Atlanta, GA (WBEN) - Are you among the Buffalo Bills fans skipping past this weekend and looking ahead to a potential showdown with Cincinnati? And then, dare you think it, Kansas City?
You're not alone.
Should both the Bills and the Chiefs move on to qualify for the AFC Championship game on January 29, the matchup will be held in Atlanta, and Bills Backers tell WBEN they can't wait.
For John Dutko of the Bills Backers of Atlanta, he has one big question. "I have no idea how the tickets will be allocated. I actually just kind of proactively sent an email to our Atlanta Falcons Group Sales contact," says Dutko, who tells WBEN he hasn't heard back yet. He says he's heard rumors a certain amount of tickets will be allocated to Buffalo fans and certain amount will be allocated to KC. "Then I'm assuming some will be allocated here to local fans," adds Dutko. Dutko anticipates high demand for tickets from both sides because of the playoff showdown last year. "The Chiefs had been good for a while they got a pretty decent fan base. Ravenous like the bills quite honestly but I think we I think we would have the edge for sure," notes Dutko.
Dutko says about 200 fans go to four bars in Atlanta to watch the Bills, double that number for a big matchup like Bills vs. Chiefs. He says a lot of hard work is ahead. "We'll have a week or two to plan those huge parties that we like to throw, so it'll be an all hands hands on deck type of thing," says Dutko, who runs the club with a committee.
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Bob Fescoe of 610 Sports in Kansas City tells WGR's Sal Capaccio the NFL had some trouble satisfying both clubs. "Basically, Buffalo is saying, we're not going west, and the Chiefs are saying, well, we're not going east," says Fescoe. He says Atlanta appeared to be the one everybody can agree on. "It's like seven miles, maybe closer to Buffalo or closer to us. But basically it's equal distance between the two cities and that seems to be a city that like everybody can kind of agree on to go to," notes Fescoe.
Fescoe feels this is a disappointing result. "I think it's gonna suck for everybody involved, because Buffalo and Kansas City, two best environments in all the NFL, and we're cheating one of our fan bases potentially out of hosting this game. Quite honestly, if it's you guys that are hosting this game, it would suck for you because you haven't had one of these in 30 years, so I think playing in a neutral site is just an awful decision, especially when there is a rule on the books that stated in a situation like this where we go based on winning percentage," laments Fescoe.
He says best record in the conference may not matter in the years ahead. "I was told it's inevitable that these championship games end up going to neutral sites in the future," adds Fescoe. "I think they saw probably dollar signs and an opportunity to kind of float a test balloon to see if this works. And if it goes over well, and the venue's full, and it's 5050, like a college playoff game or something like that." Fescoe believes the NFL would treat the conference championships like two mini-Super Bowls.
The Bills' first step toward the AFC title game is Sunday when they host Miami in the Wild Card round.