Weather 
The Buffalo Bills are bidding farewell to the old Highmark Stadium — the team’s home for more than 50 years — and are getting ready for their new facility.
“CBS Mornings” got an exclusive first look inside the new Buffalo Bills stadium, a roughly $2.1 billion project, to see what makes it unique.
“Everything screams Bills,” echoed Scott Radecic and Jonathan Mallie, the global directors of the architecture firm Populous and the visionaries behind the new Bills stadium.
Building on that transcendent, communal bond was key when designing the new Bills stadium. The stadium is painted in the team’s signature red and royal blue, with the red seats closest to the field transitioning to blue toward the top. It also has a wraparound concourse, so you can see the game from every angle.
“It was all about creating a highly unique environment for Buffalo,” Mallie said.
“Where they wanted something that was going to be intimidating, but something that would be intimate at the same time,” Radecic added.
Home stadium advantage
These days, the advantage of playing in your home stadium is important.
For the Bills, that means keeping visiting teams exposed to Buffalo’s notorious winter weather — its heavy lake-effect snow, whipping winds and frigid conditions. So, it was a no-brainer that the roof of the new stadium would remain open to the elements.
“Buffalo Bills is all about playing outside. There was never going to be a roof. This is what Buffalo football is all about. It’s special to the city,” Mallie said.
As a former Bills linebacker, Radecic brings a unique perspective to the table. He understands more than most the role Buffalo’s weather plays in games.
One of “loudest” stadiums in NFL
About 65% of the 60,000 seats are covered with a 360-degree canopy, with rows as close as 12 feet vertically to the field. Every aspect is designed to amplify noise from enthused fans. The canopy helps reflect the cheers and chants down onto the field.
“They wanted to have one of, if not the loudest stadium in the NFL,” Radecic said, adding that the new stadium will have more subwoofers than any other stadium in the country.
And the green grass on the field in January is real. Special lights and the largest snow melt system in the world keep the grass growing into winter, allowing just enough snow to accumulate on the field to cause some chaos.
“This stadium was designed to enjoy football and enjoy Buffalo Bills football,” Vice President of Stadium Development for the Buffalo Bills, John Polka, who’s in charge of getting the project ready for opening day, said.
The construction of the new stadium is just over $2 billion — with nearly half of that coming from taxpayers. To Polka, it’s a worthwhile investment.
“I think those dollars are going to go somewhere in the state, right?. So there’s money that goes downstate, there’s money that comes up here. I think ultimately, whether you’re a rabid fan or a casual fan, having the Bills in Buffalo is what Western New York and Buffalo is about,” he said.
Bills superfan Joanie Podkowinski DeKoker, known by her nickname “Mama J,” got a sneak peek at the new stadium. She’s attended every game since 2010.
“It’s fantastic. I feel today the same way as I did when I walked into the other stadium in 1973; I was 16 years old and it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw,” she said. “And now this? Unbelievable.”
Del Reid, who helped kickstart the viral “Bills Mafia” movement, says the new stadium proves that Buffalo is on the rise.
“This is what is going to keep the team and the community for the foreseeable future. This stadium helps show, like, fights, that narrative that Buffalo is a run-down old steel city that is just on its way out,” he said.
