Why Buffalo Has An NFL Team…

Also keep in mind that the Buffalo Bills are the ONLY NFL team that actually plays ANY games in the state of New York.

Ralph Wilson was a minority owner of the Detroit Lions in the 1950s. When the formation of the AFL was announced, Wilson contacted Lamar Hunt and got a franchise. Wilson's original plan was to put the franchise in Miami, where he owned a winter home. The city and U of Miami denied Wilson the use of the Orange Bowl, so Wilson had to look somewhere else. Hunt told him to consider Buffalo, Cincinnati or Louisville. Wilson came to Buffalo and met with the sports editor of the Buffalo News, who told Wilson he would have an article about the team every day. After other discussions, Wilson decided to put his team in Buffalo. He never went to Cincinnati or Louisville.

You hit it directly on the point. The Bills represent Western New York and the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario. I live in Rochester and the Bills are part of our culture, just like in Buffalo. There isn’t as much respect for Western New York because everything is all about NYC. That’s the sad reality of the big sports leagues. I think that if the Rochester Red Wings were an MLB team, we’d still have them and they’d represent all of Western New York.

As a Canadian living in Ontario, I’ve done the pilgrimage to see the bills play. It is a regional team and the region it represents is diverse and vibrant. Go Bills!

I have a fond appreciation for these small market teams! Wish there was more of them.

Upstate NY was prime market in mid 1900s. At one point Buffalo Braves (LA Clippers), Rochester Royals (Sacramento Kings), and the Syracuse Nationals (76ers) all called it home. Can you imagine Rochester let alone Syracuse having a NBA team now?

Western NY has a very strong blue collar fan base, and there aren’t a lot of other sports vying for the fans’ dollars. There’s also an underdog loyalty, and a local pride in the many surrounding towns. Go Bills!

Los Angeles has been the USA's second largest city for 40 years, and it couldn't maintain NFL teams at least twice.

My pal is a massive Bills fan. I'm a Raider. We're from Glasgow. Going to London October 8th to watch the Bills Jaguars game

I'm a Bills fan in Niagara, Ontario. There are LOTS of Bills fans in this part of Ontario, probably close to a home team, there are still some as you head toward Toronto but it gets less and less as a percentage of football fans. I think it's usually about 15% of people at Bills games are from Ontario every week.

Even as late as 1970, Buffalo was still considered a prime city for sports teams, so much so that both the NHL and the NBA expanded into it (though the basketball Braves moved out in 1978, eventually becoming the LA Clippers).

Buffalo, NY was a candidate for MLB expansion in the past. Buffalo does have the AAA team of the Blue Jays.

Bills and their fans always hold a special place in my heart. They were one of the original AFL teams and played in the Eastern Division with my Jets, the Patriots, and the Houston Oilers. Yes, the Oilers were in the Eastern Conference. After the Jets won SBIII, the first team they played the following year was the Bills. The fans in Buffalo were so proud and grateful that the AFL Jets beat the NFL Colts that they gave the Jets a standing ovation when they took the field. Having said that, how can you post a history of the Buffalo Bills and have no photos or videos of their first venue, War Memorial Stadium...which was also used as the Knights home field in "The Natural".

I'm a bills fan from Brazil and the bills have by far the most loyal fan base in thr NFL. I had the opportunity to go to London to watch the bills game this year and let me tell you that they brought the whole metro. More than 12k bills fans travelled across the ocean to see the game. One more thing that you maybe forgot to mention is that even though buffalo became smaller, the population which moved out still are massive bills fans. I met people from FL, NC, TX and so on that are massive bills and actually travel to go to games

Thank you for including Syracuse, loads of Bills fans here that drive 3 hours down the thruway every week 👍🏻

Buffalo has lost 250,000 residents since they got an NFL team. That’s crazy.

Around the same time, Buffalo was going to be a city in the Continental League for baseball. Unlike the other big 3, MLB did not want the competition and acquiesced and expanded. All the cities of the CL would get MLB franchises... except Buffalo.

They are the only NFL team located in New York State. That is except for people who consider East Rutherford NJ to be part of New York.

It's not just Western NY, but much of upstate NY. You will see tons of Bills and Giants paraphernalia in the Albany area as well...

I'm from Hamilton, Ontario and have been a Bills fan and going to the games since 1976. GO BILLS!