Buffalo Bills Mafia Get Your Passports Ready For A 2023 Home Game
The NFL announced their international "home" teams for the 2023 season on Thursday. Amongst the announced teams are the Buffalo Bills. The Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots were also designated as home teams for the upcoming season. The international games appear to be a revenue generating machine for the NFL owners and some cool destinations for some of the league's most enthusiastic fanbases...like Buffalo!
According to the Associate Press, NFL executive vice president of club business, major events and international ventures, Peter O'Reilly talked about the league's enthusiasm for these games. "We have a long history and we continue to grow but these international games are pivotal. Those who have been there and experienced it, you just see the passion of the fans in these markets. This is the chance for them to experience the best of the NFL live and it's an opportunity for year-round engagement with the fans there." That enthusiasm is turning into new untapped revenue for the owners and it's going well.
According to ESPN.com five international games in 2022 set record-breaking attendance and viewership with ticket demand and number of fans increasing for the league across the world. Each game was sold out with a total of 356,116 in attendance. So where should Buffalo Bills fans being buying their plane tickets for?
The Bills and Titans will play their "home" games the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England. The Jaguars will host in London, as well, at Wembley Stadium. The Chiefs and Patriots will play in Germany. Opponents, dates and times will be released with the full 2023 NFL schedule at a future date. How does the NFL select the "home" teams?
The 17 game season gave teams a ninth home game every other season. Four of those "home" teams are designated to play and international game that year. Are these games leading to an NFL expansion team in Europe in the near future? Peter O'Reilly was not definitive. "There's certainly complexities to work through if you're going to have a team in Europe. That's our responsibility to continue to look and see what's viable." That sounded like, 'if we can make sure that it will be profitable, then yes!'