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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday that Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills since 1973, lacks the features necessary for a state-of-the-art NFL facility and will need to be replaced. "I do believe that a stadium, long-term, is going to be needed in that marketplace," Goodell said at his annual Super Bowl news conference in response to a direct question about the Bills' need for a new home. Terry and Kim Pegula completed their purchase of the Bills in October and vowed to keep the team in Buffalo. "Terry and Kim have been very focused on the stadium," Goodell said Friday. "I think that's one of the things that they're evaluating with their franchise. What's the next generation of stadium? I think that's an important consideration for the Buffalo market and that region, but also for the NFL and for Terry and Kim." "I'm from Western New York," continued Goodell, who was born in Jamestown. "I love Ralph Wilson Stadium. But it's got to compete against a lot of these new stadiums that have a lot of very important features that that stadium doesn't have. So they're going through that process. We will certainly work with them, cooperate with them and if we can be helpful, we will." The Bills have completed two seasons on their current 10-year lease for Ralph Wilson Stadium. Local and state politicians have been adamant about keeping open the possibility of an extensive renovation. If a new stadium if built, Terry Pegula and Bills president Russ Brandon cautioned in October that progress would not be swift. "We will gradually proceed to plan and design a stadium for the Buffalo Bills," Pegula said. "These things take time." "We'd all love to have a shiny, new stadium. I think we're all about trying to improve the experience, but we just spent $130 million on a renovation and we're two games in," Brandon said on Oct. 10. "We've got a lot of time, the way the lease is constructed, to make an informed decision as we move forward."
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