The new Highmark Stadium finally opened its doors to Bills fans this weekend, and we got exactly what you would expect after years of renderings, construction updates, debates and a price tag north of $2 billion.
People loved it.
People hated parts of it.
And Bills fans immediately started fighting with each other about which opinion you’re apparently allowed to have.
Welcome home.
Let me start here: By most accounts, there is a lot to like about the new stadium. Fans praised the wider concourses, concessions, atmosphere, sound and how close many of the seats feel to the field. More than 51,000 people showed up for the Return of the Blue & Red, and plenty walked away impressed.
Great.
But then the pictures started circulating.
Staircases blocking chunks of the field. Railings directly in sightlines. Seats where you apparently need to lean around pieces of the stadium to watch the game.
And some of these pictures are fucking awful.
The obstructed-view complaints have now become big enough that they’re being picked up nationally, with multiple outlets highlighting photos of seats where portions of the field appear significantly blocked. This isn’t someone bitching because their nachos weren’t hot enough.
This is the fundamental purpose of going to a football stadium.
Seeing the football game.
And somehow even that has turned into another Bills Mafia loyalty test.
You Are Allowed to Like the Stadium and Still Complain About It.
This is the part I don’t understand.
There seems to be this faction of fans who have decided that because the stadium is new and beautiful and we’ve waited forever for it, everyone needs to shut the fuck up and enjoy it.
Someone complains about the video boards?
“STOP COMPLAINING.”
Someone doesn’t like the concourse?
“YOU PEOPLE ARE NEVER HAPPY.”
Someone posts a picture where a staircase appears to block a significant portion of the football field?
“QUIT BEING NEGATIVE. THE STADIUM IS AMAZING.”
What are we doing here?
You can think the stadium is fantastic and simultaneously acknowledge that somebody paying thousands of dollars for season tickets probably shouldn’t have to watch Josh Allen through a fucking handrail.
Those two thoughts can exist simultaneously.
In fact, that’s what normal people do.
I saw plenty of fans essentially guilting other fans for complaining about the stadium this weekend. And I understand some of it. This was supposed to be a celebration. It’s a brand-new building. There are going to be growing pains. There are going to be things that need to be adjusted.
But an obstructed view isn’t the ketchup dispenser running out.
It’s a seat someone is being charged real money to sit in.
And considering what Bills fans have been asked to pay for tickets, PSLs, parking, concessions and everything else associated with this building, I don’t think “Can I see the fucking field?” is an unreasonable request.
Of course, social media can’t handle nuance, so the other side immediately goes to:
“THE STADIUM IS A DISASTER!”
Come on.
That’s stupid too.
A handful of terrible sightlines doesn’t mean all 60,000 seats suck. There are fans who attended the first event and came away raving about the building and its sightlines. Coverage from inside the stadium was overwhelmingly positive about several aspects of the experience.
That’s the problem with judging anything through social media.
One terrible picture becomes THE ENTIRE STADIUM HAS OBSTRUCTED VIEWS.
One beautiful picture becomes ANYONE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE STADIUM IS MISERABLE.
Maybe — stay with me here — the stadium is really fucking nice and also has some seats with unacceptable sightlines.
Crazy concept.
This is where things get interesting to me.
How will the Buffalo media cover this?
Because covering the opening of a new stadium is easy.
Look at the locker room!
Look at the food!
Look at the concourses!
Listen to how loud it is!
Look at Josh Allen running onto the field!
All of that absolutely deserves coverage. This is a massive moment for the franchise and Western New York. But now comes the uncomfortable part.
Go sit in those seats.
Seriously.
I don’t need another story telling me there’s a cool new concession stand. Find the seats people are posting online. Sit down. Put a camera at eye level and show people exactly what a paying customer sees.
And don’t return the Bills PR phone call where they will bully you into saying all of this is propaganda unless you do the following by asking the Bills the following:
How many seats have obstructed or partially obstructed views?
Were the people purchasing those seats clearly informed?
Are those seats priced differently?
Were PSL holders shown the obstruction before purchasing?
Can anything physically be done to improve those sightlines?
And if someone spent thousands of dollars based largely on renderings and seat maps only to discover that a railing, staircase or structural element blocks their view, what recourse do they have?
Those aren’t “negative” questions.
Those are journalism questions.
Because this isn’t some privately funded playground where the only people with a stake in it are Terry and Kim Pegula. New York State and Erie County committed hundreds of millions of public dollars toward this stadium.
That makes scrutiny completely fair. Now if you want to tell me the Bills beat shouldn’t be covering this and need to stick to the actual team and not off the field stuff, I disagree….UNLESS they have a news department that can look into it for them. Still, I’m old enough to remember when every Bills beat person in 2014 had sources telling them about who was going to buy the Bills after Ralph died, so, it wasn’t just stick to on the field stuff when the team wanted certain stuff out.
Don’t Turn the Stadium Into the Bills
I’ve seen this happen with the team forever. Criticize Josh Allen and you’re a hater. Question a draft pick and you’re negative. Don’t love a uniform and apparently you hate Buffalo.
Now we’re doing it with a building. The stadium doesn’t need us to defend its honor. It’s concrete and steel. It doesn’t have feelings.
If it’s great, say it’s great.
If something sucks, say it sucks.
And if you’re sitting behind a staircase after spending thousands of dollars for the privilege, you should be allowed to complain without somebody telling you that you aren’t a “real fan.”
Actually, I’d argue the opposite.
Bills fans have financially supported this franchise through decades of losing, relocation threats, ticket increases, PSLs and now a new stadium partially paid for with public money.
They’ve earned the right to say:
Hey, why the fuck can’t I see the field?
And the local media should be asking the exact same question.
I’m kinda thinking if a stadium costs 2 billion there should be 0 obstructed seats. This isn’t the Rock pile or the browns old stadium. This was built from scratch and you’re telling me the designers did not catch this or just did not care?
Everyone who bought a PSL was shown a fairly acurate virtual venue thing, albiet only under the control of the rep.
My rep showed me about 5 options in the upper deck, one of which was a row 3 with the stair issue and the other a row 2 in the end zone that had a wall blocking off about 1/4 of the field. Both times he said "I can't guarantee anything. I'm guessing it will be better, but can't say for sure."
Taking your plea for nuance to heart, I can say clearly that most (not all) people had a warning there would be some issues with those particular seats, BUT if their rep was less honest than mine or they were hearing more optimistic things, I can understand why they'd be upset.
I'd also say some people felt pressured to get lower rows (b/c they had them at the Ralph or for better resale) and may have just shrugged.
I ended up getting seats in the last row in the cheapest section (448-452) just to have no-one behind me. I'm happy.