Fans still waiting for a virtual reality view of the Buffalo Bills’ new … – Buffalo News

Posted: November 28, 2023 at 12:44 pm

What might the seating in the new Buffalo Bills stadium be like?

Where will the concessions be? What about parking?

And for season ticket holders, the most pressing question of all may be, how much will personal seat licenses cost?

Season ticket holders are expecting to learn the answers to those questions when they get an invitation to the new Williamsville center that the team is opening to give those fans a virtual look at the new stadium.

But so far, those answers arent coming, with the opening of the Stadium Experience Center in the Walker Center on Main Street still in limbo.

Work on the experience center is coming along at the Walker Center with some unique touches by the team for fans, but the invitation-only site still is not ready to be opened. The Bills had initially said it would open in the spring and then pushed that back to the end of the summer.

When the Erie County Stadium Corp. approved the foundation of the project to construct a new Bills stadium earlier this year, part of the agreement included allowing the team to open a fan interaction center so season ticket holders could learn more about the new stadium and the PSL fee they will have to pay to buy seats in the new facility. Going forward, it is up to the Bills to work out the remaining details.

Steve Ranalli, the president of the Erie County Stadium Corp. overseeing the stadium construction project in Orchard Park, said recently he was able to get an early preview of the experience center. However, the Bills and Legends, the consultant leading the effort on PSL sales and opening the center, say they are not ready to discuss a timetable for its opening yet.

The experience center is where fans will experience their potential seat in the new stadium in virtual reality and feel what it is like to sit in a variety of seats from a 360-degree view. Fans will also be able to design where they want to park and tailgate and then enter and make their way around the new stadium, in addition to finding out what their options will be for food and beverages.

The Bills are still seeking fans interested in signing up to be on the waiting list for season tickets at the new stadium. Those interested can sign up online, drop a $150 deposit and then theyll be welcomed to the experience center after current season ticket holders.

It likely also will be the place where season ticket holders find out how much PSLs will cost at different locations around the stadium an important consideration for fans choosing where to sit or whether to continue on as a season ticket holder.

With the price of the stadium going up from the original price tag of $1.3 billion to about $1.7 billion and cost overruns being on the team, there could be discussions going on among the Bills business brass about whether to increase prices from what was originally planned to make up some of that extra cost.

PSLs will be required for the more than 50,000 seats to be reserved for Bills season ticket holders in what is projected to be a 60,000- to 63,000-capacity stadium about 10,000 less than at the current Highmark Stadium.

The Bills have said PSLs for the new stadium will be as reasonably priced as any around the league, given that Buffalo is one of the smallest market teams in the NFL and in hopes of not pricing out too many fans.

The teams business operations also have been in flux. The Bills transitioned from Ron Raccuia, who led most of the new stadium negotiations, to John Roth as executive vice president and COO, and are now in search of a new business leader for the franchise during a crucial time for making these types of decisions.

Terry Pegula, team owner and president, led the front-office shakeup, less than three months after he bounced Raccuia.

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Fans still waiting for a virtual reality view of the Buffalo Bills' new ... - Buffalo News

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