Stadium Construction Discussion (No PSL/Seat selection posts)

[SoCal Deek]

2 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

Perhaps a stupid question, but on large projects like this, is it the same team who built the shell (concrete, steel, etc) that also build-out the interior (lighting, locker rooms, facade, etc)?

Not a stupid question at all….Large projects like the stadium or my movie theater example are most often built by a General Contractor (GC). The GC doesn’t provide any of the labor or material, but rather manages and supervises Trade Subcontractors who do the actual construction. They hire Subs for every aspect of the project from grading through final finishes and all are under the direction of, and paid by, the GC.

 

This is not the case on many speculative commercial projects in the retail and office space sectors, where tenants often aren’t designated until after the shell is in place. In those instances a Tenant Improvement (T.I.) contractor is later hired by the tenant themselves to outfit the interior of the shell. 

Hope that helps. 

[RobbRiddick]

I was talking to a friend about ways to link the old stadium with the new. 

 

My idea was to create a kids play park outside, near where the store will be. Have a diner there where people can visit in the offseason, buy ice cream and coffee and stuff, then have the kids park but incorporate some of the materials from the old stadium. This way kids who have been born into Bills fandom will literally have that link with the old stadium from a young age. I've seen the concept of play parks that use discarded materials, re purposed in a clever way, and it's also a good way of teaching kids about the environment.

 

 

Also, in the new store, create a mini stadium seating area and have a big screen opposite showing old classic Bills games, so people can look round the store and then sit and watch plays from The Comeback or 51-3, all with Van Miller's voice of course. The seating area could be made up of old seats from Highmark, maybe some of the more iconic fans' seats, like Pancho Billa's, or the guy who threw the d*ldo at Tom Brady (mwah ha ha). Just like 50 or so seats. 

 

My buddy is a Liverpool fan and showed me their official store has a cool seating area with a screen, you can (just about) see it in this image. Anyway, I think things like this would be cool, especially for the offseason 

 

[eball]

First view of the seats!  Seems as though they really are putting in a “splatter” pattern of blue and red like the renderings depicted…looks cool.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 10:23 AM by eball

[Einstein]

10 minutes ago, eball said:

First view of the seats!  Seems as though like they really are putting in a “splatter” pattern of blue and red like the renderings depicted…looks cool.

 

 

 

Yeah the seat color design is nice. Probably my favorite aesthetic part of the new stadium thus far.

[Kirby Jackson]

There’s a guy that tailgates with us from time to time that is a trade contractor working on the stadium project. This is his opinion so take it for what’s it’s worth. He said it’s like the Wild West in there. It’s been chaos. He said, we will be open and ready to go for the start of the 2026 season but the project won’t be complete for 3 years. Again, take it fwiw but thought it was worth the share.

Edited Thursday at 11:05 AM by Kirby Jackson

[stevewin]

2 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

There’s a guy that tailgates with us from time to time that is a trade contractor working on the stadium project. This is his opinion so take it for what’s it’s worth. He said it’s like the Wild West in there. It’s been chaos. He said, we will be open and ready to go do the start of the 2026 season but the project won’t be complete for 3 years. Again, take it fwiw but thought it was worth the share.

Well you can tell by the chaotic random seat installation 😛

 

As long as the primary infrastructure is in place to play the game (and confuse the wind) I don't think most fans will care if some of the amenities take longer.  Makes me wonder if it might be a while til we see the Buffalo statues out front though...

Edited Thursday at 12:59 PM by stevewin

[EssexBill]

Apologies if this has been asked but there are 170 pages on this thread to trawl through. 
 

Has it been said that the acoustics in the new stadium will be significantly better than the existing stadium? I assume they will be due to modern technology but I noticed the difference between Highmark and spurs stadium in London was significant in terms of noise generated as spurs was much louder even with a smaller capacity. Of course, some of it can be put down to people going a bit crazier on a one of game in London but I assume the stadium also makes a huge difference, hopefully new highmark is encompassing some of that technology 

[Chandler#81]

6 minutes ago, EssexBill said:

Apologies if this has been asked but there are 170 pages on this thread to trawl through. 
 

Has it been said that the acoustics in the new stadium will be significantly better than the existing stadium? I assume they will be due to modern technology but I noticed the difference between Highmark and spurs stadium in London was significant in terms of noise generated as spurs was much louder even with a smaller capacity. Of course, some of it can be put down to people going a bit crazier on a one of game in London but I assume the stadium also makes a huge difference, hopefully new highmark is encompassing some of that technology 

Yes it will -for the technology you mentioned

[eball]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

There’s a guy that tailgates with us from time to time that is a trade contractor working on the stadium project. This is his opinion so take it for what’s it’s worth. He said it’s like the Wild West in there. It’s been chaos. He said, we will be open and ready to go for the start of the 2026 season but the project won’t be complete for 3 years. Again, take it fwiw but thought it was worth the share.

I’m sure it’s worth something, but I also don’t think a trade contractor likely knows everything either. 
 

I mean, what would take another three years?

 

[Kirby Jackson]

8 minutes ago, eball said:

I’m sure it’s worth something, but I also don’t think a trade contractor likely knows everything either. 
 

I mean, what would take another three years?

 

I think that’s he’s an electrical contractor. I think. He was basically saying that things are being done to get it ready as opposed to complete the job. I know that’s not a great explanation. I took it as, for example, a project that takes 8 hours to do well, but 4 hours to make work, they’re going the 4 hour route with the thought of “we can do the other 4 once the stadium is done.” Instead of taking the 8 now, and risking missing deadlines, they are “making it work” as opposed to “making it right.” That’s my interpretation of what he said. Hope that makes sense.
 

I’ll try to get more next time he comes. He’s the one guy’s cousin but he stops by 3 or 4 times a year. 

[Charles Romes]

Watching some of these canopy games in Europe it looks like the canopy can really negatively impact the television viewing of a daytime game. Has anyone evaluated the canopy shadow impact of the new stadium?

[BillsPride12]

18 minutes ago, eball said:

I’m sure it’s worth something, but I also don’t think a trade contractor likely knows everything either. 
 

I mean, what would take another three years?

 

As a local in WNY I know of a few people either working on or connected to the stadium project and I am hearing the same thing across the board from all parties.  There's alot of stuff they are behind on in there right now.  But yeah it will definitely be ready to open in 2026

[QCity]

1 hour ago, EssexBill said:

 

Has it been said that the acoustics in the new stadium will be significantly better than the existing stadium? 

 

You think it can get any worse?

[EssexBill]

2 minutes ago, QCity said:

 

You think it can get any worse?

Haha Well if you reduce the capacity by 10k that can’t help, and it can get worse especially if you end up with a lot of the proper hardcore fans being priced out (that’s a different argument and not related to the structure of the stadium of course) as I spoke to a couple of people who won’t be able to afford to keep their season tickets which is sad 

[UConn James]

On 9/25/2025 at 4:53 PM, Just Jack said:

A thought just popped in my head but not worthy of a new thread. With the new stadium, we should be guaranteed at least 3 home night games next season. Thursday, Sunday and Monday Night Football. Maybe even a Saturday Night towards the end of the season. I could also see the Thanksgiving night game being played at home. 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news then.

 

The prior year's SB winner hosts the first game of the season, on a Thursday night.

 

✊🪵
 

On 9/25/2025 at 4:53 PM, Just Jack said:

Edited Thursday at 12:48 PM by UConn James

[SoCal Deek]

27 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

As a local in WNY I know of a few people either working on or connected to the stadium project and I am hearing the same thing across the board from all parties.  There's alot of stuff they are behind on in there right now.  But yeah it will definitely be ready to open in 2026

It’s not at all uncommon for Trade Subcontractors to hold this opinion around this time in a project partly because there are more Subs on site now than ever before. With ‘finish’ work starting on the interior spaces there’s work going on seemingly everywhere around the site. Add to that the push to get certain critical tasks completed prior to winter and I’m sure it can seem overwhelming to the Trades….but I’m also sure the General Contractor has a plan and a schedule they’re working with. 

[eball]

3 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

It’s not at all uncommon for Trade Subcontractors to hold this opinion around this time in a project partly because there are more Subs on site now than ever before. With ‘finish’ work starting on the interior spaces there’s work going on seemingly everywhere around the site. Add to that the push to get certain critical tasks completed prior to winter and I’m sure it can seem overwhelming to the Trades….but I’m also sure the General Contractor has a plan and a schedule they’re working with. 

 

I have a feeling that all of this “finishing” work will be stuff that not many attendees will know about or even notice…I think you’ve noted in this thread previously that the remaining work after “substantial completion” is akin to a punch list after closing on a house.

 

[jimmy10]

1 hour ago, eball said:

I’m sure it’s worth something, but I also don’t think a trade contractor likely knows everything either. 
 

I mean, what would take another three years?

 

The loading docks for cold La Nova pizzas to get delivered. 

[SoCal Deek]

1 minute ago, eball said:

 

I have a feeling that all of this “finishing” work will be stuff that not many attendees will know about or even notice…I think you’ve noted in this thread previously that the remaining work after “substantial completion” is akin to a punch list after closing on a house.

 

That’s somewhat correct. Substantial Completion is defined as the point where the Owner “can occupy the project for its intended use”.  Punch List pick up is a bit later down the road. For Substantial Completion there may be items that have yet to be installed. For work to be defined as a Punch List item it’s supposed to have been installed but needs to replaced, refinished, or repaired. 
 

I hope that helps. 

[SoCal Deek]

3 hours ago, eball said:

First view of the seats!  Seems as though they really are putting in a “splatter” pattern of blue and red like the renderings depicted…looks cool.

 

 

Thanks for sharing. A few things to note:

 

1. You can see how fast the seats go in. Just a month ago they hadn’t even started installing them.

 

2. The progress on the exterior metal paneling is a concern. It’s a long way from done, and Winter is coming. On a related note there, you can see the top curved piece of the paneling is solid (not perforated). It closes the gap between the last row and the roof. That solid piece keeps the wind out of the interior.

 

3. I’ll be curious to see if the grass goes down this month. On my tour, the Contractor said they were targeting October.