finalizing the state’s budget. Per the Times, however, the details regarding the more-public-than-private financing project remain scarce and elusive.

The balance for Hochul remains a delicate one. If no deal is done and the Bills move to some other place that will do that same deal (or even perhaps a better one), she’ll take a major political hit. If she’s perceived as giving away free money to people who already have more than enough of it, she’ll take a major political hit.

Some think the team’s owners, Terry and Kim Pegula, are bluffing about the possibility of relocating, if they don’t get what they want. It could be, however, that their stance is more promise than threat. They’ve opted to give New York and Erie County every opportunity to do a deal before exploring other options. If/when they have to explore other opportunities, they won’t be looking for other offers to shop back to Buffalo. They’ll be looking for a new home for their team.

That’s the risk of not doing the current deal. The Pegulas may say, “You had your chance. Bye.”

The Raiders found Las Vegas, which footed the bulk of the bill for a new stadium. The Bills could find another city equally willing to do what Erie County and New York may not.

That’s why Hochul is hustling to do a deal. For every city that draws a line in the sands of taxpayer money, another locale will be throwing buckets of cash at the possibility of hosting an NFL franchise.

For any city or state trying to keep or lure a team with public funds, there’s one simple reality that reflects the disconnect between politicians and their constituencies. If/when any of these measures would be put on a ballot, they would fail miserably.

So why do the people elected by those same voters keep coughing up taxpayer money? It really makes no sense. Then again, neither did a monorail in Springfield.