Bills Criticized for the New Undersized Video Boards at Highmark Stadium

The annual Return of the Blue & Red scrimmage took place on Saturday, but the practice wasn't the only major story this year. While fans were thrilled to see the Buffalo Bills in action, the real focus was the brand new Highmark Stadium, which was debuted unofficially.

In a break from tradition, this event was reserved for season ticket holders. That led to some frustration for non-season ticket holders who planned to attend, but was also understandable considering the financial investment for personal seat licenses made by ticket holders.

Those who were able to gain access arrived early and soaked in all the highlights of the team's new home. Bills On SI writer Mike Moraitis summarized some of the best features, which include the Labatt Skyline Deck and extra leg room in the seats.

Not everything was positive, however. One criticism that was making the rounds on social media was the size of the video boards.

Alex Brasky shared a clip from inside the stadium and called the size of the boards "underwhelming." His video was shared by Yahoo! Sports, who asked fans for their opinion. A few fans said the video boards didn't matter, but more seemed to poke fun at the franchise for falling short of expectations.

The Bills opted for smaller video boards inside Highmark Stadium 🧐

What do you think of the decision?

(🎥 @alexbrasky) pic.twitter.com/O9vxrsNORM
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 9, 2026

Highmark Stadium concerns about video boards and obstructed views

I believe to have found what might well be the worst seat in the house. pic.twitter.com/2ywzoZplRT
— John Wawrow 🤷‍♂️ (@john_wawrow) August 8, 2026

The video board wasn't the only area that drew heat. Buffalo was also put on blast for seats with obstructed views. Images of those seats were also circulating on social media, showing seats that were blocked by stairs, video boards, and walkways.

Whoever designed the new Bills stadium should wasn't very keen to detail. Imagine paying tens of thousands on PSLs and season tickets and walk into a view like this... pic.twitter.com/mGhzbCaMVs
— BuffaloWeather (@weather_buffalo) August 9, 2026

While it's not logical to expect every seat to have a perfect sightline, it does feel like an oversight to have seats with such obstruction in a brand new stadium.

Another issue that was raised by fans was the significant climb to seats toward the top of the stadium, which some called steep while also pointing out there were no restrooms up high.

To be fair, the steep climb and lack of restrooms at the top of stadiums is not unique to Highmark. Instead, that's an unfortunate issue for fans at most stadiums.

A view from the absolute top of Highmark. A HIKE and a steep one at that.

No bathrooms at the top - so you could be scaling this mountain multiple times a game.

View is great but you gotta earn it. pic.twitter.com/bY192Reg9W
— Z-Bot (@ZbotTweets) August 9, 2026

When is the official Highmark Stadium debut?

Buffalo Bills fans take a photo in front of the bison statues at Highmark Stadium. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Bills will have two games at home during the preseason, hosting the Carolina Panthers on August 15 and the Pittsburgh Steelers on the 27th. The regular season then begins on the road as they take on the Houston Texans in Week 1.

Their official home opener will take place in Week 2, with the Detroit Lions visiting Buffalo on Thursday Night Football. All of the state-of-the-art features will be on display for that game, but according to the chatter on social media, there will be some fans left feeling disappointed by the experience.

In retrospect, it was not my intention to bring all the critics and pessimists out by posting one picture of one of the few bad seats at the Highmark.
Of the 60,000-plus seats, people seem more into knocking the few bad ones.
I consider the stadium to be very inviting.
— John Wawrow 🤷‍♂️ (@john_wawrow) August 9, 2026

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