Everything We Know About the Buffalo Bills' New Highmark Stadium Project

Strong points

The Bills have become a fixture in the city of Buffalo, and the city has rallied around the team over the past two seasons.
In an effort to modernize their Buffalo stadium, rumors have been circulating about a new stadium project for the Bills.
Here’s some news on what the project involves, design concepts, and any other news we currently have.

Over time, the Buffalo Bills have gained some support in their hometown. Buffalo has rallied behind their team, and as the Bills have managed to string together strong seasons with a few division championships, we’ve really seen the city embrace the team more and more. Over the last few years, the Bills have developed one of the best home-field advantages in all of football, thanks to their rabid fan base.

With that in mind, and knowing that relocation is a major factor in most professional sports these days, it’s refreshing to see that the Bills seem determined to stay in Buffalo. They’ve done so with rumors of a project involving further improvements to Highmark Stadium, the Bills’ current home.

With that in mind, let’s take a full look at their new stadium project.

This includes all the news about the project, when the project is expected to be ready and even some design concepts.

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Highmark Stadium Design Concepts

Let’s take a look at all the new concepts we’ve seen for potential Bills stadium improvements.

high level stadium — Credits: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s start with the fun stuff. This tweet includes four images and gives a good glimpse of what things might look like once the renovations are complete:

The first image shows what the stadium will look like from afar, and it’s quite impressive.

While there doesn’t appear to be a roof over the stadium, the exterior is still somewhat enclosed, with a small roof covering the stands where fans sit. It appears the Bills are aiming to protect their fans, while still allowing Buffalo’s weather to impact the game.

The second image here is a close-up and shows what looks like the entrance to the stadium. In the image, you can see the area outside the stadium where fans can gather before the game, as well as the lower part of the higher walls on the sides of the stadium, which lead up to the roof.

The third image shows us what it would look like from the field, and it’s quite impressive. The underside of the roof is visible, and from this angle it’s clear that the proposed roof would only serve to protect the fans, and doesn’t appear to be large enough to cover the playing field itself. The video board, as well as the grandstand behind the end zone, are also visible.

The fourth and final image is rather simple and shows what Highmark Stadium will look like from the parking lot. A fan section is also visible, close to the stadium.

When will the stadium be ready?

The Bills hope to have their project completed by fall 2026.

Highmark Stadium, Buffalo, snow — Credits: Buffalo Bills

While building upgrades or a new stadium may take some time, the Bills don’t think their project will take too long.

Buffalo expects their project to be completed by fall 2026, which would be a fairly short window, given that they will have announced their project only two years before its completion if it is completed by that date. Buffalo also made this statement as part of that same announcement:

The Bills, in collaboration with Legends and architecture firm Populous, have spared no effort to cover every innovative element of the new stadium design. The stadium’s exterior image underscores the team’s desire to have a visual identity that reflects some of Buffalo’s historic architecture, while providing a modern look.

Here, the Bills outline several ways they’re being as innovative as possible with the design of their new stadium, while also honoring the city of Buffalo in unique ways.

What is the project about?

What will be so exciting about the Bills’ new stadium?

Highmark Stadium, Buffalo — Credits: Buffalo Bills

Although the Bills’ current stadium opened in 1973 and is one of the oldest stadiums in the NFL, their new stadium will have a much more modern look.

What’s interesting is that with their new stadium, the Bills will lose 10,000 seats. The new Highmark Stadium will seat 62,000 people, making it one of the smallest stadiums in the league. One of the benefits of having fewer seats is a more diverse seating arrangement, as the Bills’ previous stadium had a relatively simple design.

The stadium’s roof is estimated to cover about 65% of the seats, and the way it envelops the entire stadium could go a long way in making it noisy for opposing attacks.

THE Buffalo’s new stadium’s closed roof should help create a louder atmosphere for opposing teams than their old stadium, which is much more open.

While this is pure speculation, part of the reason the Bills avoided a stadium-wide roof could be to keep the weather a factor during their winter home games. Snowy games in Buffalo have become somewhat iconic for the franchise, and Buffalo may have wanted to keep that tradition alive.

How much will it cost? Who will finance the new stadium?

Now for the financial aspect. The stadium as a whole will cost $1.54 billionand the share paid by the State and Erie County should be approximately $850 millionwhich, at the time of its announcement, represented the largest taxpayer contribution ever made to an NFL stadium.

Although the Bills have remained local and loyal to the city of Buffalo, the city returns the favor here.

State-of-the-art stadiums are becoming more common in the NFL. While the original Highmark Stadium is iconic in NFL history and served as a great home for the Bills over the past few decades, Buffalo felt it needed a change.

With their new stadium project, they will see a huge improvement. They expect their new stadium to be among the best in the league, and if everything goes according to plan, it looks like they are well on their way to achieving that.

Source: Buffalo Bills

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless otherwise noted.