Take a stroll down Southwestern Boulevard or Abbott Road in Orchard Park and it’s easy to get an idea of what’s happening on the exterior of the Buffalo Bills new stadium.
But the interior is a different story.
The facade of the more than $2 billion stadium is almost completely closed off, so it is no longer possible to see the progress going on inside the stadium’s bowl.
New Bills Stadium
A construction worker walks through the north end of the new Bills stadium on Thursday. Work is progressing on the concourses, suites, clubs, stairwells, escalators, market areas, bathrooms, locker rooms, seats and field. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
There are 1,400 workers on-site, and a healthy portion of them are working on an assortment of jobs that need to get done on the vast interior of the building.
That includes in the concourses, suites and clubs, stairwells and escalators, market areas, bathrooms, locker rooms, field and seats.
The project is now roughly 61% done and may be a percentage or two off what was expected by this time, but the stadium is still considered to be on time, according to state officials.
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New Bills Stadium
The sun rises over the north end of the new Buffalo Bills stadium on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. Joshua Bessex/Buffalo News
The site likely saw its highest volume of workers for the project at one time a few weeks ago, when the number approached 1,500.
Work is going on at the site seven days a week to make sure the project is substantially completed by July 2026. The Bills expect that there will be punch-list items to be finished through the end of 2026, but the team will play next season in the new stadium.
“It really now is about keeping workers’ morale going,” said Steve Ranalli, president of the state entity Erie County Stadium Corp., which is overseeing the stadium construction project.
“They’re starting to hit some big steps and major milestones,” he added. “There’s a little sense of relief and just excitement that we’re getting there.”
New Bills Stadium
Glass panels partially cover a staircase near the north end of the new Buffalo Bills stadium. Joshua Bessex/Buffalo News
Once all the concrete was poured and the steel was placed, it allowed the bulk of the contractors working on the inside of the building to ramp up that work and start making interior finishes.
While the prefabricated brick, glass, crowning cornice and metal panels going up along the stadium is the most visible progress of the work, stadium workers are making major strides on the interior.
That includes being in the drywall stage in many sections around the stadium, with the finishes following.
The interior on the northwest side of the stadium, facing the SUNY Erie Community College South Campus, is the farthest along. That’s where the two-story club lounge and suites are being built, with the Bills locker room getting started right under it.
All the new parts of the project start on the northwest side and the work rounds out like a doughnut toward the southeast.
It’s because that part of the stadium has the most higher-end interior finishes to be completed. And it also doesn’t hurt to be able to start each part of the project in a place that is not front facing the more well-traveled areas around Abbott Road, given the adjustments that sometimes need to be made as new construction elements begin.
New Bills Stadium
Glass panels and an open bar area are seen at the north end of the new Buffalo Bills stadium. Crews are working seven days a week to ensure the project is ready by July 2026. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
“To get this side finished and buttoned up first will keep us on schedule,” Ranalli said.
Concrete for concourses that will be much larger than at the current Highmark Stadium on the 100 and 300 levels with an open view to the field are poured and workers can walk the entirety of the stadium on those levels to get jobs done.
Bathroom facilities and market locations on those floors are mostly drywalled in, with all the utilities in place. That work is a little further along on the first floor than the 300 level.
“You’re starting to get a real feel for what the stadium is going to feel like,” Ranalli said.
In many of the sections where there are black panels covering the stadium, they are closing areas off to the outside because there is a project going on in a controlled space behind them – work on things like a bathroom or market and concession space.
Having some spots still open to the elements is purposeful to allow exhaust from the interior work being done to escape into the open air, Ranalli said.
The steel and wood for stairways has been built throughout the stadium and escalators are being installed as well. Work also is intensifying up high in the stadium to install systems under the canopy, which will cover nearly 65% of fans from the elements and help amplify sound around the stadium.
Seats continue to be installed with more anchoring and bracketing for rails in the ground of each section throughout the stadium, while good progress is being made to put in the field equipment needed to grow grass year-round.
In the 300 level, the lookout bar is taking shape over the main entrance in the north part of the stadium where there will be views of downtown, Lake Erie, Boston Valley and, on a really clear day, Niagara Falls.
New Bills Stadium
Construction crews work on the outside of the new Buffalo Bills stadium on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. Joshua Bessex/Buffalo News
“There’s just people everywhere doing different things at the same time,” Ranalli said.
“For the longest time, if I missed a week or two, things would happen, but it would be fine,” he added. “Now, it feels like if I’m not out here every other day, I’m missing a lot of stuff, so we’ve been out here quite regularly.”
Major strides are also being made on site work that includes Family Circle taking shape in front of the main entrance to the stadium and parking lots forming on the west side of Abbott Road, across the street from the current stadium.
The site work is about 40% done at this point, Ranalli said.
The southern end of the stadium is pretty much finished, with the focus now on the northern lot. Much of the sidewalk, curbing and underground utilities are done there, but paving won’t be completed on the northern end until later this year.
New Bills Stadium
Construction crews install wind screen panels on the outside of the new Buffalo Bills stadium as workers hit some major milestones. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
Two of the entry gates have been installed – one at the northwest corner and another at the main gate at Family Circle. There will be around a half-dozen entry gates to get into the stadium. The foundation for another one is going in right now.
The large bison statues, which will be the highlight of the Family Circle, are “underway,” according to Ranalli, but he’s still unsure when they’ll be put up.
The technology building at the south of the site, which was scheduled to be ready about a year before the Bills play in their new stadium, will soon be turned over to the Bills and NFL to put in and test equipment.
Even with all that progress on the site and inside the facility, the biggest changes on the project of late have come on the exterior at the northwest of the stadium, Ranalli said.
That means not only thousands of perforated metal panels that will help create wind confusion, keeping intense breezes from entering the stadium, but also black insulated panels, prefabricated thin brick panels, horizontal-ribbed architectural cornice and glass.
Workers are busy right now snapping those steel panels into place after each gets raised by one of several cranes still on-site.
New Bills Stadium
Construction crews work to install wind screen panels on the outside of the new Buffalo Bills stadium. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
At least half of the exterior work is done and most of it could wrap up by the end of October, according to Ranalli, with some of the work bleeding into the end of the year. Workers are expected to move quickly over the next month or so to the east side of the project’s exterior.
Getting that done will allow for more of a focus on the inside finishes once the winter season comes around. Ranalli said the goal is to get those wind screens up to help minimize the elements for workers on-site once it gets colder.
“This past winter was tough, so I think getting the rest of the mesh up in time before the winter season hits is going to make a big difference,” Ranalli said.
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