There will be no tailgating.
You have to get swabbed for Covid.
Masks are required.
And the stands will be less than a tenth full.
But about 6,200 fans will now have the opportunity to be there in person for the first Buffalo Bills home playoff game in a quarter of a century.
On Wednesday, a week after floating the possibility of allow at least some fans into Bills Stadium, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a plan that would allow about 6,200 fans and another 572 guests of players and sponsors inside the Orchard Park venue for the historic game next month.
People are also reading…
"It's good for New York. It's good for the Bills. ... They've given us good news in a year we really needed good news," Cuomo said.
Tickets will only be available to season ticket holders and not for general public sale, the Bills announced.
Backup quarterback Matt Barkley hinted at the exciting news a few minutes before the governor's press conference.
"See you in the playoffs, #Billsmafia," he tweeted.
The Bills captured their first divisional crown since 1995 with a Week 15 win over the Denver Broncos. See a game-by-game look at how Buffalo stole AFC East royalties from perennial champs New England. Josh Allen, Cole Beasley, Stefon Diggs, Tre White and Jerry Hughes all star in this slideshow.
While some NFL stadiums have allowed fans inside, Bills Stadium has been empty of fans all season.
The plan to allow Bills fans to attend the playoff game in person will serve as a pilot for reopening other kinds of business across the state, Cuomo said at a video news conference Wednesday afternoon.
"The question is: How do you use science and technology to open quickly, but safely?" Cuomo said.
Vaccines are just starting to be given out, but it could take months, possibly even a year, before enough people have it to achieve "critical mass," Cuomo said.
In the meantime, "expansive testing" is the key and the state Health Department has come up with a plan with the Bills and the NFL to try to make it work.
That plan includes Covid-19 testing of every single fan who wants to attend the game.
"We believe we are the first state in the nation to broaden this kind of pilot," Cuomo said.
The Bills captured their first divisional crown since 1995 with a Week 15 win over the Denver Broncos. See a game-by-game look at how Buffalo stole AFC East royalties from perennial champs New England. Josh Allen, Cole Beasley, Stefon Diggs, Tre White and Jerry Hughes all star in this slideshow.
It will be a massive undertaking.
Fans will be tested at drive-thru sites set up in the parking lot outside the stadium in the days before the game – which will take place either Jan. 9 or 10 – and then they must show evidence of the negative result to enter the stadium.
There may be as many as 20 lanes for fans to drive up and wait to get tested while in their vehicles.
They'll have to pay for the tests – $63 each – which will be conducted by Bioreference Laboratories, a private New Jersey-based lab. The cost will be included with the ticket purchase. There's also an $11 parking fee.
They will conduct PCR tests, considered to be more accurate than rapid tests.
Fans will have to show their tickets, their IDs and their proof of negative Covid tests to get into the stadium. Tickets can't be given or sold to another person and fans must have their tests done through the Bills. Other test results will not be accepted.
Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz said that neither the county nor the state would be involved in the testing process and that a county contact tracer would become involved only in cases when a positive test result was identified.
Tickets
As the governor was still speaking, the Bills released information about how tickets will be handled:
Tickets will be available for purchase Thursday "to Bills Season Ticket Members that opted into purchasing tickets earlier this year. Season Ticket Members will be notified based on seniority," the Bills announced in a statement.
About 13,000 season ticket holder accounts had opted in to purchase the tickets, said Andy Major, the Bills vice president of operations and guest experience
The game tickets will cost from $65 to $330, he said.
"Club season ticket members will receive an email from the Buffalo Bills with a set time to go online and select club tickets on Thursday, Dec. 31. Non-club season ticket members will receive an email with similar instructions on when to go online to select tickets on Friday, Jan. 1," the statement said.
Tickets will be available in "certain sections of Bills Stadium, including the Sideline Club Seat sections, and the 100 and 200 level of Bills Stadium."
Tickets will be available in two and four ticket pods only, the Bills said.
"Should the Bills advance and host a Divisional Playoff round game and New York State permits fans to future games, those fans who attend the Wild Card playoff game will not be eligible to purchase tickets for the Divisional round," the Bills said.
The Bills made repeated pleas to the public to adhere to the guidelines so that fans will continue to be allowed at future games.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen made an announcement in a recorded video shown during the news conference: "I'm excited to let you guys know we are going to be allowed to have fans in our first playoff game. Super excited for all the parties involved, also the Pegulas, Gov. Cuomo, everybody else involved. Thank you so much. Please follow the guidelines. Wear your masks in the stands so we can have guys for the rest of the week."
Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula also appeared via video conference at the briefing. "As you know the entire Bills organization misses the energy of our fans in our games. We know they're there but we want them here, at the game, if you know what I mean. Even though they'll be very limited numbers, we will feel and definitely soak in their support at this game. Any issues that arise as a result of what we're trying to do here we will passionately try to resolve to pull this off," Terry Pegula said.
He had a message for fans: "Remember, our objective here is to support our team in as many ways as we can. I ask them to be safe, be smart and most importantly be loud."
Kim Pegula said she and the Bills are "so hopeful that there will be many more games that all fans can attend."
Asked at the news conference, Major said the Bills are still considering other ideas for distributing tickets, including setting aside some seats for first responders. "It is something we're looking at," he said.
Major said stadium workers will also be tested for Covid-19 before the game. Sales at the concession stands will all be cashless, he said. The same food will be available at every concession stand, he said.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has headed the Western New York region's Covid-19 response, said she was "truly overjoyed" about the plan to allow fans inside the stadium for the first home playoff game for the Bills in a quarter century.
"Let's be smart in supporting Josh Allen and the team so we can create a model for the nation. Thank you Governor Cuomo for your leadership. Thank you Kim Pegula, Terry Pegula and NFL for partnership in making this happen," she tweeted.
No tailgating
One of the main concerns of county officials in allowing fans to attend is making sure there's no tailgating outside the stadium.
"There will be no tailgating at all," Poloncarz said at a news conference Wednesday. "You pull in. You immediately have to put your mask on and you walk in."
No permits have been issued to private lots for the game, Poloncarz said.
The Erie County Sheriff's Office and Orchard Park town police will be involved in making sure there's no tailgating, Poloncarz said.
He also said that while concessions will be on sale, there will be no common areas for fans to congregate inside the stadium.
"People will buy a hot dog. They can buy a beer and they'll have to have it at their seat," he said.
Masks will be required while fans are in their seats but they can take them off while eating or drinking, Poloncarz said.
News Staff Reporters Aaron Besecker and Mike McAndrew contributed to this report.
Maki Becker
