Bill Fitzgibbons grew up a Bills fan south of Buffalo in the 1970s, but left the area 37 years ago to sell agricultural machinery up and down the East Coast. Despite living in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and now outside Atlanta, he has remained loyal to the Bills and what they mean to western New York.
So when Erie County began selling one-of-a-kind bonds to pay for the team’s new stadium, Fitzgibbons jumped at the chance to buy some. The purchase didn’t entitle Fitzgibbons, 61, to own a piece of the team or the stadium; it only helped the county pay for its share of the construction. But it was still a connection to the team and region of his youth, and he would earn 5.25 percent, free of federal tax, on the $11,000 worth of 25-year bonds that he bought.
“It’s impossible to get it out of your soul when you move away,” Fitzgibbons said of the Bills and western New York. “It will always be where I’m from. Without the Bills, all that would be left is chicken wings — which are exported everywhere now — bad weather and Niagara Falls.”
ImageFitzgibbons with an Erie County letter about the stadium bonds. It refers to “this community’s fierce commitment to the long-term hometown success” of the Bills.Credit...Audra Melton for The New York TimesMunicipal bonds are about as flashy as sensible shoes. But they are a necessary tool for local governments, and they are popular with investors because of their steady returns and tax benefits. Erie County issues about $40 million a year in AA-rated bonds to help pay for sewers, roads and other infrastructure. In October, it issued $125 million to cover half the money it contributed to the $1.7 billion stadium, which the Bills are building in Orchard Park, a suburb of Buffalo.
Kevin Hardwick, the Erie County comptroller, thought Bills fans, among the most devoted in the N.F.L., would like a chance to buy some of these bonds. They wouldn’t be able to call themselves “owners” like fans of the Green Bay Packers, a publicly owned team that issues essentially worthless stock to its shareholders. But he thought fans could express their loyalty and make a prudent investment by buying a bond or two.
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