Bills open Highmark Stadium on September 17 in Lions matchup; signals NFL venue boom

The Buffalo Bills opened Highmark Stadium on Thursday, September 17, against the Detroit Lions in a Week 2 matchup broadcast on Amazon. The $2.2 billion open-air facility, built over 39 months in the Buffalo Southtowns, marks the first NFL stadium opening in six years, per Front Office Sports reporting. The gap between this debut and the previous two stadiums, Allegiant (Las Vegas) and SoFi (Inglewood, California), was the longest for the league between new venues in more than 30 years. Highmark Stadium is the first of at least seven new facilities expected over the next half decade, per the reporting. The Jacksonville Jaguars are undertaking a $1.4 billion dramatic renovation of EverBank Stadium, their "Stadium of the Future" project set to be done in 2028. The Carolina Panthers are pursuing a $1.3 billion upgrade of Bank of America Stadium targeted for completion in 2030. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated at a recent ceremony in Charlotte, per Front Office Sports: "I don't think we're building stadiums anymore. I think we're building experiences and bringing people together." Highmark Stadium departs from the industry trend toward roofs: each of the other new NFL stadiums to follow will feature roofs, many of them translucent, added in the hopes of landing a Super Bowl for their cities. Buffalo has no intentions of creating an indoor environment, a sentiment widely supported by fan surveys conducted early in the stadium development process, per Front Office Sports. An extended canopy provides cover for much of the venue's 60,108 seating capacity, the smallest in the NFL. The stadium is modeled in part after European soccer facilities such as Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The facility revealed early operational issues: the exhibition season opener in August exposed some obstructed-view seats in the upper deck, and the Bills acknowledged they would "address internal and external feedback" in advance of the regular season. The natural grass field was replaced following a pair of exhibition games and some open practices after players complained. The Lions and Bills are tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for the league's best record since 2023 at 37-15, per CBS Sports reporting. Tickets for Thursday night were around $400 to enter, per Ticketmaster. The Bills have won five straight versus Detroit and are 10-2 in their past 12 primetime home games. The Lions are 14-3 in primetime over the last five seasons, the best mark in the NFL. Jared Goff has averaged 351.7 passing yards per game against Buffalo but holds an 0-3 record against them and became the only quarterback in NFL history to lose with 400 passing yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions in his last matchup against the Bills. Lions cornerback D.J. Reed is QUESTIONABLE with a foot injury. On the Bills side, safety Cole Bishop is QUESTIONABLE with a knee/groin injury, running back Ty Johnson is QUESTIONABLE with a hamstring injury, and defensive lineman T.J. Sanders is QUESTIONABLE with a knee/illness.