Buffalo Bills administered more than 5,000 COVID-19 tests in their stadium parking lot on Wednesday, as they prepared to host about 6,700 fans for Saturday’s playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Bills owner and team president Kim Pegula told ESPN in a telephone interview on Wednesday that the New York State government insisted that all fans and employees of the game be tested if it were to approve the plan. allow fans to enter Bills Stadium for the first time this season.
The team added a $ 63 surcharge to the game ticket price to cover testing costs and then sent the appointment times to everyone who obtained tickets so they could be tested at the stadium in the days prior to the game.
“It is a very good city for sports, and being our third year (of the last four) in the playoffs, but not having a home game (playoffs) in 26 years, it is really special for the community,” said Pegula. “I’m surprised. Today we tested more than 5,000 people and it was really good and we did it.”
Pegula said talks with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office lasted all year, but that video footage of Bills fans at the airport to greet the team a few weeks ago when he returned from Denver after winning the AFC East title, helped drive the decision.
“Seeing these fans at the airport, part of the thinking process was, ‘If we don’t allow fans to enter, where will they go, and will that be safe for our community?'” Said Pegula.
Bills studied other teams that allowed fans to participate in the games this year during the pandemic to try to find the best way to deal with it. New York state officials attended a game in Pittsburgh earlier this year, when the Steelers allowed some 7,000 fans in, and state officials will be present on Saturday to observe the procedures and how they are working. Whether the Bills can have fans in their split-round game, if they win the Colts and advance, it depends in part on what Saturday will be like.
“The state said, ‘You can plan (for fans in a second playoff game), but there is no guarantee,” said Pegula. “They want to see how this process goes, in terms of masking, entry, exit, all of that. So, many of our messages to our fans are just to really follow the protocols that are in place.”
“Who would have thought you would be excited to have 6,700 people in a playoff game?” GM Bills Brandon Beane said in a telephone interview Thursday morning. “But we couldn’t be more excited now.”