April 24, 2026  A
closer look at the inside of the NFL Draft Theater from outside Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. For the NFL to build a theater stage, it must have access to a significant amount of space for a long period of time. However, the NFL won't even consider a city and a team if they don't consider the importance of telling a story. Buffalo and the Bills have the historical relevance to meet the mark. USA Today Network |
Inside the Bills' efforts to bring the NFL draft to Western New YorkPicture this: a theater
stage approximately the size of a football field, featuring thousands of lighting fixtures and a screen with more than 1,000 LED video panels. It stands next to the new Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. Across Abbott Road, where the old stadium has stood since 1973, a towering archway leads the 500,000 people to an interactive space with exhibits that tell the story of Western New York and the Buffalo Bills. As the first round of the NFL draft begins, images of City Hall, Canalside and Wilkeson Pointe are broadcast to 50 million viewers around the globe. The vision created by the Bills and Visit Buffalo for an NFL draft in Western New York is still in the planning stage. A
contingent of 10 people from both organizations, including Kate Hussmann, the Bills' chief strategy officer, traveled to Pittsburgh this week to observe every aspect of the nearly 4-million-foot draft print created by the City of Pittsburgh and the NFL. Last April, they traveled to Green Bay to learn how the Packers and the region hosted a stadium-centric draft around Lambeau Field. "Our goal and our hope is to highlight this new, beautiful stadium that we have right across the street," Hussmann told The Buffalo News. The $2.1 billion stadium would be the center of the football universe for three days, with the NFL's 32 teams drafting college players across seven rounds. There's
more to the international event than what is shown on television. The expected economic impact for Western Pennsylvania, according to Visit Pittsburgh, is estimated to range from $120 million to $213 million. Anywhere from 300,000 to 700,000 fans would descend upon Buffalo, occupying most of the city's hotel rooms and patronizing its local businesses. Event spaces would be booked each night with NFL-sanctioned or nonsanctioned hospitality events. The Bills and Visit Buffalo officially notified the NFL of their intent to bid for the 2029 or 2030 draft with a formal letter. The official bid document, however, will not be sent to both organizations for several months because the league has yet to announce the host city for 2028. Nobody is waiting around for the league, though. Planning is underway, and the trip to Pittsburgh
will provide invaluable insight. "If Green Bay can do it, Buffalo can do it," Hussmann said. – Lance Lysowski READ MORE
WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUTLegislators want more guardrails, transparency on county's luxury suite at Bills stadium: Erie County legislators said Thursday that if the county is going to have its own luxury suite in the Bills stadium, then the draft policy to restrict and prevent abuse of the suite needs to explicitly state that the county will maintain and release a list of all the names of whomever uses it. Read more Suggestion of 'murder for hire' leads to accusations of prosecutorial misconduct in Meindl case: Defense attorneys for Brian Scott Lorenz this week accused Erie County prosecutors of misconduct, the second such accusation they have made in their client's ongoing murder trial. The claims of wrongdoing centered on prosecutors' statements to the jury about the potential role Donald Meindl, the victim's husband, may have played in his wife's killing. Read more Here's a switch: Tesla executives are talking about its Buffalo plant: While Tesla offered few details on the scale of solar production in Buffalo, the mention was unusual because it rarely highlights anything that is happening at the plant, even as it
regularly notes developments at its other facilities that are operating or under construction. Read more Fugitive lawyer who admitted smuggling a stowaway at border kept in custody: A fugitive lawyer from Israel will remain in U.S. custody at least until a federal judge sentences him next month for smuggling a man across the Rainbow Bridge in January. Read more $6.9 million project will modernize 110-year-old lock in Black Rock Channel: A company from Maine has been awarded a contract to install new fiber-reinforced bulkheads at the lock, which is 110 years old, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. Read more Leader of national Hispanic Heritage Foundation to be guest speaker at local Hispanic heritage breakfast: An immigrant from Nicaragua, Jose Antonio Tijerino is considered a strong voice for the Latino community through his writing, speaking and social media/public service campaigns. Read more
WEATHERClouds stick around: Mostly cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. High near 60 degrees. Read more
GUSTOMichael Tilson Thomas, renowned conductor and composer who led the BPO in the 1970s, dies at 81: Michael Tilson Thomas left the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra to concentrate on a conducting job with the Los Angeles Symphony, but his legacy in Buffalo endured. Read more Artpark summer lineup features mix of styles and tastes ... and eras: A mix of
country, R&B, 1980s new wave, reggae, Southern rock and more will be heard during the upcoming Artpark summer concert season. Read more Things to Do: John Gallagher Jr., Stoogefest, 'Pure Glitter': John Gallagher Jr., who appeared in the award-winning HBO series "The Newsroom" and won a Tony for his performance in "Spring Awakening" on Broadway, will perform at the Sportmen's Tavern on Sunday. Read more Alan Pergament: The Grammys, 'Chicago' series, 'Best Medicine' were local sweeps winners: CBS' coverage of the annual music awards dominated by Bad Bunny was the top-rated entertainment program of the sweeps with a 9.2 rating on WIVB-TV (Channel 4) that grew to a 10.4 rating seven days later. Read more
BUFFALO NEXTHanes Supply wins extra tax breaks as project costs rise: A Buffalo lifting device and rigging manufacturer received nearly $79,000 in extra sales tax breaks after costs jumped by almost $1.8 million for an expansion
project at its facility near the Cheektowaga border. Read more
SABRESMike Harrington: The Sabres are finding a way in the face of some strange
numbers: The Buffalo Sabres are doing a lot of things that normally make you lose a series. But instead, they're winning it. They're a better team, and that eventually shows through. Having Lindy Ruff pushing just enough right buttons helps, too, writes Mike Harrington. Read more Alex Lyon steps in to help Sabres stop Bruins, take 2-1 Stanley Cup Playoffs series lead: Alex Tuch's goal at 4:03 of the third period and Alex Lyon's 25 saves lifted the Sabres to a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins in
Game 3 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round series Thursday at TD Garden. Read more Kevyn Adams, Josh Doan's father give Vancouver GM search a Sabres connection: Former Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams and longtime NHL star Shane Doan, father of Sabres forward Josh Doan, are two names expected to interview with the Canucks, according to multiple reports out of Western Canada. Read more
BILLSLance Lysowski: Bills made the right call to trade out of first round with 3 deals: The Buffalo Bills need too many
players, particularly on defense, to reach for a player in the first round of the NFL draft, writes Lance Lysowski. Read more Bills trade down three times, out of the first round of the NFL draft entirely: Buffalo Bills President of Football Operations and general manager Brandon Beane swung not one, not two, but three trades down during the first round of the NFL draft. The Bills will make their first selection of the draft at No. 35 in the second round. Read more Winners and losers around the league: A look at the first round of the 2026 NFL draft: Buffalo News sports reporter Katherine Fitzgerald takes a look at the winners and losers of Round 1 of the NFL draft Thursday night in Pittsburgh. Read more Waiting on 2026 Bills draft grades? Let's take a look at Brandon Beane's 2023 class, 3 years later: In 2023, President of Football Operations and general manager Brandon Beane was busy working the phones, swinging a total of four trades that led to a six-member draft class. Here is a look at the contributions made by each of them. Read more
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