SAN DIEGO — The $850 million stadium deal the NFL and Buffalo Bills wrangled from New York politicians will keep the popular football team in Greater Buffalo, where a Super Bowl parade is a real possibility next winter.
But the massive subsidy, which will surge past $1 billion as lease terms play out, has brought a sharp backlash from dispassionate observers.
According to critics who include two former NFL executives, it's a bad deal for the public. They say $850 million is too much public money to a football industry that generates more than $18 billion in annual revenue and has said it will reach $25 billion annually in 2027.
