Real 12th man showed up in Seattle

[T master]

BILLS MAFIA MOUNT UP !!!!! GO BILLS !!!!

[Ray Stonada]

11 hours ago, Bob Chandler's Hands said:

My recollection is that, in general, there are just a lot more opposing team fans in every stadium now then there were back then. 

Biggest reason being the ease of buying tickets on-line, either from the team or especially the resale market. 

Back in the day, you had to hang out by the stadium and buy with cash from scalpers. 

My recollection is that, in general, there are just a lot more opposing team fans in every stadium now then there were back then. 

Biggest reason being the ease of buying tickets on-line, either from the team or especially the resale market. 

Back in the day, you had to hang out by the stadium and buy with cash from scalpers. 

It was much less common back in the nineties. We didn’t know how to get tickets as easily without the internet, but I did road trip to a couple games back then. Also the Super Bowl in 1994 at the Georgia Dome. Dammit. 

[BillsPride12]

1 hour ago, Ray Stonada said:

It was much less common back in the nineties. We didn’t know how to get tickets as easily without the internet, but I did road trip to a couple games back then. Also the Super Bowl in 1994 at the Georgia Dome. Dammit. 

I think it has really evolved over the years.  Especially living in the social media era, people see other people having a blast and then it becomes contagious.  We have a group that has been doing an annual Bills road trip for at least the last decade but with the arrival of Josh Allen and the Bills becoming a very relevant team the Bills road game thing has ramped up to a whole new level

[Matt_In_NH]

When Cooper caught his one pass, it really sounded like a home game.

[Tanoros]

18 hours ago, L Ron Burgundy said:

Any estimates to how many bills fans were there?  They sounded LOUD.  Seriously.  I was super amazed/impressed.

Before the game I talked to someone at the stadium who said there was 57% Bills fans. Just looking at the crowd it did seem close to 50/50. 

[Tanoros]

15 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Many Seahawks jerseys are same color blue.  There were more blue Hawks jerseys than Bills jerseys.

 

A lot of the blue jerseys are 12th man jerseys with the number 12.  I kept thinking they were Kelly jerseys.  No.  There also were more than a few Kelly 12 jerseys. 

The Seahawks blue like ours is their retro jersey and you don’t see many of those at Hawks games. It’s mostly the new darker blue jersey they have. My best friend is a Hawks fan with seasons and I go to a few games every year. Most of the blue yesterday was Bills blue, I promise. There was just a sea of Bills fans. I’ve never seen so many fans of an away team at a Hawks game. 

[hmsmystic]

Some notes on my trip to the Seattle game:

 

Bought my whole family (adult aged kids) from Arizona. Seattle was totally safe and very walkable (and rainy)

The city was MOBBED by Bills fans.  I mean everywhere.  The Space Needle, the fancy Starbucks roaster, Pike Place Market, my hotel, the streets and bars- it was unbelievable.  Lost my voice from "Go Bills" to strangers!

Everyone was cool- Bills fans were pleasant, and the host city was mostly just charmed (and a bit shocked)  Saw no fights, arguments or confrontations.

The Bills backers bar on Saturday night ran out of cold beer and ice and had to go get more- Bills fans threw down old school and did y'all proud.

Stadium was 50% Bills fans all day.  Talked to a couple Seahawks fans at the game and they were shocked and impressed by the Bills turnout.

While it was still a close game the Seahawks fans were still pretty loud

Gameday experience downtown and outside the stadium really kinda nice- sorry Orchard Park

All in all a great trip and proud to be a fan

[Dan Darragh]

18 hours ago, Augie said:

 

Oh Lordy! That was a fun watch I had forgotten about! 

Did they have Angry Runs back then?

[Augie]

17 hours ago, Simon said:

I think I remember Tennessee being overrun a few years ago?

 

Several times over a period of years. It was AWESOME! 

[hondo in seattle]

I live near San Jose, CA, now.  My wife flew to Seattle from San Jose the Friday before the game to visit friends.  She said the first class section of the plane was dominated by Bills fans flying up from San Jose.  

 

We're everywhere.  

[BADOLBILZ]

17 hours ago, ColoradoBills said:

Maybe some giving away tickets, but I suspect not a lot of New England and Jets fans will be using them.

 

Maybe some?   There will be a lot of Bills fans giving away or eating their groups of tickets,  even if they are particularly meaningful games to home field advantage etc...   The more the merrier but there is still a wide difference in commitment between the core fan base and the ever-growing balance........many of whom are our over-acting, living-their-best-lives instagram vacation fans.  It used to be that traveling to road games was a sign of extra commitment as a fan but in our case(with so many transplants) it's often the exact opposite so I take these "take-overs" with a grain of salt.     

[msw2112]

17 hours ago, djp14150 said:

Are you going to December game in LA?

 

Don't know yet.  I'm several hours away from LA, but it's definitely drivable.  Will probably be a last-minute decision. 

 

To be honest, I loved the atmosphere INSIDE the LA stadium the last time - it's a beautiful facility and was packed with Bills fans - but I found the atmosphere outside of the stadium to be really sterile.  There's only one lot that allows tailgating and we couldn't get into it, plus the Bills "tailgate" was sold out.  Thus, pre-game consisted of parking at the Forum for $120 and a cop telling us to close our trunk when we tried to take out a sweatshirt and hat (trying to enforce a no-tailgate rule).  Ultimately, we sat on a curb outside the stadium and drank a couple of beers, but it was one of the worst pre-game experiences I've had.  I was at the previous LA game at the Coliseum and had fun and also went to the game in Carson (Chargers temporary home at the soccer stadium) and that was fine too (except for the fact that it was the Peterman game), but the environs of SoFi was pretty lame.  While nothing compares to the tailgate scene in Buffalo, most NFL cities have opportunities for pre-game fun, either in parking lots for stadiums that are on the outskirts of a city or in bars for downtown stadiums.  Outside of the one lot that's impossible to get into, Inglewood has neither and pretty much sucks.

2 hours ago, Matt_In_NH said:

When Cooper caught his one pass, it really sounded like a home game.

 

I could hear the "Cooop" chant on TV.

Edited October 29 by msw2112

[Jay_Fixit]

6 hours ago, CSBill said:

 

And everyone is gladly welcome. I've been a Bills fan for 60+ years and have found no particular merit in that. It is fun to bring new people into the family. These "waggoners" are why we can take over a stadium 2500 miles from Buffalo.

Nah. Not everyone is welcome.

We also didn’t take over the stadium. But we were well represented. And it definitely sounded like we did once the game was out of hand.

2 hours ago, hmsmystic said:

Some notes on my trip to the Seattle game:

 

Bought my whole family (adult aged kids) from Arizona. Seattle was totally safe and very walkable (and rainy)

The city was MOBBED by Bills fans.  I mean everywhere.  The Space Needle, the fancy Starbucks roaster, Pike Place Market, my hotel, the streets and bars- it was unbelievable.  Lost my voice from "Go Bills" to strangers!

Everyone was cool- Bills fans were pleasant, and the host city was mostly just charmed (and a bit shocked)  Saw no fights, arguments or confrontations.

The Bills backers bar on Saturday night ran out of cold beer and ice and had to go get more- Bills fans threw down old school and did y'all proud.

Stadium was 50% Bills fans all day.  Talked to a couple Seahawks fans at the game and they were shocked and impressed by the Bills turnout.

While it was still a close game the Seahawks fans were still pretty loud

Gameday experience downtown and outside the stadium really kinda nice- sorry Orchard Park

All in all a great trip and proud to be a fan

Definitely wasn’t 50% but Bills fans were everywhere. 

[JP51]

On 10/28/2024 at 3:19 PM, Sweats said:

 

 

And Miami

Miami was a total takeover.... from the bars to the streets to the stadium.

[QB Bills]

3 hours ago, Jay_Fixit said:

Nah. Not everyone is welcome.

We also didn’t take over the stadium. But we were well represented. And it definitely sounded like we did once the game was out of hand.

Definitely wasn’t 50% but Bills fans were everywhere. 

As was I and the stadium definitely looked like it was half full of Bills fans. Not sure what your definition is of taking over, but I certainly thought the Bills fans did. As did Geno Smith, for that matter.

[sullim4]

There are a lot of factors why Bills fans showed up to this one:

• Seattle is... isolated.  It's the closest NFL city for several major metropolitan areas, including Portland and Vancouver, BC.  It's the closest stadium for several western states, and especially given that the 49ers are another NFC team, this was the closest the Bills were going to get for many people for the next four, if not eight years.
• As mentioned, the Bills only play once every eight years here.  Most other NFL cities have an AFC team closer by where they could see the Bills more often.  The three closest AFC teams - the Chargers, Raiders, and Broncos, are all about 1,000 miles away by plane from Seattle and further by car.
• Seattle fans are not high on this year, and that made tickets widely available at low prices.  As a point of comparison, I paid less for 30-yard line club level tickets here than I did for the game in three weeks in Orchard Park against the Chiefs, at the 10 yard line and not under cover.
• Seattle, while it has its problems, is an attractive game to travel to for east coast fans.    The away game choices this year are Miami, Foxboro, New York, Baltimore, Houston, Seattle, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Detroit.
• Seattle is a hub for Delta and Alaska, and that makes airline tickets fairly competitive and cheap.

So yeah... I am not surprised the place was packed with Bills fans.  I was there eight years ago for the Monday night game - when it had been 12 years since the last time the Bills visited Seattle.  It was similarly packed with Bills fans then, even though Russ was still cooking for the hawks.

[Bob Chandler's Hands]

11 hours ago, Ray Stonada said:

It was much less common back in the nineties. We didn’t know how to get tickets as easily without the internet, but I did road trip to a couple games back then. Also the Super Bowl in 1994 at the Georgia Dome. Dammit. 

I was at that game too. It was on my birthday, no less. 

 

"Bad things, man"

[Ray Stonada]

1 hour ago, Bob Chandler's Hands said:

I was at that game too. It was on my birthday, no less. 

 

"Bad things, man"

 
We had it! I’m still pissed.

[Shaw66]

10 hours ago, Tanoros said:

Before the game I talked to someone at the stadium who said there was 57% Bills fans. Just looking at the crowd it did seem close to 50/50. 

No way. 20%, tops.

[agilen]

4 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

No way. 20%, tops.

Agreed, tops. It was probably somewhere between 10-15%. We definitely showed up, but didn’t make a dent until the 3rd quarter when the Seahawks fans started to leave.

 

I was in the 200’s on the Bills sideline and there were ~10 bills fans in my row

and the two in front and behind me(out of 100 seats). The 100s level seemed to have a lot more Bills fans, but not a majority. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great showing and by the 4th quarter it was mostly us left, but the 50/50 talk is very inflated.