ALF Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 Makes the $200 million upgrade sound like a bargain for the state. I would be against a new stadium in Hamilton,Ont. http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/blog/morning_roundup/2012/10/developer-proposes-bills-play-in.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_buffalo+%28Business+First+of+Buffalo%29
LabattBlue Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 (edited) I'm from omaha and we built a roughly 441 million dollar arena/convention center.....we are in omaha! we have ZERO pro teams! Zero! it's a little over half as much the cost of this new proposal but just look what we've used it for so far and we are in nebraska! Imagine next to Canada lake side! It only holds 18500 seats in the Arena! http://www.centurylinkcenteromaha.com/ http://en.wikipedia....nk_Center_Omaha Olympic Swim Trials Division 1 Basketball Tournaments Division 1 Volleyball Tournaments It's the University of Omaha - Hockey's home ice Creighton Basketball Home Games A **** ton of Concerts Pheasant Forever National Banquet Professional Rodeo Events WWE National World of Wheels Car Shows Weddings **** ton of private events in 2013 were getting US Figure Skating Championships.. The list goes on and on... Population of Omaha According to the 2011 Population Estimates, Omaha's population was 415,068. Including its suburbs, Omaha formed the 60th-largest metropolitan area in the United States in 2010, with an estimated population of 877,110 residing in eight counties Population of Buffalo Buffalo itself has a population of 261,310 (2010 Census) and the Buffalo–Niagara–Cattaraugus Combined Statistical Area is home to 1,215,826 residents. It would be the biggest epic fail in the history of epic fails if Buffalo doesn't take this seriously... Not sure I follow you. What does a 19,000 seat "arena" in Omaha, have to do with a proposal for a 70,000 seat domed "stadium". We already have a 19,000 seat arena in downtown, which could host all the sporting events you listed, outside of the swimming, and even for that, there is a modern swimming facility in downtown Buffalo. Edited October 24, 2012 by LabattBlue
papazoid Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 If you want the taxpayers to waste 2 Billion on building this ( by the time the cost overuns and public infrastructure are added in) to keep the Bill's here in WNY, just cut out the middle man and give the new buyers of the BIll's 2 Billion in "tax incentives" to keep the team here. It would be a lot more direct and effective than building it and hoping it will sway the new owners to stay. with $2 Billion dollars.....we could just buy the bills for $1 Billion, spend $200 million upgrading the ralph and have $800 million leftover.
plenzmd1 Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 (edited) with $2 Billion dollars.....we could just buy the bills for $1 Billion, spend $200 million upgrading the ralph and have $800 million leftover. Damn is this smart. Seeing as how they got that rule about non public ownership though, how bout we give the $1B to TPEGs to buy the team, do the $200M upgrade, and make Terry sign a lease that is unbreakable for 40 years?..at which point i will no longer be walking this earth...so not really worried bout what happens after that LOL. Edited October 24, 2012 by plenzmd1
AxelRipper Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 You know, the F'n Center is getting a bit long in the tooth as well... maybe they could use the retractable stadium for hockey games as well. Have the bleachers move so that it can be shrunk down to a 20-30k seat arena for hockey, and expand to 60-65k for football.
Hammered a Lot Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 with $2 Billion dollars.....we could just buy the bills for $1 Billion, spend $200 million upgrading the ralph and have $800 million leftover. Winner I am starting to think the best spot is right where it is. Fixing it up will be costly, but maybe Hammer will get a fat paycheck as they build a new one! What's a fat paycheck look like?
BuffaloRebound Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 I no longer live in WNY, but the fact that the Bills and Erie County politicians have already shot this down is ridiculous. $200m to improve RWS shouldn't even be on the table. Stop letting Ralph hold WNY hostage. A long term solution is needed. $200m isn't scaring any new owner from moving the team. I'm not saying it has to be this new proposal, but if you build a new stadium, it pretty much guarantees Bills will be here for next 40 years. $400m from NY state to guarantee Bills will be here for 40 years plus possibility of state-of-the-art stadium and all that comes with that (jobs, downtown revival, etc.) versus $200m to polish a turd that in no way deters Bills from moving is a pretty easy choice.
CountDorkula Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 (edited) "There are several problems with the proposed Outer Harbor site, such as a lack of space needed for parking, distance from the downtown core, and insufficient road infrastructure." This is hilarious...Such a horrible excuse if I ever heard one. Pittsburghs stadium'S are located right in the heart of the city. Could not get more centrally located then where they are, and they are flourishing like crazy. A new hockey arena and football stadium just completed. My uncle lived there for 10+ years and loved it. They actually get stuff done there, the politicians in this area will never get Anything at all done ever....Unfortunately this will result in thousands of people to continue to flock to more suitable grounds. =/ Hey, that 30 second drive over the skyway is quite far. Hotels, Restaurants, Stores, Bars, would be chomping at tht bit to build things within minutes of the stadium if this were ever to come to fruition. Edited October 24, 2012 by CountDorkula
jester43 Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 I no longer live in WNY, but the fact that the Bills and Erie County politicians have already shot this down is ridiculous. $200m to improve RWS shouldn't even be on the table. Stop letting Ralph hold WNY hostage. A long term solution is needed. $200m isn't scaring any new owner from moving the team. I'm not saying it has to be this new proposal, but if you build a new stadium, it pretty much guarantees Bills will be here for next 40 years. $400m from NY state to guarantee Bills will be here for 40 years plus possibility of state-of-the-art stadium and all that comes with that (jobs, downtown revival, etc.) versus $200m to polish a turd that in no way deters Bills from moving is a pretty easy choice. amen.
Hplarrm Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 And don't forget the good citizens of WNY picking up the $1.4B tab. Oh wait, make that $1.8B. Those darn union cost overruns you know! Completely absurd for anyone to waste even five minutes on such a 'plan'. I think the military should actually be put in charge rather than the unions, no cost overr uns when the military is in charge. Perhaps we should push for the free-market to handle this, but then again the free market works because there is about a 50/50 chance they go out of business in the first 5 years and the free market produces good outcomes overall because a good chunk of the people involved simply get fired!
Hplarrm Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 I dubt the NFL buys into this idea because the main way this would make fiscal sense for the many theoretically community controlled entities to spend on this to have it work ((several hundred million for NYS likely through some form of a sports authority, NFTA, Erie County, City of Buffalo (which despite its fiscal trobles is still able to borrow far more money far more cheaply than any private capita sources) would be for the community to be in charge (ala a Green Bay Packers model) rather than have individual owners be it a Jerry Jones, Dan Snyder or even Mr. Ralph. The game here is whether the profits from this entity go primarily to individuals (the typical NFL model) or ges to the community as a whole. Well, one thing is for sure, the community control model of the Packers prd\oduces a better football product than the flailings of Snyder, Jones or sadly Mr. Ralph. I doubt the NFL allows a community profit model over an individual profit model.
Best Player Available Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 with $2 Billion dollars.....we could just buy the bills for $1 Billion, spend $200 million upgrading the ralph and have $800 million leftover. 800 Million leftover, is perfect. We could rebuild the D-line with coin like that!
Just Jack Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 800 Million leftover, is perfect. We could rebuild the D-line with coin like that! At the prices they pay, we'd only get 8 players.
Bufcomments Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 I've always advocated a facility just a bit further south, on the old Bethlehem Steel site, mainly because there's just SOOOO much land there for parking and tailgating, the rail infrastructure still remains in place (making mass transit a cinch), and - for ease of ingress/egress - it's pretty much at the intersection of Route 5, Milestrip Rd., and the NYS Thruway. (And, that land would be extremely problematic to rehabilitate for any other use). But I do just LOVE this lastest proposal, and Gov. Cuomo is already on record saying he's got a $$billion$$ just waiting to give to Buffalo for the right project. RWS was built roughly a decade after Candlestick Park, which the 49ers are now replacing with a 68,000 seat facility in Santa Clara. This project is right for Buffalo on so many levels, and makes WAY more sense than dumping another $200-300M into the aging stadium in Orchard Park. (As others have said, 72,000 seats may be a bit too large - a 68,000-seat like the one the 49ers are building seem about right for WNY.) Will it ever happen? Who knows. Finally, after decades of nothing at all, we're witnessing some significant development around the Cobblestone and Canalside districts, and moving UB's med school downtown is sure to change both the landscape and the demograhics of downtown. I would be amazing if, five years from now, we could see something like this... Link -Downtown Stadium Proposed For Buffalo Bills – Images and Presentation Think we talked about this before and you make alot of sense but who owns the Beth Steel land? I dont think the city of LA owns it. correct me if I'm wrong. But the picture is so damn pretty. This would make Buffalo a true sports town. I doubt we see it happen. Why pour 200 million its a stadium that almost 40 yrs old?? We need a new one anyway.
zow2 Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 We've said before, either go for it and invest in the city/region with a top shelf product or get out of the business. Very happy to see a developer propose this grand scheme. Very disappointed to hear that Erie county lawmakers are already crushing these dreams and saying it's impossible. The Bills could get onboard too but clearly they are buying time and waiting for the best offer after Ralph passes.
bbb Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 Have any new stadiums been started since the '08 crash of the economy?
stony Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 Nothing like dilapidated grain elevators as the backdrop of a bllion dollar stadium
Just Jack Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 Have any new stadiums been started since the '08 crash of the economy? Two I could think of, off the top of my head, was Dallas and NJ, but double checking online, construction on both was started before 2008.
zow2 Posted October 24, 2012 Posted October 24, 2012 Two I could think of, off the top of my head, was Dallas and NJ, but double checking online, construction on both was started before 2008. San Francisco broke ground in April 2012 on their new 69,000 seat stadium in Santa Clara.
Recommended Posts