With the new Buffalo Bills stadium set to open in only a matter of months, the team has announced the first major event for the new building.
The Buffalo Bills are set to open their new $2 billion stadium in just a few months, and the first major event for the venue has been announced.
Speaking with The Buffalo News at the NFL league meetings in Phoenix, Bills COO Pete Guelli revealed that the team will be bringing back its annual "Return of the Red & Blue" practice this summer. The plan, Guelli says, is to host it under the lights of the new stadium, and on a weekend.
But it's not just about hosting the practice scrimmage. The team wants to make it feel like a major event.
"We want to make it special," Guelli said. "The building will be full for an event like that, and having it on a Saturday, potentially in the evening, is going to allow us to ramp up, do some things during the day and have more people there. We know how important this is."
When construction first began on the new Highmark Stadium, the plan was to have a major event open the stadium prior to the start of the football season. That plan ended up changing because of construction timeline shifts. Instead, Buffalo will have smaller events in June and July to showcase the stadium to fans.
Going back to the practice, Guelli said that both general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Joe Brady were on board with hosting it on a Saturday night.
"Having the red and blue on a Saturday night, it’s really helpful from a fan perspective, but one of the things Joe wanted to do was get in, get on the grass and be under the lights so he could experience that," he added.
"When you talk about collaboration and alignment, having really candid discussions about, ‘Hey, what’s important from a business standpoint? What’s important for the football team? How do we bring those things together to make it work?’ That’s a perfect example of that."
As of the last update, the new stadium is around 93% complete. The team is still working on the concourse area of the building as well as outside the stadium.
The Return of the Red and Blue scrimmage is scheduled for August 8.
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