Kathy Swanekamp has been a Buffalo Bills season ticket holder since 1993. Whether she decides to continue that when the Bills open a new stadium will greatly depend on the price of personal seat licenses.
“Do I love the fact that they’re going to want more money from me? No, but I realize that is the way these stadiums get funded,” said Swanekamp, 65, who works in the banking industry. “I definitely think there will be people priced out, but I think right now we just need to know a number."
The Bills are turning to seat licenses to help pay for the team's portion of construction costs for a new stadium – a standard practice for new NFL stadiums.
That's left some season ticket holders wondering what they'll be asked to pay – and whether they will be able to afford the new prices.
A tentative agreement reached by the Buffalo Bills, New York State and Erie County for the construction of a $1.4 billion stadium calls for the state and county to pay $850 million in upfront construction costs, along with maintenance and capital costs over time. The Bills and the NFL will fund the rest of construction, with the sale of personal seat licenses funding a portion of that cost, according to terms of the deal outlined in public documents.
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PSLs are a one-time, upfront expense that gives fans the right – and obligation – to purchase season tickets each year. They typically offer perks for all stadium events and aid in fan retention.
Personal seat licenses are expected to raise between $50 million and $100 million in revenue for the Bills.
Executives for Pegula Sports and Entertainment, which runs the day-to-day operations for Bills owners Kim and Terry Pegula, have only said that the personal seat licenses would start at about $1,000 and would be a requirement for all season ticket holders.
“We will most likely have the lowest PSLs of any new stadium built since 2009,” Ron Raccuia, the executive vice president for Pegula Sports and Entertainment, told The News in September. “And that’s a function of the market and us being committed to making sure that we don’t price our fans out of the marketplace. We will be very cognizant of that with PSLs.”
Fan sessions focus on prices
The Buffalo Bills have started holding focus groups with fans as they plan for the new stadium. One longtime season ticket holder said the price of personal seat licenses was the main topic at one recent focus group. About 45 of the session's 90 minutes were spent on the topic, said the fan, who asked not to be identified.
The Bills have said a price range for PSLs has not yet been determined by the team.
But potential seat license prices of up to $7,000 for some season ticket holders and even higher prices for club and suite season ticket holders have been discussed as possibilities during these fan listening sessions, according to two fans who attended one of the sessions.
Those kind of prices have some fans concerned.
“People are already putting in a lot of money to have these season tickets,” said Ryan Stang, who owns and operates an insurance company and has six Bills season tickets in Section 137. “I’m doing this because I truly enjoy bringing people together for the Bills, especially now that we have this newfound energy. But at the end of the day, we deserve better as a community, as taxpayers and as Bills fans.”
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In Buffalo, early ideas floated in the fan focus groups indicate the seat licenses could be perpetual and transferable, meaning they will not need to be renewed, at least for the length of the 30-year lease agreement, and could be resold to a third party.
William F. Savino, an attorney in his 70s who has had Bills season tickets since 1989, said he conceptualizes the cost of a personal seat spread over the number of years a fan will go to games.
He sees himself going for another decade, so he considers paying a few thousand dollars extra “a bargain.” However, he realizes he doesn’t face the same economic challenges others might.
“I live for these games,” said Savino, who sits at the top of the lower bowl on the 20-yard-line. “I go to away playoff games, I went to the Tampa Bay game last season and I went to all four Super Bowls that the Bills played in, so if you have something you love, you just do it and try not to think about it too much.”
Twenty of the 32 NFL franchises including those that play in the seven newest stadiums, require season ticket holders to purchase some form of personal seat license.
In some big cities, depending on the seat and market, seat licenses can cost up to $100,000. For example, for seats 25 rows from the field on the 50-yard line, the Atlanta Falcons sold personal seat licenses for $45,000 per seat at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which opened in 2017. At Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, which opened in 2020, the Raiders charged $75,000 for their most expensive personal seat licenses.
Buffalo's market is not expected to be able to support the high-end prices of markets like Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Public already footing much of bill
While personal seat license prices in Buffalo may not be as drastic as in bigger markets, some fans think the contribution already made by the public to keep the team in town is enough.
New York is slated to contribute $600 million and Erie County $250 million toward the stadium’s construction, according to terms of the deal, with additional public money going to maintenance and capital costs over time. Fans will also help foot the stadium costs over time through new game day surcharges – essentially a tax – on tickets and other game day concessions.
The NFL has approved a $200 million loan to Kim and Terry Pegula for the stadium construction. Up to $150 million of that loan will be repaid through the visiting teams’ share of Bills ticket revenue over 25 years. The Pegulas are contributing at least $350 million toward stadium construction,some of which will be raised through the personal seat license sales.
Reaction has been brisk from some fans who have complained publicly that rising ticket prices and seat licenses will make going to a game difficult to afford.
“All of that money is already coming from taxpayers and now we’re also on the hook to pay a licensing fee for something that should already be ours?” Stang questioned. “I think it is a shame because they know we’re a blue-collar city and we’re not one of these big markets.”
Will cost measure up to product?
The Bills have made the playoffs the past four of five seasons after a two-decade-long drought and have one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the league in Josh Allen. But will that be enough to sway fans to pay for personal seat licenses?
Many fans will have a limit – a number the Bills appear to be attempting to determine.
Swanekamp said she likely would not spend more than $1,500 per seat on personal seat licenses. She sits in the first row in the 200s close to the Jim Kelly Club, and after going with her father and friends for years, now takes her daughter who comes from Cleveland to attend games.
“For years, I sat through a lot of boring games,” she said. “I just needed them to be interesting and now they are. So, depending what the price is and what else is going on in my world, I’ll probably pony up.”
