Bills fans prepare for extremely cold Wild Card game
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Thousands of local Buffalo Bills fans plan to be at Saturday night’s "brutally cold" AFC East Wildcard matchup. The Bills will welcome their archrivals the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium.
News10NBC talked to a couple of Bills Mafia fans who say the subzero wind chills won’t prevent them from going to the game.
Are they crazy? Surprisingly not so much. That’s because the fans we talked to have been going to games for many years now, and when it comes to staying warm, well they have it down to a science.
Drew Dollinger is already getting prepared for the deep freeze, one day before his beloved Bills take the field against the Patriots. Dollinger said his family, and friends have been preparing for Buffalo’s coldest game of the year.
"We started packing for this game two days ago to make sure, we went over it this morning. We’ve got gloves, the right socks, the right boots, things like that," Dollinger said.
Sitting in front of his home in Brighton with autographed jerseys, helmets, and pictures at his side Dollinger also has a bag full of hand warmers for the game. That’s not all to help stay warm.
"We got the chili pre-game, you know that’s always great. Coffee during the game," Dollinger said.
Danielle Riley has traveled from her home in Rochester to every home game this year. She also talked to us about how she keeps herself warm. Riley says she keeps adding layers during the game.
"Like I’ll wait until the end of the first quarter to put my hat on, and then I’ll wait until the end of the half to put the next layer on," Riley said.
She says one thing you can’t do is just sit in your chair for the entire game.
"You have to stay moving. I mean if you’re sitting in one spot especially on those cold chairs there’s just really no way to stay warm throughout the game," Riley said.
The drop in temperatures has also lowered ticket prices for the game. Some tickets going as low as $40.
"A lot of people are scared by that number, wind chill, -10, -15, but we’re not scared. Bills Mafia is not scared," Dollinger said.
News10NBC had to ask, is it worth it?
"You know knock on wood, being there to witness a win is always fun," Riley said.
Saturday night’s kickoff is scheduled for about 8:15. It could be one of the coldest games ever in Orchard Park.
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