Seneca Nation leaders aren’t happy with plans to finance new Bills stadium

ROCHESTER N.Y. (WHEC) – Seneca Nation leaders aren’t happy with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plans to finance the new Bills stadium using money from the nation’s casino operations, which it recently paid to the state.

In a Facebook video on Wednesday, Seneca Nation President Matthew Pagels denounced using the funding taken from the tribal nation to help build the stadium.

"In one breath, New York’s hostile and shameless greed was laid for the world to see," Pagels said. "Hundreds of millions of dollars from Western New York, in her own words, given to billionaires after intentionally and unnecessarily holding the Senecas and thousands of Western New Yorkers and families hostage for several days by strangling various bank accounts held by the nation and our businesses.”

This week, the Seneca Nation paid New York State $564 million after reaching an agreement after a legal battle on sharing casino revenue. Hochul announced that $418 million of that would be used for the $1.4 billion dollar stadium in Orchard Park.