The Buffalo Bills’ new state-of-the-art home venue caught a ton of flak Saturday as it opened its doors to the public for the first time.
The Bills held an open practice Saturday that also served as a test run for their new $2.1 billion Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. N.Y. Thousands of fans trickled into the facility to watch the “Return of the Blue & Red” practice with preseason action right around the corner.
Fans and media members alike had mixed reviews about the new Highmark Stadium, which replaces the Ralph Wilson Stadium (also formerly named Highmark Stadium) as the Bills’ home field beginning this coming season.
Some fans pointed out how steep the trek was to the higher levels, with no bathrooms at the top. Fans with bad knees may need to shell out some extra cash for more accessible seating options.
A view from the absolute top of Highmark. A HIKE and a steep one at that.
— Z-Bot (@ZbotTweets) August 9, 2026
No bathrooms at the top – so you could be scaling this mountain multiple times a game.
View is great but you gotta earn it. pic.twitter.com/bY192Reg9W
Others were also identifying some seats with clearly obstructed views.
Bills fans are already finding major flaws with the new Highmark Stadium.
— Polymarket Football (@PolymarketBlitz) August 9, 2026
Shirley you can’t be serious.@john_wawrow pic.twitter.com/Ia6HYjdIJz
Some folks also made fun of the Bills’ video boards, which looked tiny compared to the 360-degree video boards at other newer venues such as SoFi Stadium and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Video boards inside the new Highmark Stadium are pretty underwhelming
— alex brasky (@alexbrasky) August 8, 2026
Small pic.twitter.com/uDeGpyXBA1
Despite the complaints, Bills fans’ cheers remained loud when Josh Allen did his first walkout in the building, and they’ll only get louder once the season begins.
First @JoshAllenQB run out in Highmark Stadium. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/f52EFhL7aX
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) August 8, 2026
The new Highmark Stadium did get rave reviews in several other areas, including the much-improved bathrooms and spacious seating allotments. At least one reporter also commended the steep design for giving him a much better vantage point to watch the action on the field.
The project dealt with some construction issues earlier this year, when “multiple” finished or nearly finished areas were heavily vandalized. Fixing those issues may have eaten into the budget for the video boards.
