Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz displeased with Buffalo Bills’ PSL rollout

Poloncarz wants more transparency from the Bills about PSL pricing, seemingly worried about those who may be left out in the cold

Last Friday, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz took an opportunity to publicly chastise the Buffalo Bills and their handling of the Personal Seat Licenses (PSLs) for the team’s new stadium, which is currently under construction.

Poloncarz took exception to what he sees as an exorbitant cost for the club-level seats in a stadium that’s already received an approved $850,000 million in public funds through tax revenue.

In a story from New 4 Buffalo (WIVB), Poloncarz seemed to direct his angst at the league in general, while using the Bills’ new stadium as his prime example for what’s transpired in the NFL and professional sports.

“‘The modern NFL really doesn’t care about smaller markets,’ Poloncarz said during an acerbic four-and-a-half minute response to a question about PSLs. ‘It is a business. The other owners don’t care if the average fan in Buffalo can afford tickets in the new stadium. They just want to make as much money as they can. And its going to be like that not just for the PSL cost but with the increased prices associated with, probably, the tickets themselves.’”

There are reports and posts littering social media by fans who’ve attended the Stadium Experience, sharing the PSL costs for what appears to be the three most expensive seating options at the new stadium. Those prices being: $50,000, $20,000, and/or $15,000 per seat — which is the cost to someone before they even see a bill for their season ticket(s).

As noted in the WIVB article, Poloncarz went on to say:

“‘I actually let representatives of the Bills and Legends – which is the sub-agent that’s actually selling the PSLs – know, in no unconditional terms, that I found it, first off, very upsetting that they would not announce what the PSL prices were for all the seats,’ Poloncarz said. ‘I’ve talked to the Governor about this, she’s very concerned as well.’”

That would be New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, an avowed member of Bills Mafia, who along with Poloncarz helped steward the approval process for public funds to be used in building the Buffalo Bills’ new stadium.

Poloncarz added, as shard via WIVB:

“‘I think what they’re trying to do,’ Poloncarz said, ‘I’m not certain, but I think what they’re trying to do is find out how many PSLs they sell in the club seats, and then if they don’t have a certain amount of dollars raised, adjust the PSLs for the other seats. That’s wrong. We should know now what are the costs associated with every PSL that’s going to be sold, from any that are $500 per PSL to the ones you heard about in the club seats that are very expensive. And they were refusing to do that.’”

Poloncarz astutely pointed out what should come as no surprise to anyone tuned-in to the NFL — that today’s league “all about money.”

The new home of the Buffalo Bills is slated to be ready for the 2026 NFL regular season. The combined $850 million from both New York State and Erie Country in public funds makes up the majority of $1.4 billion build price (a total cost that continues to rise). As noted by WIVB: The Bills, in tandem with the NFL, are on the build sheet for $550 million ($200 million from NFL) — plus any additional expenses over the initial agreed cost.

So what’s the bottom line here, if there is one to which we tether ourselves?

What follows is just my opinion at this moment in time. You are of course welcome to share your own thoughts below, but do not mistake my words here for fact about the the direction of the NFL, the Buffalo Bills, or their future stadium.

Most in media circles and when covering the league now refer to the NFL as an entertainment industry. As such, costs to enjoy such entertainment have risen to reflect its popularity and exposure.

Precedents have been set by billionaire owners, and expecting any franchise to take less than what those before them reaped is unrealistic by outside observers. It’s not about what “feels” right or wrong, so long as avenues exist for projects to develop this way.

Perhaps the most difficult part to the fans? That already burdensome weight of a PSL takes on even more heft when considering its purpose: They exist, by and large, to help offset the personal investment ownership of any team spends on building a new stadium.

Businesses exist for one reason: to make owners money. The Buffalo Bills are a business.

Unfortunately, there are no PSL-like avenues available to fans looking to immediately offset the cost of hanging out in their favorite team’s home for a few hours a week each fall. Plus, those who are saddled with PSL costs aren’t given an opportunity to influence what the stadium looks like, or how it’s built. That’s true even if the debt of a PSL ends up marketed as having “ownership” of a small bit of these stadiums (a seat/seats). I’ll of course point out that I have no facts to back up that being the case, nor that it will happen.

When it comes to the NFL, this is all part of the cost of fandom.

When considering just what the cost could be to you and your family/friends, how do you feel after learning about the premium seat pricing? Were you expecting these numbers, and do you have concerns about the remainder of the as-of-yet unannounced PSL costs?