The Buffalo Bills want a new stadium fully funded by New York State taxpayers — and they’re reportedly threatening to leave if they don’t get it.

Austin, Texas has emerged as a potential destination for the NFL team should owners Kim and Terry Pegula not find a satisfactory deal in Buffalo.

• The Pegulas proposed $1.5 billion in total funding, according to The Buffalo News.
• Of that sum, $1.1 billion would fund the Bills’ new stadium, and hundreds of millions would go toward renovating the Buffalo Sabres’ KeyBank Center. The Pegulas own both the team and the arena.
• A spokesperson for Pegula Sports and Entertainment denied that funds would be used for the KeyBank Center and disputed the $1.1 billion figure.

The Bills’ current lease expires in 2023. In March, Highmark Health took over naming rights for the team’s current stadium, another Pegula property. Terms were not disclosed, but the team had been shopping the rights for $6 million per season.

Whether or not the Bills leave, the Pegulas are deeply ensconced in the area.

The couple also owns the National Lacrosse League’s Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Nighthawks, the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League, and an arena in Rochester.

Foot Locker announced two separate deals Monday to acquire athletic retailer WSS for $750 million and streetwear and sneaker shop Atmos for $360 million.

The deals, expected to close in Q3, come as part of Foot Locker’s plans to “find new customers and new consumer markets,” according to CEO Richard Johnson.

The New York-based company, which has around 3,000 stores, wants to expand beyond its enclosed mall locations. WSS, based in Los Angeles, will add 93 locations in the U.S., with Atmos contributing another 49 across the U.S. and Japan.

• WSS generated $425 million in 2020 revenue, with a largely Latino consumer base, per The Wall Street Journal.
• Atmos recorded $175 million in sales last year — its customers are mostly Japanese.

Both companies will keep their names.

The deals follow Foot Locker’s announcement that it would convert one-third of its Footaction stores into Foot Lockers and shut down the remaining locations. Foot Locker acquired Footaction in 2004 for $160 million.

Foot Locker’s revenue hit $7.5 billion in fiscal 2020. Back in May, the company reported that first-quarter revenue was up 83.1% year-over-year to $2.15 billion.

In 2019, Foot Locker made another major move in the space, investing $100 million into popular sneaker marketplace GOAT.

Peacock is reportedly close to a $25 million deal with Submarine Entertainment for a docuseries about NBA legend and business mogul Magic Johnson’s life and career, per Bloomberg.

Submarine is shopping the docuseries to several media companies, but Comcast-owned Peacock leads the pack with its latest offer. 

The docuseries could be described as Johnson’s rendition of “The Last Dance.” 

The Netflix and ESPN-produced docuseries about Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls averaged 5.6 million viewers during the original airings of its 10 episodes.

• Launched in 2020, Peacock expects to spend at least $2 billion on content in its first two years. 
• As of last week, it has 54 million signups.
• It will be available for 20 million Sky customers across Europe at no additional cost later this year.

Johnson’s business acumen is largely unrivaled among former pro athletes.

The five-time NBA champion was part of the ownership group that bought the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2 billion in 2012, led the Los Angeles Sparks purchase in 2014, and is an investor in the Los Angeles Football Club — which is valued north of $700 million.