Tag: bills stadium

Report: Bills Stadium might get named this week

The Buffalo Bills are expected to play in a stadium with a name in 2021. What that name will exactly be might be revealed this week. 

The Buffalo Bills are expected to play in a stadium with a name in 2021. What that name will exactly be might be revealed this week.

According to The Athletic’s Tim Graham, an announcement regarding the name of the stadium in Orchard Park is “expected” to be announced this week.

Most recently New Era cap company owned the naming rights. In July 2020 following New Era removing jobs in Buffalo, western New Yorkers including government officials were none too pleased with the company’s decision to do so. Naturally COVID-19 played a part, but a “mutual agreement” to remove their name from the stadium was agreed upon.

The stadium is owned by Erie County.

The team then announced that “Bills Stadium” would be the official name used during the 2020 season but the club would find a replacement at a later time… which appears to potentially be decided upon soon.

Prior to New Era Field, the stadium which was built in 1973 and holds 71,621 fans was named Ralph Wilson Stadium and Rich Stadium.

New Era held the rights from 2016 until the separation.

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First Bills playoff game saw 10 fans ejected for facemask violations

10 Buffalo Bills fans were ejected from first playoff game vs. the Indianapolis Colts.

The Buffalo Bills will have another home playoff game on Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens. Let’s make the AFC Divisional round finish with less ejections due to a mask-wearing violations… sound good?

The Bills (13-3) hosted the Indianapolis Colts (11-5) over Wild Card weekend, winning 27-24. Approximately 10 fans allowed at the game did not see the entire contest, according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz earlier this week.

Per Poloncarz via the Buffalo News, there were 10 fans tossed from the game and he added “I believe almost every one of them was related to someone who wasn’t wearing a mask.”

In total, 6,700 people were let through the gates against the Colts and the same will be allowed at Bills Stadium against the Ravens. The same safety protocols will be in place.

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9 storylines to watch for during Bills vs. Colts

Buffalo Bills, Indidanpolis Colts storylines to watch ahead of Wild Card weekend.

It’s Wednesday, so the Buffalo Bills are now turning their attention to their next opponent. After rounding out the regular season against the Miami Dolphins with a third-straight huge win, 56-26, Buffalo (13-3) will now host the Indianapolis Colts (11-5) for a Wild Card matchup at Bills Stadium.

As we now look to the weekend ahead, here are nine storylines to follow at the postseason approaches:

Report: Gov. Andrew Cuomo to tour Bills Stadium, discuss return of fans

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo to tour Buffalo Bills Stadium, potential return of fans.

One day after the Buffalo Bills said fore the “foreseeable future” fans would not be attending the team’s home games, there could be a potentially more positive update.

According to USA TODAY, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday that he plans to take a tour of Bills Stadium in Orchard Park and meet with the team to discuss the possibility of fans returning to stands sooner rather than later.

Cuomo also reportedly spoke with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on the matter.

A set date for the reported tour was not mentioned, but the timing of it, right after the Bills released their Tuesday statement which mentioned that the team was working with the New York State Department of Health on the matter, is interesting.

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Bills say no changes to fan policy for foreseeable future

Updated Buffalo Bills stance on allowing fans at Bills Stadium in 2020 due to COVID-19.

There was brief hope that the Buffalo Bills might have fans in their stadium soon. Well… so much for that.

The Bills released a statement on Tuesday which used the phrase “foreseeable future” in terms of keeping Bills Stadium empty.

Here’s the full statement released by the team.

“We hope you, your family and friends remain healthy and safe, and are enjoying our strong start to the season. At the end of August, we announced we would no be having fans for the first two games of our season based on guidance from the New York State Department of Health for professional sports. As of today, there has been no change to those protocols and fans will not be able to attend Bills games for the foreseeable future.

We promise you we are working diligently behind the scene to ensure we are ready to provide fans with a safe environment should protocols change and we are able to root for the Bills in person.”

The Bills have their next two games on the road against the Raiders and Titans, respectively. On Tuesday, the Titans announced their team had an outbreak of COVID-19 with their organization, which included three players.

Buffalo’s next home game is slated for Oct. 15 against the Chiefs and from the sounds of it, fans will not be in attendance. On Monday, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said the county, who owns Bills Stadium, would be in favor of 7,000 fans in the venue in the near future. But that required approval from New York State. Evidently the State did not give their blessing on the idea, based on the statement released by the team.

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Report: Erie County open to 10% capacity at Bills Stadium

Erie County said it would agree to 7,000 fans or 10 percent of Bills Stadium at Buffalo Bills games.

After having no fans at Bills Stadium for the Buffalo Bills’ first two games of the 2020 season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there’s a new update on the matter on Monday.

Erie County owns the venue and from their vantage point, it would be OK for the team had 10 percent of the seats filled moving forward. County Executive Mark Poloncarz clarified a report via social media on Twitter, and said Erie County would OK the allowance of near 10 percent of fans at future Bills home games, which equals somewhere around 7,000 people.

With his clarification, Poloncarz said New York State has to give the idea the green light next. The initial report via WKBW-TV said the football club would be interested in 9,000 fans currently and said a decision would have to be made within the “next few days” in order for the proper preparations to be taken for the Bills’ next home game.

In their next two games, the Bills travel to Las Vegas and Tennessee, and then return home for their first primetime game of the season on Thursday Night Football. That game against the Kansas City Chiefs would fall on Oct. 15.

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PODCAST: After overcoming second-half woes, is Josh Allen an MVP?

Buffalo Bills podcast following Week 3, 2020 NFL season vs. Los Angeles Rams on quarterback Josh Allen.

The Buffalo Bills left us with another nail-biter finish this weekend, as they defeated the Los Angeles Rams 35-32 in Orchard Park. With a 28-3 deficit in hand for the Bills early in the third quarter, the Rams rallied back to challenge the Bills, scoring 29 unanswered points, but could not finish the game on top.

It certainly left many scratching their heads, as the phrase “28-3” is not one that is kindly used on the team with 28 points. The Bills, however, avoided that ugly stigma with another incredible, yet roller coaster ride of a fourth-quarter comeback. The Bills now have three wins in as many weeks, with a road trip to Las Vegas to play the Raiders next week.

There are certainly some questions about this Bills defense, and the scheme being used after they jumped to the massive lead that they did. How could a team that was ranked in the top-five last year allow such a comeback? It was certainly worrisome, as that put Bills quarterback Josh Allen and the offense in unnecessarily challenging predicaments the last several weeks,

Allen continues to earn a solid reputation amongst his fans and even his biggest critics. Allen has thrown for 300-plus yards in every game this year, and it isn’t too far-fetched to start mentioning Allen in the MVP discussion. It’s still early, and there’s lots of great football to be played, but he’s playing as great as any elite quarterback in the NFL right now.

Listen to this week’s Bills Wire reaction podcast with host Matt Johnson above and follow on your choice of:

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Reaction: What national media said about Bills’ comeback vs. Rams

National reaction to Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen comeback win in Week 3 vs. Los Angeles Rams.

The Buffalo Bills beat the Los Angeles Rams 35-32, improving to 3-0 on the season. The score line alone reads nicely, but factoring in a major comeback after an ugly collapse? Even better. 

It was a win that has earned nation-wide buzz similar to when Buffalo defeated the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day last season. Week 3’s victory made a strong impression on many. 

Here’s what some of the top national media outlets, analysts and others had to say on social media about the Bills’ win over the Rams: 

Albert Breer, MMQB

Kevin Connors, ESPN

Josh Norman, Bills (injured) cornerback

Skip Bayless, FOX Sports

Jeff Darlington, ESPN

Corbin Bryant, Former Bills DE

PFT Commenter, Barstool Sports

Bomani Jones, ESPN

Bleacher Report

Warren Sharp, Sharp Football

Matt Miller, Bleacher Report

CBS Sports

Andrew Cuomo, New York Governor

Mike Freeman, CBS Sports

The Checkdown

Jim Kelly, Hall of Famer

Adam Schein, CBS Sports Network

 

CBS Sports HQ

 

Lexi Kroft, Wife of Tyler Kroft

 

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Bills use Dolphins trip to gather intel for return of fans in Buffalo

Buffalo Bills team officials used their trip to Miami Dolphins to help gather information bout fans in Bills Stadium.

The first home game of the 2020 NFL season looked much different for the Buffalo Bills without fans in the stands. Many teams in the league are playing in front of empty seats as a safety precaution due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the United States. However, a few teams are allowing limited seating.

Among those? Buffalo’s most-recent opponent, the Miami Dolphins. Prior to the Bills heading to Miami last weekend, the Dolphins announced 13,000 tickets would be sold in the 65,000-seat venue, Hard Rock Stadium for that game.

As of now, the Bills will not allow fans at home games in September as they work with New York State officials towards finding a safe resolution to the situation. That means this coming Sunday’s Week 3 meeting with the Rams won’t have fans involved. But Buffalo’s Week 5 meeting with the Chiefs on Thursday Night Football on Oct. 15 is still on the table, and the Bills, according to the Buffalo News, used their Week 2 trip to South Beach to gather intel on the safety measures the Dolphins undertook in order to allow limited seating. 

The Bills previously said in a July statement to season ticket holders they planned for limited attendance… when permitted. The State and the Bills have not yet settled on a time when any amount of fans could be allowed in their venue, only so far saying it won’t happen in September. Season ticket holders were also given the choice to opt-out of the 2020 season and return for 2021 with the same seats and seniority.

The Bills also previously confirmed that they already had some limited-seating charts created for Bills Stadium. Those plans include scenarios of 15, 33 and 50 percent capacities of fans. It remains to be seen if the team dusts off any of these in the coming weeks. 

After not playing in front of any fans in Week 2, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott felt positive about having people in attendance in Miami last weekend, at least. 

“Miami allowed a certain percentage of fans, and I’m happy to say a significant percentage were Bills fans, so that was awesome to see, and I just was fired up,” said McDermott on Monday via video conference. “We ran out of the tunnel to that ovation and that cheer and you could hear the crowd, and that gave me chills. Just hearing that when we ran out of somebody else’s tunnel, that was awesome.”

Current in the NFL, the Dolphins are joined by the Jaguars, Cowboys, Chiefs, Broncos, Colts, Browns, and Bengals as teams that are allowing a limited number of fans in their stadium during home games. 

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How safety protocol impacts the Rams ahead of trip to Bills

Buffalo Bills’ Week 3 opponents, the Los Angeles Rams, have new safety precautions in place affecting their pre-game travel schedule.

The ongoing coronavius pandemic in the United States has taken its toll on several aspects of the 2020 NFL season, and has done so for the past several months. Most recently, stadiums are not filling up with fans yet, and now the Bills’ upcoming opponent, the Los Angeles Rams, have run into a new issue with their travel plans ahead of their trip to Orchard Park in Week 3. 

Prior to the NFL’s schedule release each year, teams can make a request to have cross-country games on back-to-back weeks. In the case of the Rams, they requested that the league’s schedule-makers put the Eagles and Bills next to each other on their schedule. That happened, as the Rams beat the Eagles last week in Philadelphia and have Buffalo up next. 

The idea gives teams the option to avoid long trips. Instead of going back to Los Angeles, the Rams hoped to just travel right to Buffalo. 

But thanks to Covid-19, that’s not happening. 

The NFL introduced numerous safety protocols to avoid the spread of the virus, and among those involve team travel. The Rams technically could still travel right to Buffalo, but the players and team staff, by rule, could only go to the practice field and their hotel rooms, according to Rams Wire. 

And so the Rams called an audible on their travel. The Rams have since headed back to L.A. and will return to Buffalo later this week to face the Bills. 

More miles, but, safety first. 

Last week ahead of the Bills’ first trip away from Buffalo, defensive back Jordan Poyer described the safety protocols the team was going through via their trip to Miami to face the Dolphins. Poyer said once the team lands, you’re essentially in a “bubble” until you head home. 

Plane lands. Players stay in a hotel. Go play the game. Straight to the airport to go directly home to avoid crossing paths with any outsiders. 

Later on this season, the Bills themselves will have trips out west with games in Arizona, Denver, San Francisco, and their next road game, their first ever trip to Las Vegas. However, the Bills were actually the only team in the AFC East to not make this special request to schedulers earlier this offseason.

So it’ll still be as usual, or planned, for the Bills… or as much as it can be during the roller coaster that 2020 is. 

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