Pittsford, N.Y. (WBEN/WGR 550) - The new Buffalo Bills stadium deal continues to come together. Currently in the process, renderings are being drawn for the design of the stadium as well as continued efforts in solidifying long term agreements with New York State and Erie County.
During WGR 550's "Howard and Jeremy Show" on Monday at Bills training camp at St. John Fisher University, Executive Vice President of Pegula Sports and Entertainment, Ron Raccuia joined the show to speak on the timeline for stadium renderings and the probable look and feel of the new facility.
"We're very close. We have some schematic drawings, we have some renderings. We're very, very close to showing what the stadium is going to look like from the outside and from the inside," said Raccuia.
According to Raccuia, a lot of design plans are in the process of being finalized in terms of seat capacity, percentage of seats and conditioned areas for fans to warm up or cool down, depending on the weather.
"If you don't sit in a club or suite, you're out in the elements from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. That's a long time without being able to go inside someplace and have conditioned space. We've designed the stadium to have conditioned space in every aspect of it, in the end zones, in the clubs and in the upper decks. So it's not just getting shade and cover, but also to be able to get inside someplace with that condition space," Raccuia says.
The deadline for Erie County to approve all agreements in regards to the stadium deal, including the community benefit agreement, is September 1st.
"Right now all of our focus is on getting the long form agreements done with the state and the county. Our team is working diligently on it, that time is approaching very quickly. We have a lot of work to do between now and September 1. While that is happening, we're also fine tuning the design the construction, talking to the contractors and vendors about building the stadium. So that way, once those agreements are done, we can get right at getting the stadium done so it's ready for the 2026 season," Raccuia said.
One thing we do know about this new Bills stadium, it's going to closed, "So the stadium will be 360 degree and closed. The main element at Highmark is the wind and there is no way to protect from the wind weather than with an open stadium, a 360 degree stadium with a canopy structurally designed to confuse the wind, which is the technical term that they're [the designers] using. It really takes that problem away and we've seen wind studies already that show that the wind impact inside this new stadium design is minimal at best," said Raccuia.
The new stadium will also be 'stacked', creating an a very close atmosphere and amplifying the noise of the crowd.
"The stadium is going to be very steep. Stacked is the word that you're going to hear us say. The fans are actually going to be closer in the new stadium to the field than they are at Highmark and we feel at Highmark, it's an unbelievable viewing experience. It will be even better in the new stadium, all of that intensity will create tremendous noise and an unbelievable home field advantage in an atmosphere that we think will be second to none in the NFL," Raccuia says.
Raccuia also talks about what the team has heard from fans and the fan surveys, which was filled out by over 14,000 fans. The common concerns from fans is accessibility in and out of the stadium, space to congregate and the food. Raccuia says that they have revamped the food and beverage offering and the modern technology of today should help create more buffer for accessibility in and out of the stadium.
"Technology getting in and out of the stadiums has advanced well beyond what Highmark is capable of doing, creating buffers so that the security zone is 20, 30, 40, 50 feet away from where you take the tickets alleviate some of the congestion. You see us trying to do that at spaces now at Highmark [Stadium], we just don't have the room. The traffic studies that we've conducted, getting people in and out of reconfigured parking lots, this affords us the opportunity to create that experience in a very unique, very efficient way for our fans and the early results show that it will be."
See the player below to listen to the full interview: