Bills' owners commit to new stadium, want to end Toronto games

The Associated Press

Bills' owners commit to new stadium, want to end Toronto games image

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Terry and Kim Pegula are committed to building a stadium for the Bills and are working on ending the team's series of annual home games in Toronto.

Those were among the topics the franchise's new owners touched upon during a wide-ranging 20 minute interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday night.

"Well, there's going to be a new stadium somewhere, that's all I know," Terry Pegula said. "The league was pretty emphatic that Buffalo, we're a small market, needs to be as competitive as we can."

The one answer the Pegulas couldn't provide yet is a location, timeline or how the costs of a new stadium will be split.

Kim Pegula said she and her husband will join an already established New Stadium Working Group that is studying potential locations, designs and costs.

"We know it's out there. We understand it. We realize it. But we want to make sure because you only get to build a stadium once," Kim said. "We want to make sure that when the time comes, that we have done our homework."

As for the Bills-In-Toronto series, the Pegulas are ready to end it.

"We're working on that right now," Kim said. "We want all the home games to be played in Buffalo, so we're working through that. I think it's close, but nothing's been finalized. But that is our intent."

The series was placed on hold in March, when the Bills and Toronto-based Rogers Communication announced an agreement to postpone holding a game north of the border this season. The postponement came after Bills management and players expressed concerns about poor fan support at Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto, and whether it was worth giving up a home game in a bid to expand the franchise's exposure in Canada's largest city and financial capital.

The Bills have a 1-5 record since the series was launched in 2008. Under the existing agreement, which was renewed in 2013, the Bills were scheduled to play four more regular-season games in Toronto.

Toronto is about a two-hour drive from Buffalo and part of the Bills' market.

The Associated Press