The new Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Jan. 12, 2025. Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Another construction milestone for Bills' new Highmark Stadium

Originally posted on Buffalo Bills on SI
By Ralph Ventre | Last updated May 4, 2025 6:20 PM ET

The progress becomes more evident everyday on Abbott Road as the Buffalo Bills' new Highmark Stadium slowly becomes a reality in Orchard Park.

Since breaking ground on June 5, 2023, the construction project has come a long way in 23 months and remains on schedule to open in time for the 2026 NFL season.

One month after holding a topping out ceremony to celebrate the completion of the structural steel phase of the project, the main naming rights signage is being tested.

In a 70-second video, Senior VP of Design Frank Cravotta showed one of the letters that arrived and explained the process ahead.

"It's exciting. Just another thing showing up on site, but it'll be awhile now. We'll work out the kinks here. Probably be another year, believe it or not, before they all arrive. There'll be six main naming rights signs - four on the outside on all four sides and two in the bowl," said Cravotta.

Each letter, spelling the word Highmark, is 13 feet tall. The eight-letter word will stretch 120 feet in width. Additionally, the lettering includes a perforated panel technology that increases visibility.

"When it's turned on at night, the LED is so powerful, that it actually mitigates this black and turns the whole thing [letter] pure white," said Cravotta.

The stadium will also feature a roof canopy that covers over 60 percent of the seating areas and uses an innovative snow melt system to prevent any stress on the structure.

The Bills' new home is expected to be only one of two NFL stadiums to employ a special natural grass-growing technology for the playing surface.

While the project continues on schedule, however, costs continue to grow. The estimated $1.54 billion price tag at the groundbreaking has increased to over $2.1 billion in less than two years.