Bills Mafia stepped inside the new Highmark Stadium for the first time on Saturday.
Thousands of fans packed the new home of the Buffalo Bills for the ‘Return of Blue and Red’ practice ahead of the 2026 NFL season, which also marked the first team event at the venue.
Built in the shadow of Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, the new Highmark cost $2.1billion, and will seat 60,108 spectators as quarterback Josh Allen & Co. go in search of Super Bowl glory that has long eluded the franchise.
Such a capacity makes the new home of the Bills the smallest in the NFL, but it does boast a very unique feature fans are sure to love.
And while it looks impressive from the outside, with a shiny metal facade, some of the early reviews — especially around seating layouts — are far from positive.
New $2.1bn NFL stadium slammed by fans
Many Bills fans had waited years to step inside the new building, but when that moment finally came to fruition, some shared frustration on social media.
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One of the major talking points on X appeared to be a stairwell blocking the view from a handful of seats high above the halfway line.
Various images showed fans obstructing views of the field when using the stairway, while other sightlines from the upper and lower bowls also appeared to be blocked.
“Whoever designed the new Bills stadium wasn’t very keen to detail. Imagine paying tens of thousands on PSLs and season tickets and walk into a view like this,” one fan wrote, sharing the photos.
“How is this f****** possible?” another asked of the stairway blocking views from a seat.
“Seems as if the Buffalo Bills new billion-dollar stadium has some hiccups,” a third wrote.
“It’s wild that a new stadium would have any seats like these,” a fourth claimed.
“Every picture I’m seeing in this stadium makes it seem like it’s total trash… what is going on!??” a fifth asked.
“Who designed this place?? FAIL,” a sixth fan concluded.
It wasn’t just those sightlines that were slammed, either.
Other fans shared frustration that the scoreboards were ‘tiny’ and ‘pretty underwhelming’ for a new $2.1bn stadium.
Spectators with seats in some of the highest parts of the stadium also face a frightening and steep walk back to the concourse, should they fancy some refreshments or need to use the bathroom.
“A HIKE and a steep one at that. No bathrooms at the top — so you could be scaling this mountain multiple times a game. View is great but you gotta earn it,” one member of Bills Mafia posted late on Saturday, sharing the view from a seat in the very back row.
“I checked out the 400 level. The amount of stairs to get up there was crazy. Would definitely use the escalators next time,” another said.
“Looks treacherous. Sunday off work just to scale that,” a third joked.
While some features of the new stadium have been questioned, a majority of the 50,000-strong audience in attendance for practice on Saturday were delighted with their ‘magnificent’ new home.
Bills stars stunned by new Highmark Stadium
Players, as well, have been impressed by their new surroundings.
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Veteran tight end Dawson Knox struggled to put his first experience inside the new stadium into words.
“Wow,” he said after practice.
“It’s the coolest place I’ve ever played football in. There’s going to be some incredible memories to be made here in the near future.”
Meanwhile, wide receiver Khalil Shakir said: “I think I smiled the whole day. Seeing everything, walking out here, the vibe. Everything’s amazing.
“We love the new stadium, love everything about it,” outside linebacker Greg Rousseau added.
“But we know when we’re in here, it’s not time to enjoy the scenes in the venue. It’s time to play football. It’s time to win some games.”
Indeed, the Bills will return to Highmark next weekend, for their preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers on August 15.
Come gameday, those on the field will be fully focused on doing their jobs, rather than taking in the new surroundings, which might take some getting used to.
