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First, the Buffalo Bills put out a statement on Monday, defending the honor of their new $2.2 billion stadium that was getting absolutely crushed on social media – with photo evidence, no less – for how poorly architects laid out some of the place’s sightlines.
Then the club put its chief operating officer and its vice president of stadium development on a conference call with reporters to explain how the fans, some of whom are taxpayers footing $850 million of the cost for the building, didn’t have the whole story when they posted those cringe photos of obstructed views and videos of poor rain coverage during the Bills’ Saturday practice.
So, yes, the Buffalo Bills are in full crisis management mode right now and the damage control isn’t about an injury to a valuable player or a questionable coaching decision.
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It’s all about a multibillion-dollar project that, so far, is not quite living up to some of the billing it presented to fans, including personal seat license holders.
“So far, we’ve heard from less than one percent of our PSL holders about anything sightline related,” Bills COO Pete Guelli told Western New York area reporters on the conference call Monday. “Relative to that specific issue, we feel very confident what was represented via the virtual venue is accurate to what people saw when they sat in their seats.
“If anybody feels otherwise, we’re taking this on a case-by-case basis, and we’ll address any concerns that they have.”
The concerns were all over social media. And they turned what was supposed to be a triumphant moment for a proud franchise into something more closely resembling the season’s first loss.
Because, apparently, clear sightlines throughout the facility are beyond the scope of what is possible for a $2.2 billion stadium in 2026.
“Any building you would walk into, there would be some obstructed seating,” Guelli explained. “There are seats where we could create a different design, put in a blank area, or they give you the option to put in a seat that might be obstructed for football, but can be used for any other event like a concert. There’s always partial-view or limited-view seats, and we think those were pretty clearly depicted in our virtual venue.”
The sight-lines weren’t the only problem. Of course not.
Some fans complained their views were blocked by vendors or other fans walking about as the Bills practiced.
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The club is responding by pointing out that at actual games, fans and vendors will be instructed to wait for the whistle before being allowed to move about. So, yes, the raucous, rowdy Bills crowds that sometimes stood the entire game at the old Highmark Stadium might be going away.
Games will now be coordinated something like tennis matches.
There were also complaints about the new Highmark Stadium’s video boards because of their uninspiring size and scope.
The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported that was done on purpose because club owner Terry Pegula wanted fans focused on the field and not the scoreboards. The speaker system, the paper reported, was more of a priority investment for Pegula.
So, team ownership apparently forgot that video killed the radio star about 50 years ago.
“We’re learning a lot about the building, and that includes game presentation,” vice president of stadium development John Polka told reporters. “We’ll look at how much of the scoreboard we’re using for video versus using for content. We also have things in this building that we didn’t have before.
“We have a nine-foot ribbon board right below that scoreboard that we may want to use differently. But with the raw size of the scoreboards, we’re comfortable and confident that those are the way we intended and designed them.”
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