Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Buffalo Bills played their final game at the old Highmark Stadium this season, as the team will be moving across the street to a new venue when the 2026 campaign kicks off. All signs point to the replacement being ready by the time it gets underway, but the process hit an unexpected snag when construction was halted over some graffiti that was found inside the site.
War Memorial Stadium initially served as the home of the Buffalo Bills when they kicked off their inaugural season as a charter member of the AFL in 1960. They were there for 13 years before moving to what was originally known as Rich Stadium in 1973, and they ultimately played there for a little more than 50 years.
In 2014, the franchise announced its plans to explore the construction of a new stadium, and in 2023, it broke ground on a project with a $2.2 billion budget that was slated to be completed ahead of the 2026 season.
The Bills played their final game at Highmark Stadium when they hosted the Jets on January 8th, and the team will be auctioning off a ton of memorabilia (including the troughs in the men’s bathrooms) ahead of a demolition scheduled for March 2027.
The new Highmark Stadium is expected to officially open for business this summer, but there has been an unexpected work stoppage after some vandalism sparked an investigation.
Police launched an investigation after graffiti was discovered in the new stadium being built for the Bills
Hundreds (if not thousands) of construction workers have gotten a paycheck courtesy of the massive undertaking in Orchard Park, and according to WKBW, at least one member of that group is the prime suspect in the case of some graffiti that was recently discovered on the site.
Gilbane-Turner, the firm overseeing the build, ordered a temporary work stoppage after graffiti was found inside “secure areas,” including finished suites and locker rooms, over the weekend, and the Erie County Sheriff’s Office has gotten involved in the hopes of identifying the culprit.
Officials say the areas that were impacted required a pass to access, which is why they believe someone who’s been employed to help build the stadium is responsible. An executive for Gilbane-Turner shed some light on the nature of the graffiti that had reportedly been a growing problem in recent weeks before it became widespread enough to merit a shutdown, saying:
“Some idiot decided to put up pornographic and what we believe is anti-LGBTQ kind of sentiment at the stadium.
“This individual will eventually be apprehended, and they will be charged with a crime because they’ve caused substantial financial damage.”
As the outlet notes, this isn’t the first time a similar situation has unfolded at the site. In 2024, work was paused due to the discovery of an alleged hate symbol that simply turned out to be a knot affiliated with iron workers.
I can’t write a story about vandalism linked to the construction of a new stadium without bringing up the Red Sox fan who managed to cause a stir after revealing he buried a David Ortiz jersey in concrete while the new Yankee Stadium was being built, which was ultimately unearthed after it came to the team’s attention.