B-Roll, Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul, Buffalo Bills, and Erie County Announce Start of Construction on New, State-of-the-Art Buffalo Bills Football Stadium

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul, Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the start of construction on the Bills' new, state-of-the-art $1.54 billion stadium in Orchard Park. The new 60,000-seat facility, designed by the Bills in conjunction with Legends and the architectural firm Populous, marks the largest economic development project in Western New York history with an estimated 30-year economic impact of $1.6 billion and the creation of 10,000 union construction jobs. Construction on the new stadium is expected to be complete in 2026. Project renderings can be viewed here.

B-ROLL of the groundbreaking is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page .

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Thank you, Maddy, so much. And yeah, first Governor who's really a hardcore, diehard Buffalo Bills fan. Let's just get that out there. I think that's pretty obvious. I literally grew up down the road in Hamburg here, so how could you not love the Buffalo Bills? I could hear them cheering from my house if I wasn't at the game myself.

So, it's in my blood. I admit it. But I'm so honored to be here today. It was a long time coming. There were a lot of ups and downs, but I want to thank so many people for just making this day what it is. And I'm going to steal the line that Terry stole from me, which is a powerful one for us here in Western York, "Where else would you rather be right here than right now?"

Here we are building a brand-new stadium, my friends. Let's get excited about that. Terry, thank you. You and Kim were such a dynamic couple to have to deal with when you're negotiating, but I'll say perhaps my toughest calls were with Kim. And a lot of times when the guys were off doing something else, Kim and I were on the telephone. It started literally in my first days as governor, late August of 2021, and she says, "Can we get this moving again?" Because there was a lot of concern. Were we making enough progress toward a deadline?

So, Kim and I really bonded over the experience of just talking about how to make this happen. So, I want to thank Terry - we love you, we love Kim and the entire Pegula family for loving New York, loving Buffalo - and we love you right back. So, let's give a round applause to the entire Pegula family.

My partners in government - Mark Poloncarz and I knew we had to get this done. I was not going to be the first governor in the State of New York to lose a team, the Buffalo Bills, and nor was he going to be the first county executive. We saw how important this was to this community, not just the economic impact of over $385 million a year - put an exclamation point on that - but also the psyche of this community rises and falls with the fortunes of the Buffalo Bills. It's just part of our story, part of our identity. So, Mark, I want to thank you and your incredible team for, again, putting in the long hours, making this happen, being a great partner of mine. And the legislature, April Baskin, and the Community Benefits Agreement, this is an agreement that's going to benefit people for decades to come, and it's not just sports related. It's about workforce development, it's about job training, it's about anti-violence initiatives. So, this is going to have an impact way beyond what we're doing here today. So, to our local elected officials, I thank you.

Our partners at the federal level, Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand, were keenly watching the progress, making sure this occurred.

Locally, we have Congressman Brian Higgins. I want to thank him for representing this area for such a long time. And now, Nick Langworthy, I want to thank for what you're doing for us. Senator Gallivan, representing our delegation. They are hard at work right now. And I thank the entire delegation.

This was not an easy lift, my friends. While we think it was easy here in Western New York, getting it through the New York State Legislature, which has a lot of people from parts of the state that are not Buffalo, it was hard. But we got it done. I want to thank Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. I want to thank Speaker Carl Heastie, and everyone involved in helping us get to the finish line, getting into the end zone to make this happen. Let's give them a round of applause as well.

Byron Brown, a true fighter to make sure the Bills stayed here in Buffalo as well. I thank you. My number one priority was not just to build a stadium. I said, "We need a long-term commitment to get the state support." I said, "How does 30 years sound?" So, a baby born today, will be able to come not just for themselves, but with their children. That's how you create dynasties. That's how you create legacy. And that's what happened. And I want to thank Byron Brown for making sure that happened as well.

To others, part of my team, Hope Knight, the President of Empire State Development. She's in charge of the money coming. So be nice to be nice to Hope. Also, I want to thank someone we call on when we need a voice of the past, a voice of experience, Bob Duffy, thank you for chairing the Stadium Corporation Commission as well. I also want to thank labor. How does 10,000 union jobs sound to build this incredible facility? Let's give a round of applause to the men and women of Western New York who will be building this incredible fortress.

You know, this place is not going to just represent a fantastic state-of-the-art facility. It does represent dreams to be realized and memories to be made and stories to be told. And of course, many, many victories to be celebrated. But it also is going to be a battleground. We love a good fight here in Western New York. It's going to be a battleground against all those other teams that dare step into our stadium.

And it's a chance for our beautiful team - our amazing team led by Sean McDermott, and all the other members of the team who are so incredible - it's an opportunity for them to showcase what we're made out of as they have been for many years. It shows their skills, their indomitable spirit, their perseverance. All traits that are not just owned by the Buffalo Bills - that's what Western New Yorkers are all about. That sense of we can do it, we can overcome all adversity that comes our way. We've been through a lot, my friends, we've been through a lot, particularly this last year. And I thank Terry for reminding us of those souls we lost on that horrific May just a year ago. The individuals who were so innocent, people who probably tuned into the Bills in person or on the radio or on television every single week as well because if you're a Western Yorker, that's what you do. And we lost them. We lost a lot of people to violence. We lost a lot of people to a snowstorm.

We've had a really tough year. And you know what, my friends? We almost lost a great man, Damar Hamlin. And when he was able to be resurrected on the field and brought back to life, that was a sign to all of us from God that this community really matters, and it all comes together here today.

So, I pay homage to our fans. I pay homage to those who'll be filling that fortress, beckoning others to come and see what they've got against the Buffalo Bills. Good luck. It's not going to work. We like the trash talk a little bit. I'm actually dialing it back more than I normally do. But to all those who are making memories today and those from the past - past 50 years on this site.

My grandfather had just retired from the Bethlehem Steel Plant in 1973. He worked long hours there. My dad worked there. We all built steel. Steel, it's in my veins. That steel. For grandpa's retirement gift we bought, chipped in and bought him season tickets for that very first game here. Now, it wasn't one of their winningest seasons. You can check the facts on that, but it was such a huge, big deal to my grandpa who never could afford to go to those games until he retired. He was such a huge fan. Those doors are open to thousands of people, especially our loyal fan base, to be able to sit in a gorgeous stadium that is worthy of the names Buffalo Bills and Highmark.

I want to thank everyone who made this day happen for me. This is one of the highlights of my time as your Governor to make sure we delivered what I said we would do. We're keeping the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo for at least another generation, and we're giving them a magnificent home to call their own.

Congratulations to everybody, and let's continue to win the games. Thank you, everybody.