Poloncarz Says “The Bills Never Mentioned Moving To Austin”

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz gave a press conference regarding COVID today and had some interesting things to say about Bills rumors also.

It's been a huge story since last weekend when the report was given that the Bills wanted to build a $1.1 billion stadium, and they wanted it to be publicly funded.  They went on to say that there were other markets that would be happy to pay handsomely for a franchise.  People have been up in arms ever since.

However, during Poloncarz's presser today he said that it wasn't like that.

According to Olivia Proia, Poloncarz went so far as to say that some of those reports are false.  As a matter of fact, he says "at no time have the team's representatives said if you do not build and pay for a new stadium we are moving.  He said the Bills never mentioned moving to Austin.

He's not alone in that statement either.  Other outlets have mentioned that the report was taken out of context also.  SB Nation challenged people to "Use Caution" when reading about the Bills Stadium reports.

“A person with knowledge of the discussions among the team, the state and Erie County said the team had not threatened to move the Bills to another city if a major public financing arrangement was not settled upon. But the source said the team made clear that other cities are interested in getting an NFL franchise.”

Most people have come to the conclusion that this has all been a start for negotiations between the Pegulas and public officials that was never supposed to be leaked in the first place.  But it has been a bit deflating for Bills fans who have been threatened with a move of our team and thought we were in the clear when the Pegula's bought the team.