Ralph Wilson Stadium
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Ralph Wilson Stadium is a football stadium located in the Town of Orchard Park, a suburb of Buffalo, New York. It is the home stadium for the Buffalo Bills professional football team.
The stadium opened in 1973. The Bills wouldn't lose a playoff game at Rich Stadium until December 28, 1996. The poultry packing firm of Louis Rich (later purchased by Oscar Mayer, and now a part of Kraft Foods) signed a 25-year deal by which the venue would be called Rich Stadium; this is one of the earliest examples of the sale of naming rights in North American sports. After the original deal expired in 1998, the stadium was renamed in honor of Bills founder and owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr.
The construction of the stadium and its location were the source of years of litigation, which ended with a huge financial settlement for a developer who had planned to erect an all-weather stadium in Amherst, New York. The current stadium is open-air, with a capacity of 73,967, with an artificial surface; the current surface is AstroPlay, one of several newer types of artificial turf that offers more grass-like playing conditions. The Sheldon Family Cemetery is located just outside of Gate 7 of the Stadium.
External Links
- Stadium page from official Buffalo Bills site (http://www.buffalobills.com/facility/)