One of the potential buyers for the Buffalo Bills, and also a big supporter of keeping the team in Buffalo, is proposing that a new covered stadium needs to be built for the team. Billionaire Tom Golisano, who is also the former owner of the Buffalo Sabres and also kept that team in Buffalo, has confirmed that he is definitely interested in buying the team and keeping the Bills in Buffalo. However, he has one stipulation that he does think that there needs to be a new stadium that is either permanently covered or has a sliding roof.
“My guess, and it’s strictly a guess, is the stadium will be covered,” he said, via theRochester Democrat and Chronicle. “I don’t know if it’ll have a sliding roof or just a permanent roof, but my guess is it will be covered. And the state government, our governor and some of our U.S. senators are very much in favor of this happening.”
“The important thing is someone buys [the team] and keeps it in western New York,” he said. “Do I feel it has to be me? No, I’m not possessed about owning the Buffalo Bills, just as I wasn’t possessed about owning the Buffalo Sabres. They were in danger of leaving, too. In fact they were a lot closer to leaving than the Bills are. I got involved then because I wanted to keep that entity in western New York, and I want to keep the Buffalo Bills in western New York.”
Golisano has ties to a local Buffalo developer named Scott Congel, who owns land approximately 10 miles from the current Ralph Wilson Stadium that would comfortably fit a new stadium. Of course, new stadium plans are far in the future, but there is no questioning Golisano’s commitment to keeping professional sports in Buffalo.