B-Roll, Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul, Buffalo Bills and Erie County Announce Completion of New $2.1 Billion Highmark Stadium

Governor Kathy Hochul, the Buffalo Bills and Erie County today celebrated the official completion of the new $2.1 billion Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. The massive public-private partnership marks the largest construction project in Western New York history, delivering a state-of-the-art, open-air entertainment venue that secures the franchise’s home in Buffalo for the next 30 years. Spanning 1.6 million square feet on a 242-acre site, the facility will host its first public event on August 8 with the Bills’ inaugural scrimmage game, the Blue & Red practice under the lights.

B-ROLL of Highmark Stadium undergoing construction can be found on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format.

B-ROLL of the finished Highmark Stadium can be found on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

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

All right, let's get this party started. Let's go. Let's go, Buffalo. Let's go, Buffalo. Let's go, Buffalo. All right, seriously? You want — you're going to win a championship season with that kind of enthusiasm? Men and women of labor, you know what I'm talking about. Let's go, Buffalo. Let's go, Buffalo. All right, we got to give this place some good karma, right? Got to send our boys off to a great sense of accomplishment and victory in the wings. And so I am so proud to be here. This is a day that I've waited for, I've prayed for, and I just willed it into action 'cause I knew we had to do this.

So Buffalo, I'm so proud to be back home. And as we all know who said it, you can say it along with me, "Where would you rather be than right here, right now?" Thank you, Coach Marv Levy. So as a daughter of Buffalo, a lifelong fan, I could not be prouder. And Bills Mafia, welcome home to all the members that all across this country they're watching you with great envy, but they are everywhere. I want to thank them for never giving up because this is a stadium where memories will be made, history will be shaped, and championships will be won. And the banner will be raised here. My prediction, Polymarket, Kalshi, or wherever you're playing, right here at the end of this season, okay? We're going to make it happen.

[...]

I want to thank the entire Pegula family, especially Terry and Kim, for their unwavering love of this community, their belief in Buffalo Bills, and of course, let's not forget the Sabres. What a season you gave us with the Sabres this year as well.

I came into office a little unexpectedly in August of 2021, and one of my first calls was to Kim and Terry Pegula because I was hearing that they're a little frustrated that they weren't feeling the right amount of interest from the state. Is that pretty accurate, Terry? Yeah. Okay. Okay. We'll leave it at that.

But I knew that I could not let this moment escape. When they needed a new stadium to keep them in this community, everything was on the line. We had to make this happen, and I had to reassure them that I would make sure this stadium got built because it is part of our identity. It is our psyche. It is what gets us up in the morning on a Monday morning with that sense of euphoria or at least hope for the next Sunday to be better.

It's what unites a community in such a powerful way. It's unprecedented anywhere else. So as the first governor from Buffalo since Grover Cleveland, I felt a special sense of responsibility to get it done. Also it occurred to me that I would not be the Governor who had on her tombstone, "She let the Bills get away." I would not let that be the case.

So we worked hard. We immediately got to work, and I want to thank, after countless conversations with Terry and Kim and pulling in Mark Poloncarz and all the support from the county. Let's give the county another round of applause for their incredible financial support.

My ESD team, led by Hope Knight, who's here, I want to thank her. Hope Knight. Roger Goodell. I wish he could be here to see this moment. We had a lot of conversations. He's from Jamestown, so he understood what this meant to the community. So I thank them. After a lot of work, we secured a 30-year commitment, because I wanted to make sure that a baby that's born today would know that they could someday walk through this stadium wearing our red, white and blue colors with their own children. That's what this meant to me to secure that commitment, and so we got it. That is beyond 30 years. Minimum of 30 years.

I also want to thank Bob Duffy for helping chair the stadium commission at my direction to help us get to this place as well. Bob Duffy. And of course, the legacy of Ralph and Mary Wilson is still felt through our community every single day, and their generosity and that sense of community spirit is powerful. And so going from the Rockpile in 1960 to The Ralph and all the other names of it, Highmark ultimately, and here we are today. So you've been a part of our family for so long, Mary, and I'm really glad you could join us here today. But I'm also, as the head of the state and its budget, I'm real excited about the $385 million economic impact we're counting on this.

So when you come here, fans, spend your money, buy the souvenirs, stay in hotels, go to the restaurants, and then drink more after the game somewhere else. But for Kim and Terry, it's more than just the dollar and cents, although it's important. It was protecting a team that truly personifies the gritty blue-collar spirit of Buffalo. That's why it's so amazing. That's why it's so powerful. That's why it's so unique, and make sure that legacy continues.

And so I also know about that blue collar. I come from a blue-collar family, a lot of hardworking individuals, and I want to give a special shout-out right now to the men and women. Is labor in the house? All right, let's give another round of applause to labor. I came and visited you. The days were long. Sometimes they were bitterly cold. The rain was coming down. Sometimes it was too hot in the summer, and you showed up every single day. So nearly six thousand of you and the thousands of others who are part of this whole effort, I am grateful to you for showing up with those hard hats on, with that sense of spirit, and knowing that you're creating a legacy that you can bring your own children to and say, "I built this place." That is part of your story as well, and we embrace you and thank you for all you've done. And to all the contractors and everyone else who made this, I am really appreciative.

I go back to watching the Buffalo Bills as a little girl, just a few years after Ralph created this team, created the magic back in 1960. I remember watching — yes, I remember this. I have a good memory. Watched this on our little television, the AFC Championship Game in 1964. And Jack Kemp. Remember Jack Kemp? Okay, you're all too young, right? Look up your history, for God's sakes. Jack Kemp. You all know he went to Congress. Okay, I get it. But he was a quarterback who lived in Hamburg. We thought this was magical to have Jack Kemp in our hometown, and he was an extraordinary player and led his team. And he made — when he won that championship in '64, not just that the Bills were champions, but the first time Buffalo felt like champions. It meant so much to us, and that was the foundation of the connectivity of this team and how we feel about ourselves. That has endured all the way now through 2026 and for the next thirty years and beyond. And of course, the best gift I could think of to give my grandfather, we all chipped in to get him season tickets the first year of the old stadium. Which way is the old stadium? Over there. Over there. And that was something. Most people like to retire down in Florida, sit in the sun. Grandpa, who came from South Buffalo, Lackawanna, and Hamburg, he wanted to sit in the snow in Orchard Park. That was heaven to Grandpa and so many others. And so I really feel that connectivity.

But it's not just here, my friends in Buffalo. I know it's our Buffalo team, it's our Western New York team, it's our Upstate team, but I have to tell you, this magic is contagious. And I know that because when I go to McGeary's in Albany, it's packed with Bills fans. When I go to Murphy's in Queens, it is packed with Bills fans. When I go to Bravest in Manhattan, it is packed with Bills fans, and this is all over the world. People want to feel part of this story, this comeback story. The down and out kids who sometimes get knocked around, but we always come back with resiliency and strength. Just embrace that as our story and truly our identity.

But also this: there's so much divisiveness in society today. Elections, all the ads that drive everybody nuts, and you just feel like we're getting pulled further and further apart. But when you walk into this stadium or you walk into a Bills bar, that all dissipates. We're all a part of something bigger than ourselves. Undying love for a team that we all so believe in. So you'll have a beer with someone you might have never had a political conversation with or not agreed about anything, and you'll high-five each other in this stadium. Let those feelings endure beyond the moments in this stadium. Let that capture the new American spirit that this country desperately needs.

We're still the sum of all of our parts. This is a great country as we celebrate our [250th] anniversary of endurance and resilience and fighting back. That is the spirit of America, it is the spirit of Western New York, and it is the spirit of the Buffalo Bills. This is who we are, my friends, and let's continue the story and the magic for many more years to come.

Thank you very much, and let's get this party started.