In the wake of Buffalo Bills stadium sponsor and Buffalo-based apparel company New Era laying off 117 people from their office, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said he will not refer to the stadium by its sponsor.
In an audio clip released by Radio.com, Poloncarz said that “their name (New Era) should no longer be on the stadium if they are going to continue to lay off our employees and say ‘sorry'” he said. “I’d rather see the stadium be called ‘Veterans’ Stadium’ than New Era, I won’t even use that name, I still call it Ralph Willson Stadium.