Overview
- Gov. Kathy Hochul, who spoke at the Highmark Stadium ribbon-cutting on Tuesday, tried to start a call-and-response “Let’s go, Buffalo!” chant and was met with mostly silence.
- The ceremony marked the official opening of the $2.1 billion, 60,000-seat Highmark Stadium, which officials say is essentially complete and will host a training-camp event on Aug. 8, a preseason game on Aug. 15, and the first regular-season home game on Sept. 17.
- The project combines public and private money, with roughly $850 million reported from New York State and Erie County and the team’s owners covering additional costs, and includes a multi-decade lease intended to keep the Bills in Western New York for 30 years.
- Video of the awkward exchange circulated widely on social media and drove coverage that ranged from straight reporting in centrist outlets to mocking takes in right-leaning outlets.
- Local reaction mixes pride in new features such as a natural-grass field with SubAir systems, underground heating coils and a partial canopy with concern about higher costs for taxpayers and fans and the ongoing demolition of the old 1973 stadium into 2027.