- Buffalo Bills fans will have the opportunity to help finance their favorite NFL team’s new stadium.
- Erie County, where the city of Buffalo lies, is selling bonds and the proceeds will go toward helping pay for the new stadium.
- Retail investors need to go through a broker and put up a minimum of $5,000.
It won’t be an ordinary “Monday Night Football” gameday for Buffalo Bills fans next week.
Ahead of the team’s kickoff with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday, retail investors can put an order in for a municipal bond that will go toward financing construction of the Bills’ new stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2026, according to the team’s website. It will give Bills fans a chance to say they had an active hand in building the new venue in Orchard Park, just outside of Buffalo.
Bond buyers will not purchase directly from the Bills. Erie County, where Buffalo sits, is selling the bonds to help fund half the $250 million it agreed to put up for the new stadium.
“I wanted to make sure that this retail period, which is kind of novel, that we had it for the average Buffalo Bills fans who have paid for the current stadium, and have attended the games and gotten frostbite and had their hearts broken for years,” Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick said in a telephone interview.
“They ought to have a chance to help us pay for our share of the construction cost of the new stadium,” he added.
Retail investors will get a one-day period on Monday to put their order in before institutional investors can join Tuesday. Investments on the double A-rated bonds must be made through a broker and need to be for a minimum of $5,000, according the bond offering website.
The interest paid will not be decided until after the offering, according to the bond offering website. Hardwick said the county is considering a 25-year maturation date on the bonds, though he cautioned that is subject to change before Monday.
The Bills ranked 30th on CNBC’s Official NFL Team Valuations at $5.35 billion, but a new stadium and the sponsorship opportunities that come with it can be a massive boost to a team’s valuation.
It is common for locals to be tapped in some way to help finance a National Football League team. The county that the Kansas City Chiefs play in has a sales tax that helps fund the team, and taxpayer dollars are often used to fund new stadiums.
The state of New York and Erie County agreed to fund $850 million of the $1.4 billion price tag, with the Buffalo Bills financing the rest, according to the New York state website. The new stadium will be owned by the Erie County Stadium Corporation and the Bills will pay rent.
The Buffalo Bills are 2-0 this season and take on the winless Jaguars on Monday night.
