The Bills’ first preseason game at their new stadium arrives Saturday, and the setting looks about as clean as Buffalo could have hoped for. After plenty of rain during training camp - including a downpour last Saturday during the team’s first trial run at the new building for the blue and red practice - the forecast for Orchard Park calls for partly cloudy skies and a high around 80 degrees.
That makes for a fitting backdrop for the opener against the Panthers, which kicks off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, NY. CBS will carry the game, with Rochester on Channel 8 and Buffalo on Channel 4. The game can also be streamed on Fubo with a free trial and on Paramount for TV, along with online options at NFL.com, the NFL mobile app and NFL+.
The day will also feature the inaugural season logo on display, along with a banner celebrating the first season at the stadium. Game production crews were already doing a run-through on the field to get everything lined up for how it will look before opening kickoff.
Buffalo’s preseason slate continues from there with Game 2 at the Browns on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 1 p.m., followed by Game 3 against the Steelers on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m.
This one carries the kind of atmosphere that tends to show up around a new building’s first game. Fifty-three years ago, when the Bills opened Rich Stadium against the Washington Redskins, the kickoff came at night and rain moved through the area at one point, but the moment still landed. Saturday’s weather should be friendlier, and the expectation is for a similar level of buzz, even with obstructed view seats in the mix.
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Bills Mafia Is Already Turning New Highmark Into A Scene
The Bills were only into their first preseason game at Highmark Stadium, and the atmosphere outside already had the familiar edge that comes with Bills Mafia. A journalist on social media reported that a fan tried to climb one of the bison statues near the stadium, a scene that fit neatly with the fan bases well-earned reputation for turning even a tune-up game into an event.
The statues outside Highmark include a large cow, bull and calf, though it was not clear which one drew the attention. Inside, there is also the broken table statue that has become part of the stadiums identity, another reminder that Bills fans do not just show up, they help define the place. Even before the regular season begins, the building already feels like it is surrounded by its own kind of tailgate folklore. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Have 4 More Extension Decisions Fans Should Be Watching
O'Cyrus Torrence is already off the board, and that matters for a Bills team that has spent plenty of time thinking about how to keep its core together. The right guards four-year, $78.4 million extension gives Buffalo a clear signal about where the front office wants to invest, and it also puts a spotlight on the next layer of roster planning as the club looks beyond the most obvious centerpiece deals.
The names worth circling now are Dorian Williams, Ty Johnson, Alec Anderson and Cole Bishop, each in a different spot but all part of the same long-range conversation. Their cases are tied to role, value and the way Buffalo projects them moving forward, which is why these decisions feel more like a roadmap than a list of imminent moves. The Bills do not need to rush any of them, but the way those situations develop will say a lot about how the team wants to shape its depth and keep its cost structure manageable. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Allen And Bills Starters Signal A New Approach In Opener
Josh Allen is set to do something Bills fans have not seen from him in over two years when Buffalo opens the preseason against the Carolina Panthers at the new Highmark Stadium. Allen and other healthy starters are expected to play, a notable shift in approach under new coach Joe Brady as the Bills use the exhibition to get their top group on the field early.
For Allen, the chance to get live snaps in the new building carries more than just preseason value. He said he is ready to play and stressed the importance of getting comfortable in the stadium environment before the regular season, a practical step as Buffalo adjusts to its new home and a more hands-on tuneup plan. [Read more 🡒]