Bills Central

Bills' stadium construction reaches important new milestone

Construction of the Buffalo Bills' new stadium recently hit a new milestone.

Kyle Silagyi

Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Construction of the Buffalo Bills’ heavily anticipated new stadium is moving along at a rapid pace as its planned 2026 opening date steadily approaches. The build recently hit a new milestone, as the first piece of upper bowl stadia was installed earlier this month.

The team documented the occasion with a photo gallery it recently uploaded to its website.

A new stadium has long been viewed as one of Western New York’s white whales, as state-of-the-art new venues have been discussed in theory for decades. The Bills, who play in the NFL’s second-smallest market, also play in its fourth-oldest venue, with these factors long combining to make the team’s long-term stability and feasibility in the region uncertain.

The Bills finally secured their long-term future in Western New York in 2022 after a years-stretching study concluded that the best place for a new stadium was directly across the street from their current venue; the team reached a deal with Erie County and New York State for a new Orchard Park football palace in March of 2022, with construction commencing in June of the following year.

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New Highmark Stadium is an open-air venue that looks conceptually akin to the recently-constructed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London; Populous is the architectural firm behind both builds. It’s set to seat 62,000 people, a roughly 10,000-seat decrease from the team’s current venue. Construction is, anecdotally speaking, flying, with significant visible progress taking place seemingly every day.

The stadium is set to open in time for the 2026 NFL season. The Bills hope to commemorate its opening by hosting a major event; the team is reportedly planning a bid to host an upcoming NFL Draft, and WWE superstar Seth Rollins has floated the idea of hosting a WrestleMania inside the venue.

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Kyle Silagyi

KYLE SILAGYI

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