Hochul unveils plans to pay for new $1.4B Bills stadium

(The Center Square) – New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced late Tuesday how the state plans to pay for most of its share of the proposed $1.4 billion stadium that would keep the Buffalo Bills in town.

Earlier this week, Hochul announced the state would contribute $600 million toward the new facility, which would replace Highmark Stadium. The new facility will be built in Orchard Park like the existing venue.

More than two-thirds of that funding will come from the state’s money in a settlement with the Seneca Nation of Indians to resolve a lingering dispute regarding payments as part of the Class III gaming compact between the parties.

On Tuesday, Hochul said the state was in receipt of $564 million previously held in an escrow account.

“These funds were generated in western New York, and I am directing the state’s share, which is more than $418 million, to the new Buffalo Bills stadium,” Hochul said. “This will ensure the Bills remain in New York state and support 10,000 construction jobs. The remainder of the funds will go directly to the counties and cities of Western New York and be reinvested to support the local economy and communities.”

Earlier reports indicated state and local governments would cover $1 billion of the project’s costs. However, the announcement revealed the state and Erie County’s contributions will total $850 million.

The remainder will be covered by the team and the NFL. Owners of the 32 teams approved the plan at the league’s annual meeting on Monday.

Provided the state’s $600 million portion is approved by state lawmakers in the upcoming budget, the stadium agreement puts an end to any talk that the Bills, a beloved institution in western New York, would leave the area after its lease at Highmark ends next year. However, that may come at the expense of a difficult renegotiation of the Seneca Nation’s gaming compact.

The Senecas and state reached a 21-year deal in 2002 that allowed the tribe to operate Class III casinos in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Salamanca. The first 14 years of the compact were guaranteed, with the last seven years considered mutually optional.

During the first 14 years, the tribe agreed to make payments to the state, with those payments rising throughout the years to 25% of gaming revenue. Both sides agreed to take the option, but there was a disagreement about whether the remaining years included the payment requirements.

After an arbitration panel ruled for the state, the Seneca Nation filed a federal lawsuit. In February 2021, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the state.

Then, tribal leaders said they learned from the federal government that the Interior Department failed to review the seven-year option when it reviewed the compact. Under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the Interior Department must approve any gaming compact before it can be enacted.

The Seneca Nation then sought delays in releasing funds to the state so it could get a ruling from federal officials on whether the payments were considered legal.

It had appeared that the two sides reached an agreement in January to resolve the issue and begin talks on a new compact that would succeed the one expiring next year. However, some tribal members continued to press whether the payments were legal.

Under IGRA, tribes are supposed to be the sole beneficiary of their gaming operations. Any payments to the state were only supposed to be made in return for other benefits.

The state has pointed to land it gave the tribe as well as the Niagara Falls Convention Center as examples of the benefits the Seneca Nation has received.

The Seneca Nation announced Tuesday that it released the funds after New York sought to freeze tribal accounts, a move that did not sit well with tribal President Matthew Pagels.

“Don’t use the people of western New York as pawns in your obvious desire to destroy the Seneca Nation,” Pagels said in a video statement. “You have an obligation under federal law to negotiate a contract with the Seneca Nation in good faith. Honor it.”

Since establishing the compact, New York has expanded commercial gambling across the state, including a resort casino between Rochester and Syracuse, and implemented statewide mobile sports betting.

Pagels noted that in the new compact, the tribe will seek to protect its interests fully.

“After 20 years, our compact must finally recognize the true condition of the gaming landscape, not New York’s empty promise on fictional benefits,” Pagels said. “If the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is to be believed, then the federal government must hold our compact to the standard of ensuring that the Seneca Nation and Senecas are the primary beneficiaries of our gaming enterprise. So that our business supports our peoples and our nation’s economic growth first and foremost.

“The Seneca Nation will not rest until we have a contract in place that secures the future of our gaming business in western New York for our Seneca people, for our thousands of dedicated employees, for our business partners and for our neighbors. We’re not going anywhere, and we will not tolerate a governor, and a state hell-bent on crushing us. If that’s what the state expects, they could not be more wrong.”

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