The Buffalo Bills have a brand-new stadium this year. While that should be something to celebrate and for the fans and team to look forward to before opening day, the Bills have had a number of problems with the new venue.
Over the past few weeks, the Bills have been dealing with criticism from hundreds, if not thousands, of seats that have obstructed views. Now, the Bills have a new problem: the playing surface.
Bills Grass Falls Apart
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After dealing with negative headlines and fan criticism for the [seats with obstructed views](https://thecomeback.com/nfl/you-will-find-some-level-of-obstruction-architect-breaks-silence-as-bills-stadium-sparks-outrage.html), the Bills now have another embarrassing problem on their hands as the turf field in the brand-new $2.2 billion stadium is falling apart.
After just two preseason games, the Bills tore out the entire grass field that they had installed in October of 2025. The roots of the grass, however, do not seem to have taken root, as large chunks of sod were repeatedly gouged out by the players during the two preseason games as well as the two open practices at the stadium.
In an article [published by The Athletic](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7561474/2026/09/04/bills-grass-surface-new-stadium-issues/?unlocked_article_code=1.-lA.8_a4.FmXY2UCr8Hhg&source=emp_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share) this week, a few experts raised concerns.
“I saw their press release and heard some of their rationale, and they probably ought to start their stories ‘Once upon a time,’” said an award-winning sports agronomist who has helped install dozens of NFL and college football fields over the decades. “That’s the worst sod I’ve seen in the NFL in my career. I can’t even imagine how that could have happened.”
While natural grass is generally seen as a safer alternative to turf, one expert does not think that was the case here, given just how bad the turf was.
“Yes, natural turf is safer in a perfect setting,” said Tony Dick, a sports management professor at Baldwin Wallace University and former Cleveland Browns assistant head groundskeeper. “But if you have the situation like you have in Buffalo — and I went back and watched the film — you cannot tell me that field was safer than the artificial turf they just left.
“I’m never putting Josh Allen on a field in that condition,” he continued.
Bills Face a Problem
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With the grass falling apart just weeks before the start of the NFL season, the Bills are now in a race against time to install new sod. The team’s season-opening showdown against the Detroit Lions on “Thursday Night Football” is two weeks away, marking the first of three straight games in the new Highmark Stadium in a span of just 18 days.
The experts interviewed by The Athletic all anticipate that the turf will hold up for the team’s season-opener against the Lions, but it gets dicey after that.
“They will have a difficult time,” the anonymous agronomist said. “There’s so much going wrong, and there’s so little time. If that field makes it through the second game, I’ll be shocked.”
Dick, meanwhile, thinks that the Bills might have to ditch the grass field entirely.
“You might have artificial turf back in there within three years,” Dick said, “Just because it’s safer than whatever that was.”