As the Buffalo Bills approach the halfway point of their personal seat license process for the new Highmark Stadium scheduled to open next year, the team says it has sold more than 25,000 PSLs.
“The pace has picked up dramatically with the new price points in the upper level,” Bills chief operating officer Pete Guelli said Thursday. “We’re on pace to sell out the building.”
The lowest PSL price for the upper level seating is $1,500. The Bills Stadium Experience in Williamsville remains open seven days a week and is averaging 50 appointments per day.
Buffalo Bills stadium rendering
A rendering of an exterior area of the Buffalo Bills' new Highmark Stadium. Buffalo Bills
Tours for potential upper-level season-ticket holders began in March, and the goal remains to have every client visit the stadium experience by the start of the Bills’ season Sept. 7 against the Baltimore Ravens.
People are also reading…
“We’re going to get through it,” Guelli said. “The (stadium experience) is extremely active and busy. From the beginning, we wanted to make sure people took their time and made the best decision for themselves, and it’s been clear to me that everybody has been very comfortable in that they’ve been provided options similar to what they have now, but they are also able to consider additional options.”
Guelli said patience was required last summer when the focus was initially on the suites and club-seat areas.
“It took some discipline to make sure we got through some of the premium inventory first, and in retrospect, that was definitely the right way to go,” he said.
The Bills say that 80% of season ticket holders who visit the stadium experience sign up for new stadium PSLs.
The Bills provided a breakdown of seating that will total 60,108 seats.
• The suite inventory of 1,755 seats is sold out.
• The Bills are required to set aside 3,725 seats, “mandatory holds,” for visiting teams, the NFL and the Bills’ players’ families and staff.
• The remaining capacity is 54,628 seats, including 6,162 club seats (sold out) and 2,644 “premier seats,” which are similar to club seats with fewer benefits, but do feature access to a special bar. Those 100-level seats, which have an average PSL price of $5,200, have a limited inventory remaining.
• More tickets will be set aside – “sponsor holds” – for the Bills’ “founding partners,” Guelli said.
• The waiting list is 19,000 accounts, all of which have required a deposit. Those fans, if tickets remain available, will be contacted during the Bills’ season for a stadium experience appointment. Only when the Bills have gone through the entire waiting list will any remaining tickets be made available to the general public.
Guelli said a “fair amount of” season ticket holders who visited the stadium experience to view upper-level options upgraded to lower-level seats.
The stadium’s construction is nearly 60% complete.
The Bills provided The News with a new rendering of the north exterior facade, showing the main north entry, exterior mini-field and the upper concourse sky deck that has views of Buffalo and Lake Erie.
Recent events included putting the final piece of steel in place during a topping-out event April 4 and the first seats bolted in earlier this month.
“There have been some great touch points that makes this feel more like ... a reality every day,” Guelli said. “The topping-out ceremony was great to really signify the halfway point of the project, and that was a jumping-off point to re-energize people. And moments like putting the seats in are special, because you start to realize what it will be like for the fans.”
The technology building is under construction and set to be turned over for IT equipment installation by the end of the summer. The snow-melting system installation continues on the roof and is expected to be completed this fall. And on the floor of the building, crews are installing the drainage, irrigation, heating and sub-air systems for the playing surface. A natural grass field will be installed this fall.
Guelli said the stadium is “still on track” to open in July 2026.
“We’re going through what is the absolute best way to open it,” he said. “We’ll have to test every single aspect of the building. I would anticipate a large capacity event and a series of smaller events to get things rolling before we play football.”
0 Comments
Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter
Sent weekly directly to your inbox!