The Buffalo Bills conducted more than 5,000 COVID-19 tests in their stadium parking lot on Wednesday as they prepare to host about 6,700 fans for Saturday’s playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts.
The owner and team president, Kim Pegula, said in a telephone interview with ESPN on Wednesday that the New York state government insists that all fans and staff of the day be tested if they are to plan the Bills Stadium for the allow for the first time this season, approve.
The team added a $ 63 surcharge to the ticket price of the match to cover the cost of the test, and then sent appointments to everyone who received tickets so they could be tested at the stadium yard in the days before the match. .
“It’s such a great sports town, and it’s our third year (of the last four) in the playoffs, but the fact that we don’t have a home game (26) is really special to the community,” said Pegula. . “I was amazed. Today we tested more than 5,000 people and it went very well and we did it.”
Pegula said talks with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office in New York last year, but that video footage of Bills fans at the airport greeted the team a few weeks ago when they returned from Denver after joining the AFC. east title won. decision.
“Seeing the fans at the airport was part of the thought process: ‘If we don’t allow fans, where are they going, and will it be safe for our community?'” Pegula said.
The Bills have studied other teams that have allowed fans to deal with the best way to deal with it during games during the pandemic this year. New York government officials attended a game in Pittsburgh earlier this year when the Steelers admitted about 7,000 supporters, and government officials will be on hand on Saturday to observe the procedures and operation. Whether the Bills could have fans at their division game if they beat the Colts and advance depends in part on how Saturday goes.
“The state said, ‘You can plan (for fans during a second playoff game), but there is no guarantee,’ ‘Pegula said.” They want to see how this process goes, in terms of masking, entrance, exit. , it all. Many of our messages to our fans are just to follow the protocols that are there. “
“Who would have thought you would be excited to have 6,700 people at a playoff game?” Brandon Beane, GM bill, said in a telephone interview Thursday morning. “But we can not be more excited now.”