The Bills said they are “addressing internal and external feedback” after a weekend scrimmage at the team’s new $2.2 billion Highmark Stadium generated record attendance but also revealed issues such as obstructed seats.
The NFL team conducted its first fan-facing event at the new facility Saturday, attracting a record crowd for its annual Return of the Blue & Red practice. The event gave fans an up-close look at the stadium after more than three years of construction, and the final attendance of 51,807 beat the prior milestone for the event by more than 12,000 fans.
Online commentary and social media, however, quickly gravitated to the presence of some obstructed-view seats, particularly in the upper deck, as well as surprisingly small videoboards—though some of those seats discussed online are not being sold for Bills games.
On Monday, the Bills said they are aware of the comments and will be making a series of changes before the Sept. 17 home opener at the new facility against the Lions, a game that will also be the season debut for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football.
“Thank you to Bills Mafia for setting a new attendance record with more than 50,000 fans at the Return of the Blue & Red. Saturday’s practice was a great opportunity to test the new stadium,” the team said in a statement. “We are currently addressing internal and external feedback regarding the facility’s operation following the first event. We’ll utilize the next six weeks to refine any details as we prepare for the home opener on Sept. 17.”
Soft-launch events such as this scrimmage are particularly valuable tools for any stadium operator as it prepares to open a new building, offering feedback on key areas such as seating, fan ingress and egress, concessions, and security. League sources, meanwhile, said the Bills have heard from fewer than 1% of their personal seat-license holders regarding sightline-related issues.
Saturday also provided an early look at weather-related issues at the new Highmark Stadium. Notably, the Bills did not opt to build a domed stadium, like many others around the NFL, instead choosing to preserve the impact of Western New York’s famed late-season cold weather. An awning, however, does provide cover for about two-thirds of the seats, and that feature was a welcome one when it briefly downpoured during the scrimmage.
Another fan critique: the Bills’ new “Nickel City” alternate uniforms, which players wore for the scrimmage and have been widely criticized online. But players including star quarterback Josh Allen gave the uniforms a favorable review.
Big Hall of Fame Game Numbers
Elsewhere in the NFL preseason, NBC Sports posted a historically large viewership number for Thursday’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Game between the Cardinals and Panthers.
The network said Monday it averaged 7 million viewers across the broadcast network and the Peacock streaming service for the league’s preseason opener, aired from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Ohio. The audience was the largest for that game since a Steelers-Cowboys clash in 2021 on Fox that averaged 7.33 million viewers.
The rather robust draw for a game involving two teams not among the most popular franchises in the NFL bodes well for the league to post another banner season after the record-setting 2025 campaign.
Mahomes Progress
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, meanwhile, gave another positive update in his ongoing recovery from a torn knee ligament.
The superstar is not slated to play at all during the preseason, but he has been a full participant in training camp. Mahomes also said he is still targeting a Week 1 return, something that would certainly please ESPN as it will carry a high-profile Broncos-Chiefs clash for the Sept. 14 opener to the 2026 Monday Night Football schedule.
“It feels great,” Mahomes said of the knee. “I’m pushing every single day, trying to stack days together. I feel like when you’re tired, sometimes you don’t even think about it. So I’m trying to protect it, but at the same time, I’m trying to push it and get myself ready to go for the season.”
Mahomes signed a two-year contract extension and restructuring in June, creating an average annual value of more than $63 million that sets a league record.
