Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - Since opening the new Highmark Stadium in late June, the Buffalo Bills have been ramping up the facility for kickoff to the 2026 regular season when the team hosts the Detroit Lions on Thursday, Sept. 17.
While the stadium has now hosted three football-related events this month - two practices and a preseason game - the Bills are putting the finishing touches on making sure the state-of-the-art building is a full go.
"It's nice to have four events in August to get it ready for the opener, and it's been a little bit of a learning process. But every single event, I think we get a little better-and-better," said Bills president of operations Pete Guelli.
Tuesday morning saw the Bills hosting more than 41,000 fans for an open practice at the new Highmark Stadium. Those were fans who may not have purchased a personal seat license (PSL) or Season Tickets for the new stadium.
"It's an incredible turnout, and I'm just excited that we have a chance to open up the building almost more as an open house to the general public, and give them a chance to get in here and see what this is all about," Guelli said in an interview with WBEN.
Guelli says the team's goal was to try and open the stadium up to as many Bills fans locally and beyond before the start of the 2026 campaign in Orchard Park.
"We're trying to live up to that, and to have a public event like this... it feels good to get people in the building and let them experience what this stadium is going to be about. Even if they didn't come over for PSLs, they still should have access to the building, and we're excited to welcome them in," he said.
Guelli is certainly aware of some of the complaints from fans over sight line issues, and has also received other notes from the fans that the Bills are taking notes on to address before the season formally kicks off in less than a month.
"There's so many different areas that I think people wouldn't even realize that we're addressing every day. We sit down after events like this and go through an entire debrief, and we've got a spreadsheet of items that we're going through, and we try to address each one," Guelli noted. "But we're kind of working through the process, and I think by the opener, it's going to be exactly where everyone expects it to be."
While the team has been keeping tabs on some particular issues with the new stadium in the lead up to its opening year, Guelli also points out the overwhelming positive reviews of the facility from fans far and wide.
"It's very positive, I think especially with the group of people here that, most of them, have not been in the building. I'm not sure how many opportunities they'll have to be in the building, they're experiencing it for the first time. And to see the reactions and to listen to what they're saying about the building, it's gratifying," Guelli said. "It's fun to see this group come in here, take a look, and get a chance to experience it for the first time. But so far, it's been overwhelmingly positive."
Being originally from the Rochester area and having worked with the Bills in the past, this venture with the new Highmark Stadium has been a gratifying one for Guelli, especially knowing the team is sticking around in Western New York for the long-term.
"I've been involved in a lot of different projects, but this one is particularly exciting," Guelli said. "I mean, to do something like this in Buffalo, it's the biggest construction project in the history of Western New York, it's 1.6 million square feet. It's tethered the Bills to the market for another 30 years. It's exciting and special for a lot of people, and can't wait to get it opened up for real."
One focus for the new stadium, especially from the players and a performance standpoint, is how well the new grass field is holding up. While several players are happy with the Bills going with a grass playing surface, compared to turf in years past, some feel the grass at the new stadium just needs some continued work to perfect it.
With it being a new field, Guelli admits the team expected some hiccups along the way.
"It's a little bit of a work in progress," he said. "I feel like every day it gets better-and-better, so we're on top of it. We feel comfortable, the playability is there, the safety has been good, the trainers are comfortable with it. The league's come in, and they felt like we've met all their protocols. So it's another area that we want to keep improving in, and we think every day it's going to get better-and-better."
Some fans have also pointed to the lack of any coloring on the field, only noticing the white outlines of the Bills logo at midfield and the "Bills" wordmarking in each end zone. That's something that Guelli says the team is working up to, and won't reveal until the home opener.
Meanwhile, outside the new stadium, the Bills have extra space within the admission gates that allows for fans to enjoy more of the area leading up to kickoff. There has also been talks of potentially hosting watch parties and other special events for fans in the space around the stadium, especially with areas like the Bills turf at the North end of the stadium.
Guelli has been pleased with that part of the stadium, to this point, and adds work is underway to plan more activities and events for "Bills Mafia" in the future.
"That whole dual perimeter concept, that people come in and they can start to enjoy and experience everything that the Bills are about before they even walk into the stadium, I think that's something we're going to continue to work on, and we've seen people respond to it," Guelli said. "They want to come in early. They're making everything that they have to experience now, I think, work, but there's definitely more we can add to it."
As for the space outside the admission gates, the team's Family Circle has already been a hit for fans with the bison statue, as well as the placards surrounding the statue that honor several players of significance in franchise history. Guelli notes that area is also a focus for future additions and activities for Bills fans to enjoy on a year-round basis.
"It's amazing to see people go out there, and it's a moment where they're going to take a photograph and soak up some Bills history, and it's operated exactly the way we would have anticipated," Guelli said. "But we've left space there for a reason. So nothing imminent right now, but in the future, we'll definitely be adding to it."
And with demolition of the old Highmark Stadium, Guelli acknowledges that it's significantly ahead of schedule, as the building is nothing much more than piles of concrete and steel rubble. He adds the Bills are starting to work on what the future plans could be on the site of the old stadium, but the team will be patient and thoughtful with that process.
"I think we've been public that we've been to a number of other facilities and trying to get a handle on what works best. But whatever we do, it's got to be like the stadium - it needs to be built for Buffalo, it needs to work," Guelli noted. "The one thing I can tell you is we absolutely want this property to be a destination from a year-round perspective. So we're looking at, right now, options and what it could.
"We'll absolutely be doing something there to kind of signify what that building has meant to people for so long."
