Bills Mafia’s usual gathering place is at New Era Field in Orchard Park, N.Y. In the 2018 NFL season, Buffalo had a 4-4 record at home with the support of their fans (courtesy of Creative Commons).
The Buffalo Bills fanbase, also known as Bills Mafia, is considered by many to be one of the most passionate fanbases in the NFL. Around the country, Bills Mafia is known for their over-the-top tailgate antics, like jumping through tables, but the fans have also proven that they can be much more than that.
At the end of the 2017 season, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw a touchdown pass to defeat the Baltimore Ravens which in turn sent the Bills to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Bills Mafia responded by donating over $400,000 to Dalton’s foundation and proving that the people of Buffalo are more than just rowdy tailgaters.
Last week, Bills Mafia proved once again how great of a fanbase they are. In honor of the Division I NCAA men’s basketball tournament, Fox Sports decided to have a tournament on Twitter based on fan voting to decide who the NFL’s best fans are. Buffalo was fortunate enough to advance all the way to the final four.
Buffalo’s fanbase faced off against the fans of the Tennessee Titans and held a significant lead for the majority of the 24-hour Twitter poll. With only minutes remaining the Titans miraculously jumped ahead and won the poll.
There was widespread confusion on Twitter and other social media platforms about how this happened, and it would eventually come to light that a Titans fan paid $660 for 20,000 votes just before the poll closed.
Obviously, this is just a pointless Twitter poll and it really means nothing, but Bills fans were upset nonetheless because Titans fans essentially stole the victory. In response to the loss, Bills Mafia decided to prove they were the better fanbase in a different way, by donating to a charity in the Nashville area.
Donations began to pour into the Nashville Children’s Alliance and as of Friday April 5, these donations totaled close to $19,000. Many of these donations were made in increments of $6.60 to represent the amount paid by the Titans fan to buy the votes.
Buffalo fans responded in the best way possible and, despite losing in what was a seemingly pointless Twitter poll, they were able to create something great. They managed to prove they were the best fans in the NFL even if last week’s poll results say differently.
In a portion of the NFL offseason usually dedicated to free agency signings and pre-draft workouts, Bills Mafia was able to etch out a little place for themselves. Supporters of the Bills continue to be one of the team’s biggest attractions.
Hopefully the fanbase has more acts of kindness to come so they can continue to add to their extensive legacy. Bills fans should never change and although their crazy tailgate antics may continue, so will the charitable acts that have become so memorable.