New Bills stadium delivers on the hype, brings the wow factor

ORCHARD PARK – The price tag to build the new Highmark Stadium, right around $2.2 billion at last check, made it the most expensive construction project in Western New York history.

Having taken a tour Tuesday morning following the pomp and circumstance of the official ribbon cutting, the place looks exactly like you’d expect for something that cost $2.2 billion.

Spectacular is the word that comes to mind, and while everything is going to be much more expensive for fans compared to the old place which is in the process of getting torn down across Abbott Road, no one is going to be disappointed with the experiences they are about to have.
new stadium makes an immediate impression

“It’s awesome,” said former Bills quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly who was on hand for the ceremony where New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, team owner Terry Pegula, and former owner Ralph Wilson’s wife, Mary, were among those who simultaneously cut the ribbon which declared the building open.

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“I’ve been in here three or four times now,” Kelly continued, “and I’ve gotten to walk in the locker room, I’ve been in there and it’s amazing and I can’t wait for opening day. Even though you know they’re going to have a couple of preseason games here, I can’t wait to see them open up on Sept. 17th.”

Tuesday began with a media tour of the building, followed by speeches from the dignitaries, the ribbon cutting, media interviews, and then a food and beverage party in one of the main hospitality areas in the lower concourse which was attended by hundreds of invited guests.

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One man who was not seated at the main dais was former Bills linebacker Scott Radecic who, after his playing career ended turned to architecture and became a founding partner and global director of Populous, the world’s leading architecture firm specializing in sports and entertainment venues and the one Pegula chose to build the stadium.

Radecic played for Penn State’s national championship team in 1982, then entered the NFL as a second-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1984 draft. After three seasons he joined the Bills in 1987 where he played three years before finishing his career playing six seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

Almost from the moment Radecic took on the Highmark Stadium project, he knew the place was going to be special. During his speech Tuesday, Pegula recalled traveling to London where he visited Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and once he saw it, he asked Radecic, “Can you build me this?”

So Radecic did and looking at the finished product, you could see the pride he had, given the significant role he played in designing it.

“I’m in my 35th year now of doing this, there have been lots of really magical projects, and some have been for former teams whether it’s been for Penn State or for the Indianapolis Colts,” Radecic said. “But this has got to be one of my top projects to be able to deliver a brand new building, for Populous, to the people of Western New York.

“To come back to a team that I used to play with and be a part of what that future fan experience is going to be, knowing that the stadium will help to create moments and experiences, create memories that young people will have with their mom and dad, grandma, grandpa and all that type of stuff, it’s really extraordinary. It’s an extraordinary building, it’s as good as anything in the world, and it’s right here in Orchard Park, New York.”

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Obviously, giving the fans every possible amenity is a big priority, but as a former player, Radecic pays special attention to the needs of the players whenever he builds a stadium and he is thrilled to deliver work spaces that will give the Bills a true homefield advantage.

“I remember playing here in 40-degree rain and the minute you go out onto the field early just to warm up, and you get on the ground, next thing you know you’re wet,” he said. “So we have designed as part of the home team locker room, the largest home team warm-up area of any stadium in the National Football League.

“And the reason we did that was on those extreme days, you want to make sure that every player has done all their warm-up to their best so that when they come on the field, they’re ready to play. We didn’t want the weather or the grass or the wet or anything like that to be any type of a negative influence on not being prepared.”

The area is big enough for Josh Allen to throw 50-yard passes, and there are exercise spaces, hot and cold tanks, sauna and steam rooms, and, “Anything that a player needs for the before game warm-up or the after-game recovery, and I feel like some of that has come from those experiences I had of being in those 40-degree rainy days and remembering what that was like and thinking, ‘How do we make sure that every player is always going to be prepared, no matter what the weather conditions are?'”

Kelly, who was one of the Bills’ star players during Radecic’s tenure here, said he loved the fact that the Bills are going to a grass field which, Radecic said, is a hybrid bluegrass mixture that thrives in this climate “and will hold up well.” And having been down on the field late last week at a time when the wind was howling in Orchard Park, the same storm that caused power outages in the region, Kelly said, “The last time I walked out on the field it was pretty windy outside, and I felt nothing but a breeze. Who wouldn’t want to play in that?”

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The hospitality areas are as you would expect in a 21st-century new build venue – they are over-the-top luxurious with every creature comfort imaginable. But the ordinary fan who will be sitting out in the main seating bowl and not in a suite with exclusive access to clubs will be pampered as well.

The open-air concourses are wide, easily navigable and contain ambient heating fixtures that will lessen winter’s frigid bite late in the season. The concession areas are ample, and there are numerous self-serve places where you can swipe a credit card to gain access to certain food items and beverages and help yourself without having to wait in line to check out.

“The way we designed the concourses, we’ve put all the amenities on the outer perimeter so that as you walk any of the concourses, you can just turn your head and you can see the field so you’re always connected,” Radecic said.

“The old stadium, once you left the seating bowl you could not see the field. We wanted to give everybody who’s in the building, no matter where they are in the building, give them that connection to the field of play, to a scoreboard, to a video board, to something. And no matter where you are, you have that experience. And I think that’s just going to be a game changer for people over the next couple of decades.”

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One thing fans will notice is that the main video boards above each end zone are not humongous as say, places like Los Angeles, Dallas and even Baltimore. John Polka, vice president of stadium development, said that was by design because the Bills want their fans engaged with the game rather than staring up at the JumboTron. The bigger priority was to install the very best sound system, plus make sure WiFi connectivity was premium level.

The regular seats seem just a little snug, especially for a heavier person, but the leg room seems improved from the old stadium which will make egress and ingress easier when you need to leave your seat.

Also, the height and verticality of the stadium is a stark difference from the old stadium, and that means that even fans sitting in the upper deck will feel like they’re hovering over the field.

“Think about the intimacy of the seating bowl, it feels like you’re walking into the old Roman Colosseum,” Radecic said. “Everybody’s on top, it’s vertically on top of (the visiting team) and it’s really intimidating.

“We’re in an outdoor stadium but this building is going to help keep people just a little warmer and just a little drier than they’ve ever been for the last 50 years. It’s really just a magnificent building for a great fan base and we’re excited for them to come in and start to enjoy it.”

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills debut new Highmark Stadium features and design