Goodell: Bills have to stay up with league facilities
Terry and Kim Pegula made Buffalo Bills fans very happy when they bought the team after the death of Ralph Wilson in 2014 and decided to stay in the area, despite a need for a new stadium.
The Bills stated there wasn't a rush to to build a new facility at the league meetings in March, but now they are facing pressure from Roger Goodell and the league to get things started.
"Well I think that's one of the things Terry's going through," Goodell told the Buffalo News at Jim Kelly's 30th annual golf outing on Monday, "trying to see what it takes to make sure the Bills remain here on a successful basis. That's their objective and I know that's their commitment. We fully support that.
"Stadiums are important, just to making sure the team here can continue to compete not only throughout the NFL but also to compete in this environment because we've got great facilities here now. The Bills have to stay up with that."
Goodell didn't put a deadline on any decisions from the Bills, instead putting the onus on the organization to make the call.
"That's up to Terry and the community to really get focused on," said Goodell. "What does it take? What is the right location? Those are the difficult decisions that have to be made locally. We'll support it any way we can. But ultimately, those decisions are made here."
The Bills have played at Ralph Wilson Stadium since 1973, with their current lease running until 2022. The team invested $130 million in renovations to the stadium in 2014.
Team president Russ Brandon and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz have defended the current stadium recently, questioning the need for a replacement.
"The building has great bones, it has great sight lines, and it has great tailgating," Brandon said in March. "Do we have the bells and whistles of all the new facilities that are on line today? No. But one of the things is that we’re a volume business. We have a lot of suites, we have a lot of club seats, we have a lot of seats in the building. Everything that we do is affordable. But at the same time, part of adding additional suites and additional club seats at our price points was to stay in line with the new NFL at the time, going all the way back to 1999.
"Obviously, you always have great respect for what your (league) partners want, but we have to focus on what makes sense for us, what makes sense for our community, for our business partners."
Goodell believes a deal will get done, and has raved about what the Pegulas have done already in their short time as NFL owners.