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Bills reach stadium agreement with New York State, Erie County

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Instead of staying with the reigning Super Bowl champs, Von Miller is heading east after agreeing to a hefty six-year deal with the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills reached an agreement with New York State and Erie County to build a new $1.4 billion open-air stadium in Orchard Park. The state and county will foot $850 million of the upfront cost.

Gov. Kathy Hochul told the Buffalo News that the 30-year lease is “ironclad.”

Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula released a statement shortly after the announcement: “We took another step today to solidify our collective goal of constructing a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park. We are grateful for the time, efforts and unwavering commitment made by Governor Hochul and her team throughout this process. While there are more hurdles to clear before getting to the finish line, we feel our public-private partnership between New York State, Erie County, led by county executive Mark Poloncarz, and the National Football League will get us there.”

New York will contribute $600 million to the project and Erie County $250 million. The NFL will provide a $200 million loan to the Bills, following a vote of league owners at their annual meeting Monday, with $150 million of the loan forgivable with repayment through the visiting teams’ share of ticket revenue over 25 years.

The Pegulas are contributing at least $350 million toward stadium construction in addition to the $50 million they will have to reimburse the league.

With the state budget due Friday, the sides faced a deadline of this week to reach agreement.