Audio & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul is a Guest on ‘WGR Middays’ on WGR Sports Radio 550

Earlier today, Governor Hochul was a guest on "WGR Middays" on WGR Sports Radio 550 with Tim Graham and Brad Riter to discuss the first Buffalo Bills home game in the new Highmark Stadium.

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Tim Graham, WGR 550 Sports Radio: Joined now on the West Herr hotline -

Brad Riter, WGR 550 Sports Radio: West Herr.

Tim Graham, WGR 550 Sports Radio: Calling from Albany - no, she wouldn't be calling from Albany. She'd be calling probably from somewhere in the south towns.

Brad Riter, WGR 550 Sports Radio: I would guess the Thruway, heading here for the opener, I'm going to guess.

Tim Graham, WGR 550 Sports Radio: The first Governor from Western New York since Grover Cleveland, Kathy Hochul. Thanks for joining the show, Kathy.

Governor Hochul: Thank you. I'm actually in my office in Manhattan. I have some work to do, but I've got my Bills clothes on, my Bills hat on, and I'll be heading up to Buffalo in the next couple of hours. I will not miss this. This is such an exciting day. It feels like Christmas when I woke up today. You think about this, you anticipate and you get all excited, and the day has finally arrived. So, how you guys doing?

Tim Graham, WGR 550 Sports Radio: We're doing okay. I was saying to Brad earlier in the show, I've been out at the stadium so many times that I'm going to have to remember that this is the first real game. You've also been out there a bunch, but this night is different. And why is it different for Western New Yorkers? And I think that we've been talking about it a lot today on the air, but you are from here. You're a lifelong Bills fan, as I mentioned kind of just flippantly, but I think it is significant that you're the first governor from Western New York since Grover Cleveland 150 years ago, that there is a Bills fan in the office. And how would you just sum up what this means to you?

Governor Hochul: We've come so far just in the five years when I first took office as Governor, and the Bills were in a more tenuous situation. It wasn't real public, but there are a lot of other cities courting them. They weren't getting the response they needed from the prior administration on a commitment to a new stadium, and I was hearing that, you know, it was not a given that they're going to stay.

So I, fortunately, as a Governor who understands what the Bills mean to the community, as someone who's a rabid Bills fan, everybody in my family is and have been since the '60s, that I had to do whatever it took to keep them in Buffalo and to get them the new stadium that this community deserves. So fast-forward, I had to get the Legislature on board. It was a lot of heavy lift there because most of the downstate legislators had no interest in using taxpayer dollars to help fund this stadium. But I powered through it as a brand-new Governor, and the rest is history.

Now here we have the stadium that I've been to a number of times, and it is a magical place. And it makes people feel so proud that Buffalo is worthy of a place like this, and it's - there's so many amenities, and there's such passion that went into every detail of it, and I was part of the process from the very beginning. So I hope New Yorkers, Western New Yorkers, Buffalonians in particular, just feel the point of pride that I do on this particular day.

Brad Riter, WGR 550 Sports Radio: Is it a given that the Buffalo Bills are the only team in New York State? In the world where you live, in Albany, do people recognize that, or do they still think of the Jets and Giants as New York teams despite the fact that they play in New Jersey? And is a more accurate comp maybe the baseball teams in New York when thinking about how to convince state government to help fund a stadium?

Governor Hochul: No, I made all those points, and I still do. And I think people think I'm a little bit obnoxious as I'm from Buffalo, and I'll walk into rooms with businesses or union guys or any group of people in New York City, and if it's Bills season, it's a Bills day, I'm going to say, "Go Bills." And they're getting used to me now that I walk the streets of New York wearing my Bills clothes. I go into Bills bars. In fact, my favorite Bills bar had to close down in New York City, and I was able to work to get a new, a new bar owner to get the certification from Bills Mafia, so there's a now certified Bills bar, Black Sheep, that never was before, that's got all the Bills paraphernalia and all the signs and everything, and flags.

So I'm working on having people understand the significance of this team. I think we've had some real breakthroughs. I have to tell you, there are more people going to bars on Bills day games that all over the state, one of my favorite bars in Albany and Manhattan, but nothing beats when I'm able to be home in person and cheering for my beloved team among fellow Buffalonians.

So they're getting used to the fact that I will point out that this is the only team that plays in New York. No disrespect to the Jets or Giants, but a choice was made years ago, and they left the city of New York when they weren't able to get a new home. That was a lesson for me. These teams can move. They can go elsewhere, and I wanted to make sure that the Bills stayed here, not just now, but I have an ironclad commitment that they will stay for at least 30 years with this brand-new stadium. So that's what I worked on my first few months as Governor.

Tim Graham, WGR 550 Sports Radio: That is a Governor who has Western New York's best interests at heart. Not just with the stadium, but making sure that liquor licenses are in place, and not yet mentioned, but relaxing the State laws about serving on Sundays when the Bills went to play in London. So you know exactly how to handle your constituents.

Governor Hochul: And I was at a bar at 6:00 a.m. toasting the Bills. What else would you be doing on a Sunday at 6:00 a.m. but being in a bar and joining fellow Buffalonians and supporters? And actually, most of Upstate are really Bills fans. Albany's pretty crazy about the Bills as well, even though geographically they're closer to the Patriots. People are loyal in Albany, and Rochester is - I was just in Rochester a couple days ago, and they're full-on Bills fans. Western New York and Central New York.

So it is really taking hold. And sure, during 17 years of a playoff drought, which was painful for all of us, maybe there wasn't as much excitement elsewhere, but they really have become America's team. You look at last year, all the comeback stories, the extraordinary plays, Josh Allen and the team just powering through against all the odds, many times, and bringing home those victories, they were just so sweet. I think there's a lot of people across the country who, if the Bills aren't playing their own home team, that the Bills are their team, and that's what I've been working on with our Jets and Giants fans as well. I pretty much have that commitment.

Brad Riter, WGR 550 Sports Radio: You led me right into the thing I was already going to ask, but I'll do it anyway. Have you found it much easier to convince people that the Bills are important with the rise of Josh Allen to just superstar level? I have found - people I went to school with 25 years ago that were Steelers fans have become Bills fans. That were Patriots fans have become Bills fans. That were Giants fans have become at least Bills as their second team because Josh is just so likable. Does that stadium happen without Josh Allen?

Governor Hochul: It was in place before Josh really rose to his, you know, being the preeminent player in sports right now. We know the stature he's achieved because of his hard work and his grit, and truly his personality. How can you not love the guy? So I think he has helped, but we had to start this stadium even before this, really this new era got underway five years ago.

So it's not just the stadium, but also I think there's just - people have more respect for Buffalo now. They understand what it's like to grow up in a city, and you have to be gritty and tough and overcome some brutal winters. And even if there's a Bills game, you're still going to go if there's a blizzard going on. And one of the most fun times I had was when we had a blizzard - I think it was last year's season, I'm trying to remember if it was last year or the year before - we had a playoff game, and we had a blizzard going on, and I had to get the stadium cleared, although we had a driving ban.

So remember all the people would come to the stadium and clear the stands during the night? So we could open up and - I think it was against Pittsburgh. I think it was, yeah, it was the Wild Card game, January '24 against Pittsburgh. And I had declared everybody heading to the stadium to shovel as emergency personnel so they could be on the roads and not get ticketed for driving during a driving ban. So that's how serious we are. We got the stadium cleared. We were able to move the game by a day, which is what I wanted to do, so it did not get moved to another city. That was the plan. If we had declared our emergency earlier, it would've been probably moved to another city, and I said, "No, this game is being played at home."

I worked with the Bills.The stadium was ready, and the magic happened. That's how serious I take this. We're never going to compromise public safety. I'll put that right out there. But we needed those seats cleared, and the fans stepped up, and they came over in snowmobiles and on the road, and some walked, and it was incredible to see.

So the country sees images like that or even I know Tim, you just wrote about the story of the boats in the Niagara River right below the falls and the beautiful pass from our former players Ryan and Stevie. And that just, that goes viral. Something like that, when they see that image, that video of our friendship with Canada, despite the assault from Donald Trump, these are our friends. We love them, and they've been an important part of our fan base, whether it's Sabres, whether it's the Bills or even the Bisons.

And I'm glad we're showing respect to Canada tonight as well, with their national anthem. And I was - I walked around on such a high when I saw that hockey game, the Sabres game when everybody knew the words of the Canadian national anthem and continued on singing it, and that went viral.

And that was just - that's why I tell people: This is who Buffalonians are. They're good people. They're good-hearted, and they're just living up to the mantra of being a place of good neighbors and friends and what Buffalo really means.

Tim Graham, WGR 550 Sports Radio: Governor Hochul, I know you have to get going, so I just, I'll finish up. I have one last question for you because I - you referenced it earlier, and I don't think it was, well maybe it was dumb luck, happenstance, coincidence, but when Andrew Cuomo chose you to be his Lieutenant Governor, you couldn't have imagined that everything would happen the way it did, unfolded.

Maybe you dreamed of being the Governor someday or running someday, but to get to the point where it happened so quickly and at that specific time when the Bills were perhaps flirting with or being courted away in need of a new stadium, how close was that to actually happening? How close did Western New York get to actually losing the Bills?

Governor Hochul: The team was very frustrated that their outreach to the Capitol, the Governor's office, was being unheeded at a time when I guess they were preoccupied with a lot of other things that were going on. And they needed a decision. They needed to know that this, the current stadium now needed to be replaced. They had a timeframe, they needed commitments. And so, it was closer than I'd want to ever imagine could have happened. So I just stepped in - I wasn't even sworn in yet, and my first calls were to the Bills' leaders. I talked to Kim and Terry about my commitment. I said, "It's - you're staying here. Don't worry about it." And I was really proud when we had the ribbon cutting in July - glorious day in Buffalo, my God, I was walking out on the field and just felt I'd gone to heaven, this field of dreams.

And Terry said, he goes, "I don't know if we'd be here if it wasn't for Kathy." And that meant everything to me. That meant that maybe God was looking out for Buffalo in that moment and the sun was shining on us, and my belief is that our better days lie ahead in Buffalo with this, this boost of adrenaline rush here of having a new stadium that everybody should know this is their new home for the Bills, but also it's a symbol of what this community is all about.

We believe in each other. We believe in our teams, and we believe in our community, and I'm focused on whatever else I can do to help Buffalo and the entire state thrive over the next number of years.

Tim Graham, WGR 550 Sports Radio: New York Governor Kathy Hochul, thank you for doing this. Safe travels from Manhattan to Orchard Park, and I hope you enjoy the first real game at Highmark Stadium.

Governor Hochul: Indeed, I will. And congratulations on getting the permanent gig here, guys. You're doing great.

Brad Riter, WGR 550 Sports Radio: Thanks.

Tim Graham, WGR 550 Sports Radio: Thank you, Governor.

Governor Hochul: All right, take care. Bye-bye.