For more than six decades, the Buffalo Bills have called western New York home, playing at two primary venues since their founding: War Memorial Stadium and Highmark Stadium. Opening in 1973, Highmark Stadium was among the oldest active venues in the NFL when it closed following the 2025 season. While it underwent numerous renovations over the past several decades, it lacked many of the modern, revenue-generating features found in newer stadiums across the league.
Since the mid-1990s, nearly every NFL franchise has either built a new stadium or significantly modernized its existing facility. In response to these trends, the Bills spent more than a decade evaluating options for a new stadium, including proposals in downtown Buffalo and at the current site.
In March 2022, the Bills reached a landmark agreement with the State of New York and Erie County to finance and construct a new stadium. Built at a cost of $2.1 billion, the project was funded through a public-private partnership, with $600 million from the state, $250 million from the county and the balance from private contributions including from the team and NFL. Construction began in June 2023.
The new Highmark Stadium was built adjacent to its predecessor. The Buffalo Bills will play their first game at the new stadium on September 17, 2026 against the Detroit Lions. Highmark Stadium has a capacity of 60,108 blue and red seats across multiple seating levels that surround the natural grass playing field. Underneath the field are heating coils to prevent the grass from freezing during the latter half of the season. Designed to enhance both fan comfort and the Bills home field advantage, the stadium is fully enclosed on all sides and features a canopy covering roughly 60% of the seating bowl. This structure shields fans from harsh weather while also amplifying crowd noise, creating one of the most intimidating atmospheres in the league.
Additional features include radiant heating systems to combat late-season cold, multiple high-definition video boards, expanded social and gathering spaces, diverse concession offerings, upgraded premium seating options and themed art and sculpture both inside and outside of the stadium.
Rendering of a proposed Buffalo Bills football stadium
