Bills release new parking configurations for stadium's inaugural season
The Buffalo Bills have released new parking configurations and names for team lots. Some of them are in newly created spaces on the west side of Abbott Road surrounding the new stadium. And they are not cheap, with a cost increase of more than 50%.
With the new Highmark Stadium rising in the background, Buffalo Bills fans tailgate before a Nov. 2 game in Orchard Park.
Parking prices at the new stadium next season will be more than 50% higher. Derek Gee, Buffalo News
If you plan on parking in one of the stadium lots at the new Highmark Stadium, be prepared to pay significantly more.
The Buffalo Bills have released new parking configurations and names for team lots. Some of them are in newly created spaces on the west side of Abbott Road surrounding the new stadium.
And they are not cheap, with a cost increase of more than 50%.
Season ticket holders at the new stadium received their parking assignments from the team for the stadium's inaugural season via email earlier this week.
Those lots are now being identified as platinum, gold, bronze and other colors. There is also a new bus and camper lot across the street from the more than $2 billion stadium under construction.
Parking prices have also gone up. Fans who say they paid around $400 last season, say they are now being billed more than $630 to use the team lots. The most premium lots next to the new stadium – with an even shorter walk to get inside – are likely to be even more expensive.
The lots will offer bigger spaces to help fans tailgate with more convenience and safety.
Fans also have the option of passing on the team lots and parking in one of the hundreds of private lots around the stadium, which the Bills have depended on over the years to help with vehicle overflow.
The Bills did not immediately comment on how fans were assigned their parking lots or what the early feedback has been like.
The Buffalo Bills released new parking configurations for the 2026 season - the first at the new Highmark Stadium, which will include spaces around the new building.
Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
The Platinum and Gold lots are to the west of the stadium closest to the new building. Gray lots are south of the stadium, and the Bronze lot will be to the north, next to or around Family Circle, where many fans will enter.
The Blue lots and ADA lot will be across from the new stadium on the east side of Abbott, adjacent to Bills Drive and the field house. The Green lot will be further south, across the street from the new stadium and off Big Tree Road.
North of the new stadium and on the east side of Abbott toward Southwestern Boulevard will be the White lots, with the Orange lots and the Camper/Bus/RV/Limo lot behind them.
There are some smaller lots next to the new stadium and between it and Abbott that have not been designated on the parking diagram and could be used for VIP parking or other uses.
This map shows the parking lot configuration for the 2026 season – the first at the new Highmark Stadium
– which can be accessed by Buffalo Bills season ticket holders. Contributed image
Team parking lots were numbered before this change.
Beginning with the 2025 season, all Bills controlled parking lots required an advanced purchase parking pass, excluding two ADA lots. There was no day of game cash or credit card transactions to purchase parking in Bills lots. That will continue into next season
Even with the additional spots that will be open on the new stadium side, parking is anticipated to remain somewhat limited until more is added once the current stadium on the east side of Abbott is demolished. That is scheduled to happen in spring 2027.
However, it is not known yet how much of that space will become parking. Reports have said the team is mulling other ideas of how to use some of that land – potentially for a Bills village or tailgate zone.
With more than 1,000 fewer spaces to park in as construction on the new stadium encroached on more former stadium parking lots in 2025, it created periods of higher traffic volumes, especially for the home opener. But, for the most part, fans found spaces, even if they weren’t in the places they had been used to parking.
Many season ticket holders are already paying increased ticket prices, in addition to all seat holders being required to pay for a personal seat license at the new stadium. Some ticket prices went up as much as 50% to 100% in comparable seats, while PSLs, which needed to be purchased for the right to buy season tickets, cost anywhere from $750 to $50,000 per seat.
The prices for parking in team lots are following suit.
The Bills and owner Terry Pegula are on the hook to pay for approximately $1.3 billion of the stadium project. The team was responsible for cost overruns on a stadium that was originally estimated to cost $1.35 billion, with $850 million in public funds. The price has gone up by a projected $850 million since then.
The team is always considering ways to bring in increased revenue, and will have plenty of chances to do so in the new facility.
However, as part of the new parking configuration, the Bills will provide fans in their parking lots with more space to tailgate in each spot. It will help fans put up tents by their car without affecting emergency vehicles trying to get from one place to another.
The lots around the new stadium will also be at the same grade as the entranceways and the main concourse of the stadium, making for a smooth flow into the building,
There will be around a half-dozen entry gates to get into the new stadium. The largest gate will be behind Family Circle, because that is where the team anticipates the highest volume of fans will come from on their way in.