BATAVIA, N.Y. — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who's in Western New York at Jim Kelly's charity golf tournament, suggests the Bills need a new stadium to stay "competitive."
Goodell, who said at the tournament three years ago that the team needs a new stadium to stay in Buffalo “on a successful basis," said Monday that other stadiums around the league should be a signal to the Bills.
"A stadium is going to maintain the kind of fanbase that's going to keep the team competitive and allow us to be successful in that market," Goodell said. "And that's exactly why we're focusing on it here in this market, as well as we have (in) every other market."
Goodell also said taxpayers would likely foot some of the bill for any new stadium.
"Discussions have to go on between the public sector and the private sector and figure out what's best for the community," he said. "How do we develop this? How do we do this right? And we've been really successful in doing it around the country."
The Pegulas' latest comments on the stadium came at the owners' meetings in March, where they discussed a "scaled-down version" of larger stadiums that have gone up around the country.
They're also expecting the results of a fan survey by the end of the summer.
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