At their groundbreaking ceremony for the team’s new stadium on Monday, the Bills made an announcement:
The next facility will have the same name as the club’s current one.
The new stadium will be known as Highmark Stadium, team owner Terry Pegula said in his opening remarks.
“I’m proud to say we have a new longer-term, naming-rights deal and their name will shine on our stadium for years to come,” Pegula said, via Katherine Fitzgerald of The Buffalo News.
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York purchased the naming rights to the stadium formerly known as Rich Stadium, Ralph Wilson Stadium, and New Era Field back in 2021. That deal was for 10 years.
Bills executive vice president and chief operating officer Ron Raccuia told The Buffalo News that the club did not consider adjusting the name to something like Highmark Field to differentiate between the current and future stadiums.
“Consistency is very important when it comes to naming rights,” Raccuia said, via Tim O’Shei. “We didn’t want to be an organization that was changing naming rights all the time. We think it’s critically important for our fans, for identification, and for that community involvement. Highmark Stadium, in a very short period of time, has really entrenched itself into this community, and we saw absolutely no reason to change that. We can just build upon it.”
The new Highmark Stadium is slated to open in 2026.
“I know it might get a little confusing,” Raccuia added. “‘Highmark Stadium’ is our home today, and ‘New Highmark Stadium’ will be our home in 2026. Once we get to 2026, we’ll drop the ‘new’ and Highmark Stadium will be our future for the next 30 years.”