ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Eric Matwijow, the owner of 'Hammer's Lot' on Abbott Road, has hosted tailgaters for hundreds of Buffalo Bills games. He's owned the private parking lot next to Highmark Stadium for 40 years.
Still, after the buzz of the NFL schedule dies down the off-season at Hammer's Lot can be quiet.
That's why Matwijow is excited about this weekend's Luke Combs concerts at Highmark Stadium.
"We are looking forward to it," Matwijow told me. "Kind of a surprise concert in April, but this will definitely help out the neighborhood economy."
Matwijow says he uses the money his private lot makes from off-season events to help pay for insurance, taxes, and garbage removal from "Hammer's Lot", but for the upcoming concerts, he's become concerned.
"I googled parking to see if I'm on the map, and low and behold, I was gone," Matwijow told me.
Matwijow is talking about the parking map from the Buffalo Bills for Highmark Stadium, posted on the teams' website, which shows areas around One Bills Drive that are now closed because of ongoing construction on the new stadium.
Matwijow reached out to 7 News after learning that "Hammer's Lot" was included in the grayed-out area with a "closed" designation.
Matwijow is concerned that "Hammer's Lot" being listed as "closed" on the stadium parking map will impact his bottom line, with the closed designation making it difficult for out-of-town concertgoers to find and utilize his lot.
"It makes it look like, it says in bold letters, 'closed', well, I'm not closed," said Matwijow. "It could really hurt commerce for this area that people from out of this area say, oh we can't come down this road, just park somewhere else"
7 News reached out to the Buffalo Bills to learn more about the confusion, and to get a response to Matwijow's concerns.
A team representative told 7 News via email that the map published on the Buffalo Bills website was being used during the off-season to indicate the recent closure of Lot 3 because of ongoing construction.
The Bills say that parking maps for Highmark Stadium are "traditionally updated closer to the football season", but that process was "being accelerated" ahead of this weekend's concerts. The team said the map would be updated in the coming days and sent to concertgoers as a part of a "Know Before You Go" email.
The Bills say the update will include the correct designation for Hammer's Lot and surrounding private parking areas.
"They don't even need to put "Hammer's Lot" on it, just don't include our area in the fine print," said Matwijow. "Let's just clarify it back to where it was in the past and everyone can live happily ever after,"
Matwijow says he reached out to the Bills to discuss his concerns.
Update:
7 News spoke with Matwijow and contacted the Bills on Monday. The team updated the map as of Wednesday morning to show that "Hammer's Lot" and others in the area were not included in the "closed" designation.
You can find parking information for the 2024 Season here.
Matwijow texted me after the Bills updated their map, thanking WKBW for stepping in. He says it helped clear up some of the confusion created by the original map.
Meanwhile, the Bills are reminding fans that the parking situation around the stadium will continue to evolve as construction on the new Highmark Stadium continues. The most recent change has been the closure of Lot 3 near the corner of Abbott Road and Big Tree.
“Lot 3 has always been in the new stadium construction plans to not be available beginning in 2024," said Andy Major, Vice President of Operations & Guest Experience for the Bills in a statement, "For this season, moving our game day staff to park at the Hamburg Fairgrounds helps us offset the loss of parking spaces, and encouraging Bills fans to utilize NFTA for a bus transportation service is another new option we implemented."
