The Bills won every ensuing playoff game at the stadium until they were defeated in on Decemby the Jacksonville Jaguars. The first NFL playoff game at the stadium came in the 1988 season, a 17вЂ“10 Bills victory over the Houston Oilers on January 1, 1989. On March 29, 2021, it was announced that the stadiumвЂ™s new name would be Highmark Stadium after reaching a 10-year agreement with Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York.

On August 20, the team announced they would temporarily use the name Bills Stadium until they found a new naming rights partner. Signs bearing the 'New Era Field' name were removed beginning July 24. Under this clause, Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz rejected a naming rights bid by mini-toilet maker Tushy Bidets, saying that any name that 'embarrasses the community' would not even be considered regardless of the size of the bid. Under the terms of the 2012 lease agreement, in addition to Erie 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. The statement referred to the venue only as 'the stadium,' and the Bills Web site scrubbed all references to New Era from their site. 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 Bills and New Era officially announced the stadium's new name of New Era Field five days later, on August 18, 2016. On August 13, 2016, Buffalo-based New Era Cap Company and the Bills reached a seven-year, $35 million agreement for stadium naming rights. Rich Products balked at paying a greatly increased rights fee, which would have brought the price up to par with other NFL stadiums. After the original deal expired after a quarter century in 1998, the stadium was renamed in honor of Wilson. When the Bills organization regularly referred to the stadium without the 'Rich' name, Rich Products brought a $7.5В million lawsuit against the team in 1976. (The name was somewhat of a compromise, after Bills owner and founder Ralph Wilson rejected the name Rich wanted to use, 'Coffee Rich Park.') By a vote of 16вЂ“4, the county legislature approved the name in November 1972, despite a matching offer from Wilson to name it 'Buffalo Bills Stadium.' Rich Products, a Buffalo-based food products company, signed a 25-year, $1.5В million deal ($60,000 per year), by which the venue would be called 'Rich Stadium' one of the earliest examples of the sale of naming rights in North American sports. The stadium's former name, Ralph Wilson Stadium (1998вЂ“2015). Bonds were approved by the county legislature in September 1971.

The stadium was ultimately built by Frank Schoenle and his construction company.

However, plans changed because it was not wanted to be close to Lancaster High School. 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. The potential loss of the team hastened the stadium project and Rich Stadium opened in 1973. 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 league mandate instituted after the AFLвЂ“NFL merger of 1970 dictated a minimum of 50,000 seats. While suitable for AFL play in the 1960s, the 'Rockpile' (as the stadium came to be nicknamed), was in disrepair and with a capacity of under 47,000, undersized for a National Football League team.

History Finding a new place to call home ДЄn 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. The stadium opened in 1973 and is the home venue of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). Highmark Stadium (originally Rich Stadium, then Ralph Wilson Stadium from 1998 to 2015, then New Era Field from 2016 to 2020, and Bills Stadium from 2020 to 2021) is a stadium in Orchard Park, New York, in the southern portion of the Buffalo metropolitan area.

Bills new stadium design