I wouldn’t say Buffalo getting a new stadium makes them a bigger travel destination. If anything, Buffalo’s new stadium shows how much of an absolute waste these publicly funded stadiums are.
Niagara Falls has the majority of its visitors come in the spring and summer which is outside of when the Bills play so you aren’t really getting any dual tourism benefits. The new Buffalo stadium is also open air which most likely rules it out of getting any major entertainment events like concerts during the winter. And for Buffalo as a city it will always play second fiddle to Toronto for a tourist destination so a new stadium doesn’t really push the needle for more people to vacation in upstate NY and not stay in Toronto.
Like you said, professional sports can bring a lot of intangible benefits for a city such as brand identity or lumping them into infrastructure improvements. However, the $850 million public contribution NY is giving towards building a stadium could easily be used for other infrastructure improvements that would economically improve Buffalo.
I wouldn’t say Buffalo getting a new stadium makes them a bigger travel destination. If anything, Buffalo’s new stadium shows how much of an absolute waste these publicly funded stadiums are.
Niagara Falls has the majority of its visitors come in the spring and summer which is outside of when the Bills play so you aren’t really getting any dual tourism benefits. The new Buffalo stadium is also open air which most likely rules it out of getting any major entertainment events like concerts during the winter. And for Buffalo as a city it will always play second fiddle to Toronto for a tourist destination so a new stadium doesn’t really push the needle for more people to vacation in upstate NY and not stay in Toronto.
Like you said, professional sports can bring a lot of intangible benefits for a city such as brand identity or lumping them into infrastructure improvements. However, the $850 million public contribution NY is giving towards building a stadium could easily be used for other infrastructure improvements that would economically improve Buffalo.