New Era Field
The American football stadium in Orchard Park, New York, originally Rich Stadium and known as Ralph Wilson Stadium from 1998 to 2015 and New Era Field from 2016 to 2020, is a stadium in the southern portion of the Buffalo metropolitan area. The stadium opened in 1973 and is the home of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League.
History
Finding a new place to call home
An original franchise of the American Football League in 1960, the Buffalo Bills played their first thirteen seasons at War Memorial Stadium, a multi-use WPA project stadium that opened in 1938, located on Buffalo's East Side. While suitable for AFL play in the 1960s, the "Rockpile", was in disrepair and with a capacity of under 47,000, undersized for a National Football League team. The league mandate instituted after the AFL–NFL merger of 1970 dictated a minimum of 50,000 seats.In early 1971, owner Ralph Wilson was exploring options to relocate the team, possibly to Seattle, with other cities such as Memphis and Tampa soon expressing interest as well. The potential loss of the team hastened the stadium project and Rich Stadium opened in 1973. The location and construction of the stadium in Erie County were the source of years of litigation, which ended with a financial settlement for a developer who had planned to erect a domed stadium in Lancaster. However, plans changed because it was not wanted to be close to Lancaster High School. The stadium was ultimately built by Frank Schoenle and his construction company. Bonds were approved by the county legislature in September 1971.
Naming rights
, a Buffalo-based food products company, signed a 25-year, $1.5 million deal, by which the venue would be called "Rich Stadium"; one of the earliest examples of the sale of naming rights in North American sports. By a vote of 16–4, the county legislature approved the name in November 1972, despite a matching offer from Wilson to name it "Buffalo Bills Stadium."When the Bills organization regularly referred to the stadium without the "Rich" name, Rich Products brought a $7.5 million lawsuit against the team in 1976. After the original deal expired after a quarter century in 1998, the stadium was renamed in honor of Wilson. Rich Products balked at paying a greatly increased rights fee, which would have brought the price up to par with other NFL stadiums.
On August 13, 2016, Buffalo-based New Era Cap Company and the Bills reached a seven-year, $35 million agreement for stadium naming rights. The Bills and New Era officially announced the stadium's new name of New Era Field five days later, on August 18, 2016.
On July 15, 2020, the Bills announced that New Era Cap asked to be released from their naming rights and sponsorship deal, and the two sides would agree on terms to terminate the contract. The statement referred to the venue only as "the stadium." Under the terms of the 2012 lease agreement, in addition to the county having to approve any new stadium name as the stadiums' legal owners, the government of the state of New York would also have a veto; the clause was inserted to quash ambush marketing attempts. Signage bearing the "New Era Field" name was removed beginning July 24.
Stadium records and facts
The first NFL playoff game at the stadium came in the 1988 season, a 17–10 Bills victory over the Houston Oilers on January 1, 1989. The Bills won every ensuing playoff game at the stadium until they were defeated in on December 28, 1996 by the Jacksonville Jaguars.From New Era Field's opening until the end of the 2019 NFL season, the Bills have defeated each of the 31 other teams there at least once and are unbeaten there against the following teams: Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Design and renovation
The stadium is open-air, with a capacity of 71,870. It has never had a natural grass surface; AstroTurf was installed in the stadium upon its opening in 1973. The first renovation occurred in 1984 when the stadium's capacity was increased to 80,290 with the addition of 16 executive suites.Eight years later in 1992, 24 more executive suites were added. In 1994, major renovations were made to the stadium including the addition of the Red Zone and Goal Line clubs that are enclosed in glass and have 500 seats. These renovations also added 14 executive suites. A massive $9.1 million Sony JumboTron video scoreboard was a major update in 1994 and was the largest in the U.S. at the time. In 1998, $57 million were spent to refit the stadium with larger seats and more luxury and club seating as a part of the Bills lease renewal with Erie County. This caused the seating capacity to be reduced to just under 74,000.
In the 2003 offseason, the original style turf was replaced with a newer AstroTurf product, AstroTurf GameDay Grass. The lease agreement also stipulated Erie County would continue to upgrade the stadium; in the summer of 2007, a new HD Mitsubishi LED board measuring was installed and replaced the 13-year-old Sony Jumbotron. Over of Mitsubishi Diamond Vision LED Ribbon Boards were also installed in the interior during that renovation. The total cost for the 2007 project was $5.2 million, In 2011, the Bills changed their turf to a new product, A-Turf Titan, produced by a Western New York company. As of the 2011 season, Buffalo is the only NFL stadium using the A-Turf Titan product.
On December 21, 2012, the lease negotiations between the Bills, Erie County, and the state of New York ended with the Bills signing a ten-year lease to stay in Buffalo until 2023. The agreement included $130 million in improvements to New Era Field. Renovations included new larger entrance gates, larger HD sponsor boards added to each side of the video scoreboard, two new HD video boards, larger LED sponsor board added on the tunnel end of the stadium, expanded concessions, new team store, and redesign of areas and lots just outside the entrance gates. In addition, a life-sized statue of team founder Ralph Wilson was posthumously added to a new area outside the team store called "Founder's Plaza" in 2015.
Buffalo, by virtue of its position downwind of Lake Erie, is one of the nation's windiest cities, and as a result, New Era Field often is a difficult stadium for kickers, with swirling winds that change direction rapidly. This is exacerbated by the stadium's design. The field is below ground level, while the top of the upper deck stands only above ground. The open end lies parallel to the direction of the prevailing winds, so when the winds come in, they immediately drop down into the bowl, causing the stadium's signature wind patterns.
Seating capacity
Other uses
Other sporting events
The size of the field at New Era Field is specifically designed for National Football League dimensions and sight lines, making it extremely difficult for other outdoor sporting events such as soccer, baseball, track and field, or rugby to be held there. None of any significance have ever been held at the stadium.The stadium annually hosts the region's Section VI and Monsignor Martin Athletic Association high school football playoffs.
On July 14, 1984, the stadium hosted a one-time-only supercross motorcycle racing event.
The opening ceremony of the 1993 Summer Universiade was held at the stadium.
College football
played two home games at the stadium in 1979. Syracuse was left without an on-campus home for one season between the demolition of Archbold Stadium and the construction of the Carrier Dome.The stadium hosted a Black Friday contest between the UB Bulls and the Bowling Green Falcons in 2013.
Adjacent to the stadium is 1,800-seat West-Herr Field, the home field for Erie Community College's football team.
| Date | Away Team | Result | Home Team | Attendance |
| September 29, 1979 | Washington State | 25–52 | Syracuse | 10,004 |
| October 27, 1979 | Miami | 15–25 | Syracuse | 7,729 |
| November 29, 2013 | Bowling Green | 24–7 | Buffalo | 26,226 |
Ice hockey
On January 1, 2008, the Buffalo Sabres hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first NHL Winter Classic. The Penguins won 2–1 in a shootout in front of 71,217. On December 29, 2017, the stadium hosted a match between the U.S. and Canada at the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships being hosted by Buffalo.| Date | Away Team | Result | Home Team | Spectators |
| January 1, 2008 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2–1 | Buffalo Sabres | 71,217 |
| December 29, 2017 | Canada | 3-4 | United States | 44,592 |
Concerts
Nearly 30 concerts have been held at the stadium, starting in 1974 with Eric Clapton and The Band.Several bands have played the stadium multiple times, including The Rolling Stones, who played there in 1975, 1978, 1981, 1997, and 2015. The Grateful Dead played the stadium a few times in the 1980s and early 1990s with their July 4, 1989 Truckin' Up to Buffalo performance being documented on CD/DVD. The Who, Dave Matthews Band, and The Jackson Five have all played at the stadium multiple times as well.
Double and multi-billed concerts have also been scheduled at the stadium.
There were notable large concerts that were scheduled to take place at the stadium but were later canceled. Led Zeppelin was set to perform at the stadium on their 1977 North American Tour. The concert was one of the seven remaining concerts on the tour that were canceled due to the death of lead singer Robert Plant's son. A Bruce Springsteen concert, that was originally scheduled at the stadium in 2003, was moved to the smaller Darien Lake Performing Arts Center due to low ticket sales.
Concert appearances began to wane in the 1990s at the stadium, which ended with Dave Matthews Band and NSYNC each playing a concert in June 2001, with no more concerts at the stadium for 14 years. The combination of a declining number of stadium rock acts, population decline, and the availability of other, more intimate, venues in Western New York such as Artpark in Lewiston, Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Corfu, the Thursday at the Square series among others, Seneca Niagara Casino, and the KeyBank Center, which opened in 1996, replacing Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in downtown Buffalo.
| Date | Artist | Opening act | Tour / Concert name | Attendance | Revenue | Notes |
| July 26, 1974 | Lynyrd Skynyrd | James Gang Emerson, Lake & Palmer | Second Helping Tour | — | — | |
| July 12, 1975 | Yes | Johnny Winter J. Geils Band | Relayer Tour | — | — | |
| August 8, 1975 | The Rolling Stones | — | Tour of the Americas '75 | — | — | |
| August 7, 1976 | Elton John | Boz Scaggs | Louder Than Concorde Tour | — | — | |
| June 19, 1977 | Lynyrd Skynyrd | Blue Öyster Cult Ted Nugent Starz | Street Survivors Tour | — | — | |
| July 4, 1978 | The Rolling Stones | — | US Tour 1978 | — | — | |
| July 28, 1978 | Fleetwood Mac | — | Rumours Tour | — | — | |
| September 27, 1981 | The Rolling Stones | Journey George Thorogood & the Destroyers | American Tour 1981 | 75,000 | $1,125,000 | |
| September 26, 1982 | The Who | David Johansen The Clash | The Who Tour 1982 | 80,000 / 80,000 | $1,200,000 | |
| August 25, 1984 | The Jacksons | — | Victory Tour | 94,000 | $2,820,000 | |
| August 26, 1984 | The Jacksons | — | Victory Tour | 94,000 | $2,820,000 | |
| July 4, 1986 | Bob Dylan Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | — | True Confessions Tour | 63,850 / 75,000 | $1,277,000 | |
| June 19, 1988 | Van Halen Scorpions | Dokken Metallica Kingdom Come | Monsters of Rock | — | — | |
| July 4, 1989 | Grateful Dead | 10,000 Maniacs | — | — | — | This show was documented on the CD/DVD Truckin' Up to Buffalo. |
| July 18, 1989 | The Who | — | The Who Tour 1989 | — | — | |
| July 25, 1992 | Guns N' Roses Metallica | Faith No More | Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour | 44,833 / 59,326 | $1,322,574 | |
| June 13, 1993 | Grateful Dead | — | — | — | — | |
| July 14, 1994 | Billy Joel Elton John | — | Face to Face 1994 | 57,058 / 57,500 | $2,380,834 | |
| October 8, 1997 | The Rolling Stones | Blues Traveler | Bridges to Babylon Tour | 30,404 / 35,000 | $1,655,588 | |
| July 21, 2000 | Dave Matthews Band | Ozomatli Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals | — | — | — | |
| June 10, 2001 | NSYNC | BBMak | PopOdyssey | 43,406 / 55,874 | $2,175,436 | These two concerts were the last at the stadium for more than a decade. |
| June 20, 2001 | Dave Matthews Band | Angelique Kidjo Macy Gray | — | — | — | These two concerts were the last at the stadium for more than a decade. |
| July 11, 2015 | The Rolling Stones | St. Paul & The Broken Bones | Zip Code Tour | 49,552 / 49,552 | $8,634,557 | This is the first concert at the stadium since 2001. |
| September 3, 2015 | One Direction | Icona Pop | On the Road Again Tour | 38,137 / 38,137 | $2,700,736 | |
| August 16, 2017 | Guns N' Roses | Live | Not In This Lifetime... Tour | 32,245 / 35,630 | $2,626,070 | |
| September 5, 2017 | U2 | Beck | The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 | 41,106 / 41,106 | $4,269,245 |
Non-sporting or music events
The stadium has also hosted the Drum Corps International championships three times.Autocross racing events are held in the one of the stadium's parking lots during the spring, summer, and fall months. The local WNY SCCA Chapter hosts the autocrosses.