NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on proposed new Bills stadium

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WHEC) — As stadium talks continue for the Buffalo Bills, the man at the top of the league shared his thoughts.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was in Batavia on Monday.

Goodell was in town to speak at the annual Jim Kelly celebrity golf tournament.

He regularly attends the event in Batavia and like many other years, a new Bills stadium was the pressing topic.

Goodell pushed for a new stadium in Western New York, in a public-private partnership.

This comes after the Bills financed a private study to determine if the current stadium could undergo renovations, which the team believes to be too pricey.

They’re looking at around $1.4 billion to build a new stadium in Orchard Park.

Funding for this is one of the biggest hurdles and Goodell said it’s going to take a collaborative effort to make it happen.

"I think it’s gonna require a public-private partnership," Goodell said. "I think the Bills, the community and probably the NFL are all gonna have to come together and figure out how to do that in a smart way. We’ve had a lot of experience around the country in doing these, and they require that public-private partnership and a process where everyone gets to understand what’s needed, what’s required. It’ll have to be something that’s built for Buffalo."

Goodell says he’s been involved in discussions about the bills’ home stadium since the ’90s.

With renovations only being a temporary fix over the years, it’s more pressing now, because the lease at the current stadium ends in 2023.