Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN/WGR Sports Radio 550) - As many Buffalo Bills fans in Western New York gear up for another hopeful run to the Super Bowl, members of "Bills Mafia" out West are eager to root for their favorite team this Sunday on enemy soil.
When the Bills host the Denver Broncos in the AFC Wild Card Round this weekend, the Colorado Bills Backers are readying their vocal chords to make sure they're heard loud and proud at a massive watch party in Denver.
President of Colorado Bills Backers and Cheektowaga native, Mark Sarnowski, says he created the group in 1999 when he got a job at Jackson's Bar in Denver. At the time, the bar was only backing college teams.
"The owner says, 'Hey, Mark, you're from Buffalo.' Why don't you start a Bills Backers Bar?' And I said, 'OK, well, sure.' All I did was wear my Bills gear at every shift. Low and behold, every shift that I worked, there would be somebody that said, 'Oh, you're from Buffalo?' 'Yeah, I am. I'm going to be showing the game on Sunday. Why don't you come on down and watch it with me?'" shared Sarnowski in an interview with WBEN.
The group started off with around five people, but over the years, it continued to grow by leaps and bounds. Now, Sarnowski says they have over 200-300 fans show up to the bar for every Bills game.
With Sunday's Bills-Broncos playoff game, the second such matchup in the history of both teams, Sarnowski believes it will draw an even larger crowd at their watch party.
"We'll have close to 700 people at this bar," he said.
Some Bills Backers are planning to make the trip to Buffalo for the game, but most will be at Jackson's Bar, their home base for the football season.
"There'll be a bunch of other Colorado Bills Backers out there, sporting our logo and showing our support for Colorado at the bar," Sarnowski said. "We also try and make it as Buffalo as possible. We have Labatt, beef on weck, chicken wings, pizza rolls, loganberry, and everything we could possibly do to make it as if you're walking into a Buffalo Bills bar."
Although Sarnowski believes the Bills will win the Wild Card Round, he thinks it's going to be a hard-fought game.
"Bo Nix and Sean Payton seem to be on the same page pretty well here now, and they're getting some wins under their belt," Sarnowski said.
Sunday's Wild Card matchup in Orchard Park is slated for a 1 p.m. EST kickoff at Highmark Stadium. For fans in Colorado, it'll be an 11 a.m. kickoff.
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