Are the Mafia really the best fans?

[TheFunPolice]

I asked this question to both of my cats. Both agreed that yes, we are. 

 

And before you cite their limited experience with other fanbases, the cats watch a lot of ball. 

Edited January 26 by TheFunPolice

[msw2112]

The "best" fanbase is a completely subjective concept.  There are few metrics than can objectively tell you which fanbase is best.  That said, the Bills fanbase (whether or not you like the "Mafia" moniker) has developed a reputation as being among the best, if not the best, in the country.  A few things that contribute to this:

• showing up to support the team at the stadium, regardless of how bad the weather conditions are
• unmatched tailgating for NFL football (ask fans from other teams who have come to Buffalo)
• greeting the team at the airport after road games
• taking over opposing teams' cities on weekends of away games (and "neutral site" locations like London)
• the great pride that Buffalonians take in their city, hometown, and by extension, its sports teams
• huge amounts of money donated to charities of its own and opposing teams' players
• TV ratings and merchandise sales for the Bills (which fall more in the "objective" category)

I grew up in Buffalo, but have not lived there in about 30 years.  I still have close friends there and I go back as often as I can.  I have lived in a few other US cities and traveled extensively in the US and a little bit internationally.  From my personal experience and interactions, people outside of Buffalo generally regard the Bills' fanbase as one of the best.

[Governor]

We aren’t viewed favorably on a national level anymore. People have grown tired of us. 
 

There were also mentions of Kermit dolls and Mahomes dolls/figures hanging from nooses in nearby trees, etc near the stadium.

Edited January 26 by Governor

[hondo in seattle]

Having grown up in Cheektowaga, I'm sure I'm biased.  But I've traveled to 46 states and visited nearly every NFL city at least once and have lived in a few of them.  And I do believe we do indeed have the best fans. 

 

Between jerseys being worn, flags being flown, and all that jazz - there aren't many cities quite like Buffalo.  

 

And think about this.  I remember watching a Bills game back in the 90s.  The announcers said, perhaps exaggerating, that there were 80,000 fans in the stadium and another 20,000 watching the game on TV in the lots who couldn't get tickets.  That's 100,000 people.   Roughly 1 in 12 people from metro Buffalo were at the game.  

 

SoFi is a marvel.  But when it sells out its 70,000 seats, that means 1 in 266 people in metro LA are at the game.  The rest are doing LA stuff: fighting traffic, hanging out at the beach, playing golf and pickleball, making movies, smoking crack, whatever.  The football game/team doesn't have the same level of consciousness.  

 

And what about fund-raising?  I can't find it now, but I once read an article about how fan bases raise money for charitable causes.  No other fan base comes close even though the Bills are a small-market team in a comparatively low-income city.  And, yes, some idiot fans have said and done unkind things to Bass.  But these are outnumbered by the fans who have donated $280,000+ to his charity.  

 

And don't forget the Bills-Backers bars all over America.  Even little Monterey CA, near where I currently live, has a Bills Backer Bar.  If you get lost and go to Monterrey, Mexico, instead - there's a Bills Backer Bar there too.  Buffalo is a small city, but the Bills weirdly have a national/global fan base.  

 

And then there's the tail-gaiting which doesn't need an explanation.   

 

Some other NFL cities, not all, have good fan bases.  But the mafia is unique.  

 

 

 

 

[Jay_Fixit]

13 hours ago, Meatloaf63 said:

I travel a lot for work, Airports, restaurants, malls. This past year I saw Bills fans everywhere where I went. Trips to LA, Phoenix, Dallas, Ft Meyers, Ft. lauderdale Miami. Every trip i went on, I got a “Go Bills” or at least saw people, multiple people representing. This week, went through DC, Baltimore airport, Charlotte, finished up in West Palm Beach today. Saw one guy with a Bills hat all week. It was like people were embarrassed that we lost to KC again. 

But really the worst thing that made me pause was the treatment and threats to Bass. How embarrassing and really down right dirty low class. I haven’t lived in Buffalo for a long time, and this was the first year I didn’t make it back for a visit. So what’s going on up there? I would hope it was just a small sample size of fans who acted out like that, but damn they were a serious black eye on the mafia. Cant tell you how many friends and co workers mentioned how nasty Bills fans are this week, Buy the end of the eeek i just gave up defending and had to agree to a point. 

 

 

The ones you saw when you travelled are called bandwagon fans. They pop up when teams get good. They’re not real. And I don’t accept them.

 

Ive lived on the west coast of Canada and the US for 43 years. Have met maybe 10 actual Bills fans other than me. Rarely saw any paraphernalia for sale. 
 

In the past 2 years I see Bills stuff everywhere.

 

Dont be fooled. Get yourself a quiz made up. If these people don’t know who Jake Arians is, they can move along.

 

[RiotAct]

12 hours ago, ChrisWatson#21 said:

Bass is not even why the Bills lost this game and true Bills fans know this.  It’s only a few idiots who think Mahomes wouldn’t have been able to get the Chiefs into field goal range with all that time left still on the clock.  This loss was on McDermott (again) and Allen’s complete mess up on the 2nd and 9 play.  Bass missing the kick is the last thing I would pin this loss on.   

Yep.  Zero doubt in my mind that the Chiefs would have scored as time expired.

[mabden]

I worked with a guy named Bruce Smtih (not HOF Bruce).  Everytime the Bills lost and/or Bruce had a bad game, this guy would receive obscene phone calls on how badly he played.  

 

On one hand it was funny, on the other it's like, wtf, these guys need to get a life.

[Bob Chandler's Hands]

13 hours ago, QCity said:

 

Need to identify the idiots screaming obscenities and insults at Gabe and ban them from the Bills home games for life. Totally unacceptable. 

That said, Gabe should not have engaged with a bunch of drunken losers. 

[The Firebaugh Kid]

We are passionate, educated, and frustrated. It's a weird combination. 

I will say being at the game I didn't see a fight, my wife did have to tell this one kid to stop yelling about "Pat's smelly fish crotch" LOL

He took it on the chin. 

Idk.....nobody understands us but us. We all want it so bad, it feels personal when people talk ***** about the Bills now. 

I think that's why you see Bills fans lashing out so much. We want respect, but it's rarely given. 

[fan_in_tx]

15 hours ago, Einstein said:

I don’t even like giving the threats attention. A few bad apples out of millions and the attention makes it worse.

 

THIS is who Bills fans are:

 

 

Sorry but I believe this was a generation that is now gone in Buffalo..  There was a time that I would agree but the seeing the fans turn on Gabe Davis at the end of the KC game was again another example of the lack of class.  I'm sure someone will say they were KC fans but the camera angle I saw it appears they had on Bills Colors.. 

 

Sad

 

[RiotAct]

55 minutes ago, mabden said:

I worked with a guy named Bruce Smtih (not HOF Bruce).  Everytime the Bills lost and/or Bruce had a bad game, this guy would receive obscene phone calls on how badly he played.  

 

On one hand it was funny, on the other it's like, wtf, these guys need to get a life.

haha; back in the days where folks actually used the White Pages.

[SoMAn]

15 hours ago, Meatloaf63 said:

I travel a lot for work, Airports, restaurants, malls. This past year I saw Bills fans everywhere where I went. Trips to LA, Phoenix, Dallas, Ft Meyers, Ft. lauderdale Miami. Every trip i went on, I got a “Go Bills” or at least saw people, multiple people representing. This week, went through DC, Baltimore airport, Charlotte, finished up in West Palm Beach today. Saw one guy with a Bills hat all week. It was like people were embarrassed that we lost to KC again. 

But really the worst thing that made me pause was the treatment and threats to Bass. How embarrassing and really down right dirty low class. I haven’t lived in Buffalo for a long time, and this was the first year I didn’t make it back for a visit. So what’s going on up there? I would hope it was just a small sample size of fans who acted out like that, but damn they were a serious black eye on the mafia. Cant tell you how many friends and co workers mentioned how nasty Bills fans are this week, Buy the end of the eeek i just gave up defending and had to agree to a point. 

 

 

A couple nuts who don’t accurately reflect the fan base. Probably done dopey gambler who lost his savings. Think Billy Brown in Buffalo ‘66 who was out to get Scott Wood after wide right. 

[stevewin]

Bills fans are great no doubt - and every fan base has good and bad fans.  

 

I'm inclined to say I liked the Bills fan base better before the drought ended and it got worse in some ways now that we are perrenial playoff contenders.  I think there are more bandwagon fans with a large bit of entitlement and ridiculous expectations now (Only winning the Super Bowl is acceptable!  Season is a failure and we suck if we don't!   Fire Everyone and tear it down if we don't!)

 

Also - I think it's great you can see Bills fans everywhere you go - but the irony of that is that there are so many Bills fans all over the country because so many of those people left Buffalo for various reasons.  It is true though that so many brought their love of the team with them when they left (me included)  

Edited January 26 by stevewin

[Pete]

I live in Massachusetts, and the two biggest Bills bars are The Harp across from the Garden and the Bleacher Bar at Fenway.  That is the heart and soul of Mass, and Bills Mafia took it over.  Go watch a game at the Harp- and you think you are in Buffalo

[Fr. Jerk]

18 hours ago, zow2 said:

The idiots who were  threatening Bass are likely the same idiots who threw snowballs at the chiefs players on the field and team bus, boo’d Taylor Swift walking in and got caught on video yelling at Gabe and saying nasty things to him, goading him into an argument.

 

I know, its not like she's Billie Eilsih, ya dig?

[ToGoGo]

18 hours ago, Meatloaf63 said:

I travel a lot for work, Airports, restaurants, malls. This past year I saw Bills fans everywhere where I went. Trips to LA, Phoenix, Dallas, Ft Meyers, Ft. lauderdale Miami. Every trip i went on, I got a “Go Bills” or at least saw people, multiple people representing. This week, went through DC, Baltimore airport, Charlotte, finished up in West Palm Beach today. Saw one guy with a Bills hat all week. It was like people were embarrassed that we lost to KC again. 

But really the worst thing that made me pause was the treatment and threats to Bass. How embarrassing and really down right dirty low class. I haven’t lived in Buffalo for a long time, and this was the first year I didn’t make it back for a visit. So what’s going on up there? I would hope it was just a small sample size of fans who acted out like that, but damn they were a serious black eye on the mafia. Cant tell you how many friends and co workers mentioned how nasty Bills fans are this week, Buy the end of the eeek i just gave up defending and had to agree to a point. 

 

 

If we go by the fans in this board? Not at all. 
 

The fans are loyal, but negative. And lately entitled. Always projecting their trauma on the organization. 

[CountDorkula]

I’d say maybe a while ago there was an argument to be made, but now this fanbase is full of pompous #######s who gloat about how great the team is, and have become insufferable even though the team hasn’t won anything. 
 

I go to at least one away game a year on a friends trip and I constantly hear from away team fans of how poorly they are treated in Buffalo if they come here and how terribly our fanbase acts when they are in that opposing teams city. 
 

I tell everyone I know and meet that I do not associate myself with bills mafia

[nedboy7]

6 minutes ago, ToGoGo said:

If we go by the fans in this board? Not at all. 
 

The fans are loyal, but negative. And lately entitled. Always projecting their trauma on the organization. 

 

I was just typing this.....  well done. 

[SirAndrew]

I’m surprised by some of the thoughts here. I’ll always say this is the best NFL fanbase because the special emotional attachment the city has to this team. This team means more to that city and the Buffalo diaspora than any other team. A Super Bowl victory would be the biggest party any city has ever seen. I don’t have strong enough words to describe what makes this so special. I don’t understand how anyone can be a Bills fan and think this is a typical fanbase. I’m sorry if some of you are embarrassed by stupid antics from some fans. Isn’t it fair to say most of this behavior comes from twenty something dudes? What do you expect? There is also an abundance of bandwagon fans who might act foolish as well. There are more people who care about this team than just social media loudmouths and poorly behaved fans who attend games. 

[CountDorkula]

43 minutes ago, SirAndrew said:

I’m surprised by some of the thoughts here. I’ll always say this is the best NFL fanbase because the special emotional attachment the city has to this team. This team means more to that city and the Buffalo diaspora than any other team. A Super Bowl victory would be the biggest party any city has ever seen. I don’t have strong enough words to describe what makes this so special. I don’t understand how anyone can be a Bills fan and think this is a typical fanbase. I’m sorry if some of you are embarrassed by stupid antics from some fans. Isn’t it fair to say most of this behavior comes from twenty something dudes? What do you expect? There is also an abundance of bandwagon fans who might act foolish as well. There are more people who care about this team than just social media loudmouths and poorly behaved fans who attend games. 

You could literally write this paragraph word for word for about 10-15 fanbases.

 

 

 

Edited January 26 by CountDorkula

[JPPT1974]

Fans that are fans through thick and thin, good and bad, mountains and valleys, highs and lows. Heard Bills Mafia are in the top five in the fans being likable.

[BillsPride12]

As far as passion and showing out for the team I'd say Buffalo has as good of fans as anybody out there

 

As far as behavior we have both some of the most amazing fans and some of the worst.  I've always felt like our fanbase feels like some sort of hybrid breeding of Green Bay fans and Philly fans lol.  It's definitely unique 

[SinceThe70s]

 

Not sure whether the Bills have the best fans or how you even judge that, but as a life-long out-of-towner it's a unique, highly passionate and good-hearted fan base that I'm proud to have an association to.

[Success]

The charity thing really set us apart for awhile, though it doesn't seem like we do that as much anymore.

 

But the level of heartache & disappointment also sets us apart.  That's not something we control - but it does create a special bond & weirdly, a very unique experience.  When I see Bills fans when I'm traveling, it's like seeing family.  It's not like that w/ my other sports loyalties.

 

There are a lot of great fanbases, for sure.  But there is something about the experience of a Bills fan, especially the older ones.  I just don't see its equivalent.

 

[klos63]

On 1/25/2024 at 7:40 PM, SCBills said:

All I know if anywhere I go, if I tell people I’m a Bills fan.. they immediately make a reference to Bills Mafia. 
 

I don’t know of many teams where random people view their fanbase as iconic. 

Kinda hard for them not to know about the mafia, have you ever seen a fan base that talks so much about themselves. Loyal? yes, humble ? hardly.

[Neo]

On 1/25/2024 at 10:19 PM, QCity said:

 

 

 

What’s an expleeetive?

[Peter]

I used to think that we had the best fans in the world . . . and then a certain segment of our fans cheered loudly at a game when Rob Johnson got hurt. Whatever you may have thought about him, it was completely embarrassing that some of our fans would do that. That is when I realized we have some fans that are no better than anyone else (and in some cases worse).

 

There are also other incidents like what happened to Tyler Bass.

 

The fact is we have some very good fans and some who are [Fill in an expletive]. 

 

Thankfully, I think most of our fans are very good fans and people.

[John from Riverside]

Yes

[rayray808]

Bills fans are the most passionate... meaning you will see 10's and also 0's... on average we are a solid 9 but man, those 0's sure do skew our data from being a 10

[BADOLBILZ]

 

What non-Bills fans think of our fan base is something I could not care less about.

 

What was important was that the fanbase unite and become an entity separate from the team, IMO.

 

The group as a whole had to embrace the "whatever" of being a Bills fan the way many of us did showing up every week during the drought despite Ralph Wilson's decades long poor stewardship of the on-field product and he and Jeff Littman ceasing to run a competitive organization for the last decade+ of Ralph's life.

 

In some of the 70's and the mid-80's when Ralph put bad teams on the field people stayed away in droves.   We were passionate but the support was much more conditional.

 

The model to me was always Chicago Cubs fans.   I attended a number of games at Wrigley and was always impressed by their focus on having fun as a group as much or more than the results on the field.  Their embracing of the Cubs fan experience despite 100 years of futility was the example.

 

I just wondered for years how those of us who prioritized our shared fandom above the results on the scoreboard would get that to translate en masse.

 

Then the whole "Bills Mafia" social media driven hokey nonsense took off we were a largely fractured group of passionate consumers.

 

As much as I hated seeing some of the posers and douchebags that jumped on the bandwagon once Bills fans had a fun identity..........it is totally worth it.  

 

Having that distinct identity as a fan base has changed everything for the better, IMO.  

 

That's all I care about.   How it impacts us.    

 

 

[JohnnyBuffalo]

This question/topic frustrates me for a few reasons.  
1. An opinion is debatable but not able to be proven. 
2. Stereotypes are an oversimplification of a larger subject matter- good or bad.  

But thanks for questioning the vast majority of us, based on a minute few, as potentially being “less than” after a gut punch defeat once again.   
 

Go Bills and more importantly

GO BILLS MAFIA!!!

[MJS]

22 hours ago, Irv said:

The Bills have great fans.  But when they are losing, the sordid underbelly comes out in some knuckleheads.  I saw a bunch of drunk #######s/Bills fans at the KC game screaming at some poor dudes after the game for no reason whatsoever - challenging them, to a fight.  Pretty brave when the odds are 1000:1 against KC fan.      

Yeah, even the best fanbases have issues when mixed with alcohol and losing.

[Matt_In_NH]

Unfortunately there is an epidemic of keyboard warriors that affects all of hunanity including some bills fans.  One day it will completely change the world as we know it today IMO

[Bobby Hooks]

This kind of stuff is so silly imo. The fact that this is an actual thing an adult person is contemplating makes me kinda sad to be honest. 
 

You have some crummy humans, you have better than crummy humans, you have some great humans. 
 

You think somehow we just happened by the best of the best regionally here in Buffalo? Ridiculous. 
 

All fandoms have the good and the bad. Same as any group including human beings. 
 

There’s no best. There’s no hierarchy. We all like a thing and that’s that. The fact that I have to even write this down is icky. 
 

Also, I have a hard time believing the OP about ho many instances there were of bad Bills fans behavior. KC fans have become worse than Pats fans in the arrogant a-hole percentage and that’s saying a lot. I would imagine many if not all of them were egged on in some capacity. 
 

Just another guy that moved away from Buffalo trying to look cooler than he is, imo. 

Edited January 27 by Bobby Hooks

[Nextmanup]

16 hours ago, CountDorkula said:

You could literally write this paragraph word for word for about 10-15 fanbases.

 

 

 

The funny thing is that a whole bunch of my best friends from WNY, who still live there, could not care less about the Bills and don't really follow them.  These are guys who have lived in Buffalo their whole lives.

 

Not everyone in Buffalo gets emotional about the Bills.

 

 

[BuffaloBill]

On 1/25/2024 at 10:19 PM, QCity said:

 

 

 

There is no place for this behavior. Plain and simple it is wrong on the part of all who contributed.

[Don Otreply]

On 1/25/2024 at 9:23 PM, Meatloaf63 said:

I travel a lot for work, Airports, restaurants, malls. This past year I saw Bills fans everywhere where I went. Trips to LA, Phoenix, Dallas, Ft Meyers, Ft. lauderdale Miami. Every trip i went on, I got a “Go Bills” or at least saw people, multiple people representing. This week, went through DC, Baltimore airport, Charlotte, finished up in West Palm Beach today. Saw one guy with a Bills hat all week. It was like people were embarrassed that we lost to KC again. 

But really the worst thing that made me pause was the treatment and threats to Bass. How embarrassing and really down right dirty low class. I haven’t lived in Buffalo for a long time, and this was the first year I didn’t make it back for a visit. So what’s going on up there? I would hope it was just a small sample size of fans who acted out like that, but damn they were a serious black eye on the mafia. Cant tell you how many friends and co workers mentioned how nasty Bills fans are this week, Buy the end of the eeek i just gave up defending and had to agree to a point. 

 

 

The answer is yes we are,

their is always the ten percent of fans that peaked maturity wise as sophomores in high school, and that’s being kind, it would be nice to neuter or spay them so as to reduce the issue going forward…, 

[Jay_Fixit]

2 hours ago, Bobby Hooks said:

This kind of stuff is so silly imo. The fact that this is an actual thing an adult person is contemplating makes me kinda sad to be honest. 
 

You have some crummy humans, you have better than crummy humans, you have some great humans. 
 

You think somehow we just happened by the best of the best regionally here in Buffalo? Ridiculous. 
 

All fandoms have the good and the bad. Same as any group including human beings. 
 

There’s no best. There’s no hierarchy. We all like a thing and that’s that. The fact that I have to even write this down is icky. 
 

Also, I have a hard time believing the OP about ho many instances there were of bad Bills fans behavior. KC fans have become worse than Pats fans in the arrogant a-hole percentage and that’s saying a lot. I would imagine many if not all of them were egged on in some capacity. 
 

Just another guy that moved away from Buffalo trying to look cooler than he is, imo. 

Ya but did you see my post? TL;DR

[Westside]

On 1/26/2024 at 11:13 AM, Governor said:

We aren’t viewed favorably on a national level anymore. People have grown tired of us. 
 

There were also mentions of Kermit dolls and Mahomes dolls/figures hanging from nooses in nearby trees, etc near the stadium.

Kind of like we’ve grown tired of fake bills fans who only post negative things about the team.

[Boatdrinks]

There no way to quantify “ best”. Bills mafia is and should be in the running for the title though. Every fan base has knuckleheads and trolls. Some of those trolling Bass may not be actual Bills fans at all. Can’t let a few heathens give a fan base a bad name.