Cleveland Browns building a new dome stadium

[The Jokeman]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

The debate is over. It was a stupid decision.

Blame Erie County for being cheap. 

[brianthomas]

The addition of a dome or retractable roof goes beyond just football. It allows the city to utilize the facility all year round for other events.

This probably wont be too popular here but 1 of the criticisms for the BILLS design is that we're essentially spending $2-3 Billion on a building that will only get used 10 times a year. It's just never made any financial sense. For the BILLS it will of course, they're happy. And for the companies that gain contracts to service the stadium sure, they have a seat at the trough. But for everyone else it wont. Thats always been 1 of my main gripes. Its just a failure of imagination & of foresight & local planning... you know, the Buffalo way.

 

An example for something better? Sure, but i'm no engineer or development planner, but Buffalo has needed a new Convention Center for decades but the cost to build a new one is too prohibitive... as Buffalo is a bit economically depressed. A little bit of planning could've incorporated the 2, getting more bang for the tax payers buck, where funding is always short. Thats just 1 idea that would provide more value to the stadium & area... i'm sure one could think of 10 other ideas better than this. 

 

One thing lost in this discussion is that the funding for this stadium means less funding for other projects that would go to improving the lives of everyday New Yorkers. In areas that dont receive much funding for development projects, spending Billions on a building to only use it a few hours per day, 10 days a year... just doesnt make much sense. It just never has & likely never will.

[papazoid]

14 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

this is awesome. 
 

they are paying $2.4 B for this and we are paying $2.1 B for our roofless stadium!  Just nuts.

 

their $2.4 will end up over $3.0

15 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

Blame Erie County for being cheap. 

 

a downtown stadium would still be tied up in the courts over eminent domain and enviromental impact studies. orchard park stadium will be complete before a downtown stadium even starts....but i still say it should have went downtown with a retractable roof and combined convention center

[PromoTheRobot]

36 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

Blame Erie County for being cheap. 

 

I blame everyone for not starting new stadium construction sooner. They waited until the worst possible economic situation. It's not like the current stadium didn't need to be replaced 5-10 years ago.

Edited March 19 by PromoTheRobot

[Whites Bay]

36 minutes ago, brianthomas said:

An example for something better? Sure, but i'm no engineer or development planner, but Buffalo has needed a new Convention Center for decades but the cost to build a new one is too prohibitive... as Buffalo is a bit economically depressed. A little bit of planning could've incorporated the 2, getting more bang for the tax payers buck, where funding is always short.

To this point, Google "Messe Duesseldorf", click on the Google Maps image, and look at "Merkur Spiel-Arena".  The Messe is a gigantic convention facility (it's like 15-16 halls), and a luxury/business hotel and stadium are built right into the complex on the banks of the Rhine.  A bit grandiose for Buffalo, to be certain.  But as a concept?  Been there, done that.  And it's in use 52 weeks a year.

[ddaryl]

20 hours ago, papazoid said:

 

their $2.4 will end up over $3.0

 

 

 

With Tariffs and American made steel etc.. My guess is well over $4 Billion
 

we shall see @Beast American made products will not be cheap or cheaper


I'm going to addd to this post. I also do not believe the $2.4 billn price tag, and believe you can not build a dome stadium for less than $3 Biilion

Edited March 20 by ddaryl

[Augie]

I’m sure something, some where, some time came in on budget, right? 

 

 

Yeah….probably not and especially if the government was involved in any way.

[WotAGuy]

Wonder what the state income tax take is for having around 10 NFL games each year?  Does it make a dent in the state commitment for the construction?

[SoCal Deek]

15 hours ago, Augie said:

I’m sure something, some where, some time came in on budget, right? 

 

 

Yeah….probably not and especially if the government was involved in any way.

All of my government funded projects came in on budget….and there were literally hundreds of them.  They had to. It was written into the contract. That doesn’t mean they didn’t experience escalation and change orders during construction, but they were always under the originally capped funding allocation. 

[Just Jack]

On 3/19/2025 at 11:13 AM, MikePJ76 said:

Dome stadiums are the worst.  I have no idea why everyone loves them so much.  

 

and the teams with domes never open the roofs like they say they will.  

 

The first game of the Toronto series was a pre-season game against the Steelers. Driving in, you could see the roof was open before the game, because it was a great summer afternoon, sunny and warm.  At some point before the game started it was decided to close the roof.  Not sure why, because there was no weather issues, like rain, coming in. 

[SoCal Deek]

10 hours ago, Just Jack said:

 

The first game of the Toronto series was a pre-season game against the Steelers. Driving in, you could see the roof was open before the game, because it was a great summer afternoon, sunny and warm.  At some point before the game started it was decided to close the roof.  Not sure why, because there was no weather issues, like rain, coming in. 

I’m curious Jack, have you been to Minnesota or Los Angeles? Neither is anything like the domes of the past. 

[Just Jack]

27 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

I’m curious Jack, have you been to Minnesota or Los Angeles? Neither is anything like the domes of the past. 

 

No, neither.  

[SoCal Deek]

9 hours ago, Just Jack said:

 

No, neither.  

You’d be amazed by both. Neither feels like you’re sitting under a roof. The amount of natural light coming into the stadium is incredible. 

[Ga boy]

On 3/19/2025 at 11:22 AM, MikePJ76 said:

I have no idea why people like domes as I stated.

 

They are terrible, bad turf, bad lighting they are a major waste of energy making heat and AC.

 

I've sat through lots of games in snow, sleet and high wind in Buffalo, Cleveland, New York, Dallas...They were all better than the domes.  

 

Football was not meant to be attended in AC while sipping wine and having 50 dollar sushi.  

Mike you are spot on.  In addition, I bet the NFL didn’t want to give up those beautiful snow games.  The NBA hasn’t bought into that idea.

Edited March 21 by Ga boy
Word left out

[Wacka]

On 10/18/2024 at 5:17 AM, BobbyC81 said:

 

The “Oakland” A’s first stadium design release was just a picture of the Oakland Coliseum superimposed on the Tropicana site.  Their latest one looks like a picture of the Sydney Opera House.

 

The Coliseum had a huge banner visible from the BART station stating "Commitment to Excellence " with theRaiders logo for years after the Raiders won their last championship (at least  until 2012). I always read it as "Commitment to Excrement"

Edited March 21 by Wacka

[PromoTheRobot]

On 3/19/2025 at 12:48 PM, brianthomas said:

The addition of a dome or retractable roof goes beyond just football. It allows the city to utilize the facility all year round for other events.

This probably wont be too popular here but 1 of the criticisms for the BILLS design is that we're essentially spending $2-3 Billion on a building that will only get used 10 times a year. It's just never made any financial sense. For the BILLS it will of course, they're happy. And for the companies that gain contracts to service the stadium sure, they have a seat at the trough. But for everyone else it wont. Thats always been 1 of my main gripes. Its just a failure of imagination & of foresight & local planning... you know, the Buffalo way.

 

An example for something better? Sure, but i'm no engineer or development planner, but Buffalo has needed a new Convention Center for decades but the cost to build a new one is too prohibitive... as Buffalo is a bit economically depressed. A little bit of planning could've incorporated the 2, getting more bang for the tax payers buck, where funding is always short. Thats just 1 idea that would provide more value to the stadium & area... i'm sure one could think of 10 other ideas better than this. 

 

One thing lost in this discussion is that the funding for this stadium means less funding for other projects that would go to improving the lives of everyday New Yorkers. In areas that dont receive much funding for development projects, spending Billions on a building to only use it a few hours per day, 10 days a year... just doesnt make much sense. It just never has & likely never will.

 

They really blew it by not involving UB football in a new stadium project. A convention center/stadium for two football teams/ maybe a new arena to boot. Plus commercial development. You should see what Boston did with the area around TD Garden. 

 

Edited March 21 by PromoTheRobot

[Mr. WEO]

On 3/19/2025 at 12:48 PM, brianthomas said:

The addition of a dome or retractable roof goes beyond just football. It allows the city to utilize the facility all year round for other events.

This probably wont be too popular here but 1 of the criticisms for the BILLS design is that we're essentially spending $2-3 Billion on a building that will only get used 10 times a year. It's just never made any financial sense. For the BILLS it will of course, they're happy. And for the companies that gain contracts to service the stadium sure, they have a seat at the trough. But for everyone else it wont. Thats always been 1 of my main gripes. Its just a failure of imagination & of foresight & local planning... you know, the Buffalo way.

 

An example for something better? Sure, but i'm no engineer or development planner, but Buffalo has needed a new Convention Center for decades but the cost to build a new one is too prohibitive... as Buffalo is a bit economically depressed. A little bit of planning could've incorporated the 2, getting more bang for the tax payers buck, where funding is always short. Thats just 1 idea that would provide more value to the stadium & area... i'm sure one could think of 10 other ideas better than this. 

 

One thing lost in this discussion is that the funding for this stadium means less funding for other projects that would go to improving the lives of everyday New Yorkers. In areas that dont receive much funding for development projects, spending Billions on a building to only use it a few hours per day, 10 days a year... just doesnt make much sense. It just never has & likely never will.

 

 

This kind of thinking gets repeated a lot.  But it's fallacy.

 

Football stadiums, domed or not, are essentially useless for "year round" use for the simple reason that there are very few events that can book a space that big.  Go look at the booking calendar of any domed stadium you want---it's hardly used at all.

 

And Buffalo already has a convention center that is underbooked.  why would it build another nearly empty one?  It's not a large convention destination.

[eball]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

This kind of thinking gets repeated a lot.  But it's fallacy.

 

Football stadiums, domed or not, are essentially useless for "year round" use for the simple reason that there are very few events that can book a space that big.  Go look at the booking calendar of any domed stadium you want---it's hardly used at all.

 

And Buffalo already has a convention center that is underbooked.  why would it build another nearly empty one?  It's not a large convention destination.

 

The continued obsession by some over a dome is funny to me.  The new stadium is going to be beautiful, comfortable, and protect the majority of fans from the elements…and as you said, it’s a fallacy that domed stadiums create lots of opportunities for other events.  They’ll still host spring/summer concerts and a dome isn’t needed for that.

 

[SoMAn]

On 3/19/2025 at 1:00 PM, papazoid said:

 

their $2.4 will end up over $3.0

 

a downtown stadium would still be tied up in the courts over eminent domain and enviromental impact studies. orchard park stadium will be complete before a downtown stadium even starts....but i still say it should have went downtown with a retractable roof and combined convention center

Considering the lifespan of modern stadiums and the length of time it takes to get anything done in WNY, NOW is the time to start the downtown stadium study along with all necessary planning so they can have everything in place to begin construction in 2048. That might be the foresight needed to have a covered downtown stadium ready for the opening of the 2051 season. Picture that with the long-promised flying cars! 🙂

Edited March 21 by SoMAn

[HamptonBillsfan]

How could we not have a retractable dome with arguably the best good conditions QB in football? Don’t the best fans in football deserve to enjoy December and January games in the comfort of a dome. Snow and frigid conditions take away from attracting FAs, tourism and the quality of the viewing product. In 2025 why are we committed to thumbing our nose at architectural advances. I know that the decision to build an open air stadium was to press our cold weather identity and advantage but how has that worked out since the early 90s? Too late now but for the amount of taxpayer dollars spent on this stadium the fans and corporate sponsors should have had input in this decision.