Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with that

[IlluminatusUIUC]

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with that

— Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) June 6, 2016

The stadium con is about to get underway in Buffalo, prepare yourselves.

[Skooby]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

Con ?? We have a POS stadium right now, it's awful. They made some improvements and dressed it up but it matches most of the neighboring areas, very dated. Terry spent $1.4 Billion, it's time to ante up & get something downtown.

[gebobs]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

Please, not downtown.

[Skooby]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

Please, not downtown.

Do you not think that the current revitalization was intended for that event to occur ? It's as plain as freaking day, make Buffalo great again.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

Con ?? We have a POS stadium right now, it's awful. They made some improvements and dressed it up but it matches most of the neighboring areas, very dated. Terry spent $1.4 Billion, it's time to ante up & get something downtown.

Yes, con. They extract hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money for a stadium and then keep the profits. If Pegula and the NFL want a brand new stadium, they should pay for it themselves.

[gebobs]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

Do you not think that the current revitalization was intended for that event to occur ? It's as plain as freaking day, make Buffalo great again.

I don't care. I don't want it right downtown.

[DraftBoy]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

Yes, con. They extract hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money for a stadium and then keep the profits. If Pegula and the NFL want a brand new stadium, they should pay for it themselves.

They also get the local officials to lie consistently about the true costs.

[OpIv37]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

They also get the local officials to lie consistently about the true costs.

And the supposed benefits. Politicians always talk about the big local economic gains that stadiums/arenas are supposed to bring, but after the initial construction, it's usually ends up being a fraction of what is promised.

[OpIv37]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

Con ?? We have a POS stadium right now, it's awful. They made some improvements and dressed it up but it matches most of the neighboring areas, very dated. Terry spent $1.4 Billion, it's time to ante up & get something downtown.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Ralph is a great stadium if you want to watch a football game. It lacks the amenities that appeal to the more casual fans: fancy food, lounges, luxury boxes, etc. But the real fans already come out to games. The NFL is looking for something that will make the casual fans show up on a 15 degree mid-December day when the team is 2-11. So,they want the taxpayers to shell out so they can make more money.

[DraftBoy]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

And the supposed benefits. Politicians always talk about the big local economic gains that stadiums/arenas are supposed to bring, but after the initial construction, it's usually ends up being a fraction of what is promised.

The problem I have with the economic benefits is two pronged:
1. We only ever talk about the short-term benefits and forget that those are often only temporary
2. At the rate we're replacing stadiums now there really isn't a ton of time for a strong economic current to redevelop a struggling area, short of gentrifying the entire area (See Atlanta - Vine City).

[BLeonard]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

Goodell can say whatever he wants, doesn't really matter. When and if the Pegulas want a new stadium, it'll happen, not before. The threat to move the team is gone. Apparently, Roger didn't get the memo.

Someone should ask him, if he's so concerned about stadiums, why did they nix the Chargers/Raiders plan and send BOTH of those teams back to their respective ****holes for 2016?

-Bill

[YardRat]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

**** Goodell and everything New England.

Also, if you think stadiums don't have a decent economic impact, watch what happens to all of the small shops surrounding the stadium, and OP in general, when the new digs get built downtown.

[Joe Fo Sho]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Ralph is a great stadium if you want to watch a football game. It lacks the amenities that appeal to the more casual fans: fancy food, lounges, luxury boxes, etc. But the real fans already come out to games. The NFL is looking for something that will make the casual fans show up on a 15 degree mid-December day when the team is 2-11. So,they want the taxpayers to shell out so they can make more money.

Which sucks because that nonsense costs money. New stadiums are costing over a billion dollars, with rumors of the LA's new stadium to top $2 billion. F that noise. I'd like to have a new, blue collar stadium that was made for fans who want to watch football. I don't care about having the biggest jumbotron ever, or an in-stadium starbucks with Wi-Fi. Give me a seat and a beer, and let me watch some football.

Is it unreasonable to ask for an outdoor stadium to cost $500-700 million? Lucas Oil Stadium cost $720 million in 2008. The Ralph cost $22 million in 1973, which adjusted for inflation is $118 million today.

[Skooby]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

Yes, con. They extract hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money for a stadium and then keep the profits. If Pegula and the NFL want a brand new stadium, they should pay for it themselves.

What's it to you, you live in California. Are you like a hero for the local masses ? What if the state related benefits come into play and they get a 10 year tax diversion for helping create new jobs / businesses ?? I can see a major commercial event surrounding this as well, including but not limited to tying in the trains.

Have you ever been to Orlando's basketball venue and road the mass transit systems they have there ?? You might get am idea how cool it is, it's actually pretty nice.

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They also get the local officials to lie consistently about the true costs.

Cost out of your pocket ?? $0 ?? So what's it to you ?

[Skooby]

Re: Goodell: The league has great facilities now, and the Bills have to keep up with

**** Goodell and everything New England.

Also, if you think stadiums don't have a decent economic impact, watch what happens to all of the small shops surrounding the stadium, and OP in general, when the new digs get built downtown.

Pegged. It'll revitalize the downtown in a huge way, see Pittsburgh's waterfront stadium and the following there. Money comes back there from around the world to see their Steelers play & have comfortable surroundings to enjoy the town. Not the current ancient Rat hole we have at the Ralph in the middle of nowhere, there's no real incentive for fans to come back to that dump. Build a beautiful waterfront setup with the proper amount of commercial space, then you'll have new conventions and all kind of business showing up. Notice how the hockey arena is attracting all types of new business ? Multiple that times 5 with an NFL stadium.

Everyone debating a waterfront stadium has some other skin in the game for themselves, it won't stop the stadium from happening as well. It's amazing how short-sighted Bills fans are, including but not limited to hosting superbowls. Build a new monster and bring in real money from all around the world, I'd venture to say that some of the $ might stick in a bigger way.