Bills respond to criticism over poor sight lines at new Highmark Stadium

The Buffalo Bills addressed concerns Monday over obstructed views and poor sight lines, among other issues, at the team’s reveal of the new Highmark Stadium during Saturday’s Blue & Red practice.

The team’s annual scrimmage served as the unofficial opening of the $2.2 billion venue to fans.

However, the opening was marred by criticism over obstructed views from certain seating areas, small scoreboards, slow foot traffic, the stadium canopy — advertised to cover about 65 percent of the seats — and its ineffectiveness at protecting patrons from rain.

The Bills brass told reporters on a conference call Monday that issues regarding sight lines will be handled on a case-by-case basis, but the franchise maintains that early reviews of the stadium have been “overwhelmingly positive.”

“So far, we’ve heard from less than 1 percent of our PSL holders about anything sight line related,” Bills COO Pete Guelli said. “Relative to that specific issue, we feel very confident what was represented via the virtual venue is accurate to what people saw when they sat in their seats. If anybody feels otherwise, we’re taking this on a case-by-case basis and we’ll address any concerns that they have.

“Any building you would walk into, there would be some obstructed seating,” Guelli said. “There are seats where we could create a different design, put in a blank area, or they give you the option to put in a seat that might be obstructed for football, but can be used for any other event like a concert. There’s always partial-view or limited-view seats, and we think those were pretty clearly depicted in our virtual venue.”

Bills vice president of stadium development John Polka added: “Seats with truly obstructed views have not been sold as a PSL or for any football games. If we have a concert in the round at the 50-yard line or a stage in the north end zone, we may sell those tickets for an event, but not for football.”

Bills executives noted during the call that Saturday’s soft opening was for a practice, and that issues concerning foot traffic will be different on game day. The Bills open the preseason at new Highmark Stadium on Saturday against the Carolina Panthers.

The Bills are moving into the stadium after playing at the old Highmark Stadium, known as Ralph Wilson Stadium or affectionately “The Ralph,” for 53 seasons.

This story will be updated.