Non-Profits Chosen That Will Use Community Suite At Bills Stadium

It's hard to believe it, but after several years of work on Abbott Road in Orchard Park, we're literally just a few days away from watching professional NFL football being played at the brand new Highmark Stadium.

As the 2026/27 NFL regular season gets ready to kick off in just a few weeks, Bills fans from far and wide will get their first look inside the new stadium in just a few days when Bills training camp moves back to Buffalo from St. John Fisher in Rochester.

As fans get ready for the team's annual Return of the Blue & Red open scrimmage and practice at Highmark Stadium, another group of fans got word from Erie County that they will get a special treat from the Bills and members of Western New York's government.

READ MORE: Watching This Video Of The Old Highmark Stadium Will Make You Sad

Thanks to the Erie County Hospitality Suite Access Policy, a select group of non-profit organizations will have the ability to get tickets to a Bills game and be able to watch it from inside the Erie County Hospitality Suite.

More than 250 non-profit orgs submitted for a lottery that resulted in 10 community groups getting access to the suite this season. Each of the groups elected will get 8 tickets to 5 of the Bills' home games this season. The suites, which can accommodate 16 people, will be shared by two groups each over the 5 games.

As a result of the (stadium) negotiations, Erie County got a suite for 30 years... and too many people are like, ‘Oh, it’s just going to get used by the elected officials and it’s going to be parties and things like that.’ So we set up a policy that ensures that it was an open process, that it could be used for economic development purposes … but then we wanted other organizations that might not otherwise have an opportunity to go to a football game or take people to a football game, benefit from the suite as well. We wanted an open process.
-Mark Poloncarz, Erie County Executive

Out of the 254 groups that submitted applications, 180 met the qualifications to be eligible.

The Bills have 8 home games this year, three of the games will be used by the Erie County IDA, Empire State Development, and Visit Buffalo Niagara, the remaining five will be shared with the ten groups who won the lottery. They are listed below:

• NFL Week 3 vs. Los Angeles Chargers - Sept. 27 — Western New York Broadcasting Association and Specialized Early Childhood Center of WNY Inc.
• NFL Week 4 vs. New England - Oct. 4 — Mental Health Association of Erie County and Girl Scouts of WNY
• NFL Week 8 vs. Baltimore - Nov. 1 — Boys and Girls Club of Orchard Park and The Big Easy in Buffalo Incorporated
• NFL Week 12 vs. Kansas City - Nov. 26 — Baker Hall Incorporated OLV Human Services and Gateway Longview Inc.
• NFL Week 18 vs. New York Jets - Date TBD — Buffalo Architecture Foundation Inc. and Habitat for Humanity Buffalo

There were also 3 alternate groups that were selected that will have a chance to use the suite if one of the other groups cannot for some reason. Those groups are Make-A-Wish Metro New York and Western New York, the Police Athletic League of Buffalo, and the Theodore Roosevelt Site Foundation.