Bills eliminate 1,000 parking spots at stadium, tell fans to carpool

The Buffalo Bills have announced parking changes ahead of the 2024 NFL season.

Jan 21, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Tailgaters climb a snow bank near flags in support of the Buffalo Bills before a 2024 AFC divisional round game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tina MacIntyre-Yee-USA TODAY Sports / Tina MacIntyre-Yee-USA TODAY Sports

The construction of a new football stadium, regardless of its location, is always an endeavor undertaken with the future in mind; this doesn’t mean it can’t cause a few headaches in the interim.

The Buffalo Bills are one year into the construction of their new state-of-the-art venue directly across the street from their current stadium in Orchard Park, NY. The progression and expanded scope of the construction will prompt the team to make adjustments to its current parking setup at Highmark Stadium for the 2024 NFL campaign, as the team announced that it is eliminating roughly 1,000 parking spots ahead of the new season.

The team will offer roughly 8,000 on-site parking spots next year, per The Buffalo News’ Ryan O’Halloran, down from a previous high of roughly 10,000 (this high was not set in the 2023 season). The decrease is due to the elimination of Lot 3, which sat adjacent to the construction site last season. It was across Abbott Road from the current venue and extended roughly from the construction site to Big Tree Road. The team suggests that fans carpool or use a ride-share service in order to secure transportation to the game.

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“Our hope this year is fans will continue to use ride-share and carpool and make an advanced plan of their travel arrangements,” Bills’ Vice President of Operations and Guest Experience Andy Major told O’Halloran. “A lot of fans already do that and it’s great and helps the situation.”

To create supplementary parking in the interim, the team, per O’Halloran, is planning to allow fans to park on the “youth football field” near Lot 7. Game day staff will also be asked to park at the Hamburg Fairgrounds and shuttle to the stadium; the fairgrounds are four miles away from the venue, roughly a nine-minute drive in fair traffic.

Fans also will not be able to pay to park in a Bills-controlled lot on gamedays. According to WKBW, “you must purchase a parking pass in advance” for all Bills-owned parking options, with “day-of-game credit card transactions” not available.

Per WKBW, suite holders and season ticket holders with club-level access will have access to Lot 2 Preferred and Lot 6 Preferred. Non-club-seat and suite season ticket holders can park in Lot 1 and Lot 7; according to O’Halloran, “season ticket holders who had parking passes last year will have the first opportunity to purchase passes in Lot 1 and 7,” and they will still be able to resell them. Individual game parking will be available in Lot 4.