Apparently, $2.1 billion doesn’t buy a clear view: Bills fans discover major problem with new stadium

Apparently, $2.1 billion doesn’t buy what it used to. The Buffalo Bills held the first big event at their new stadium over the weekend, and although the new building received a lot of praise, there was also one massive complaint from fans.

However, before we get to that, let’s take a look at a few things everyone liked about the new stadium: The concourses are bigger, there are better sight lines and there’s even a massive folding table built into the stadium, which might be the coolest feature any new stadium has ever added.

Now that we got the good stuff out of the way, it’s time to look at the biggest complaint about the new stadium. The Bills hosted nearly 52,000 fans for the team’s “Blue and Red” practice on Saturday, and hundreds of fans in the building had an obstructed view of the field.

That seems like a small design flaw.

As you can see, the biggest problem is that several hundred seats have views of the field obstructed by a railing. The fan below might have a bigger complaint than anyone.

Fans who bought seats at the new stadium had the chance to take a virtual tour before making their purchases, and that appears to be another part of the problem. When the fan above went on her virtual tour, the team showed her a seat with almost no obstruction, which is far from reality.

That’s not a great look for a stadium that used $850 million in taxpayer funds to get built.

Another fan near that same section dealt with pretty much the exact same problem: During the virtual tour, they were told there wouldn’t be any obstructions, only to find the exact opposite once they got to their seat.

A Bills fan in a nearby section had the same issue. The fan below was assured that the railing wouldn’t obstruct their view.

However, when they got to their seat on Saturday, this is what they saw.

I wouldn’t want to be paying full price for that.

An obstructed view will sometimes happen when you sit in the front row of the upper section of a stadium, but in Buffalo, it’s not just the front row. One fan shared a picture showing how badly his third-row seat was obstructed in the 400 level.

In this fan’s section, that means at least three rows have an obstructed view.

The Bills are at least somewhat aware of the situation, and we know that because they didn’t sell every obstructed-view seat. One photo that went viral from the stadium on Saturday showed a badly obstructed view, but the Bills didn’t sell this seat, so in this situation, the team made the right decision.

As for the other obstructed seats, hundreds of fans appear to be impacted. The Bills can’t really get rid of a railing or remove a staircase, so those fans are likely stuck with their obstructed views. If the team promised a seat without an obstructed view and didn’t deliver, it should probably give impacted fans a discount on their tickets because you really shouldn’t have to pay full price if you can’t see the entire field.