Get your tickets for Buffalo Bills football games. The Buffalo Bills and New Era Field go hand in hand. The Bills have called the stadium home for over forty years. Don’t miss your opportunity to see the Bills play at home.
Buffalo Bills Franchise History
The Buffalo Bills joined the American Football League (AFL) when the league was formed in 1959. Buffalo was one of the targeted cities of the new league. The team was founded by Ralph Wilson and he owned the team until he died in 2014. The city held a contest to name the new team and the Buffalo Bills won the contest. The name came from the Buffalo Bills barbershop quartet and was not new to the city. The former All-American Football Conference (AAFC) team was also named the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills struggled the first couple years in the league but their luck began to change in 1963 and they won back to back league championship games in 1964 and 1965. Their success continued into 1966. They made it to the AFL Championship game again for the 3rd year in a row but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs went on to play in the first Super Bowl that year against the Green Bay Packers.
Success didn’t last long for the Bills and in 1968 they finished in last place in the league. However, it turned out to be a good thing for them because they were awarded the first pick in the draft and they selected O.J. Simpson. Simpson went on to lead the team through the seventies. The NFL-AFL merger took place in 1970 and the Bills were placed in the AFC East Division along with the Patriots, Dolphins, Jets and Colts.
As the Bills moved into the NFL, their stadium (War Memorial Stadium) was deteriorating and it didn’t meet the NFL requirement that stipulated all stadiums seat no less than 50,000 people. In 1973 Rich Stadium was complete and the Bills had a new home. Over forty years later they still call the stadium home. Things started turning around for the Bills that year. Joe Ferguson became the new quarterback and O.J. Simpson rushed for over 2000 yards during the season. They went to the playoffs that year but lost to the Steelers who went on to win the Super Bowl. This was the Bills first winning season since 1966.
In 1976 the Bills dropped to the bottom of their conference and stayed there throughout the rest of the 70’s. They had a couple good years in 1980 and 81 making the playoffs both seasons. In 1983 the Bills selected quarterback Jim Kelly in the draft. The next two seasons were not good for the Bills. In 1986 they hired Bill Poulan as general manager and Marv Levy as head coach. They began building the team and by 1990 they finally made it to their first Super Bowl. They would continue to make it to the Super Bowl for the next three years in a row. Unfortunately for the Bills, they lost all four Super Bowls. Jim Kelly retired after the 1996 season and Marv Levy retired after the 1997 season.
In 1998 Doug Flutie joined the team and led them to a playoff spot that year, but he left the team in 2000. Buffalo then went 16 consecutive seasons without appearing in the playoffs. Ralph Wilson (the team’s founder and owner) died in 2014. The Bills struggled but finally secured a playoff spot in the 2017 season.
The Bills have played in the same stadium for over forty years. The stadium has had three different names over the years. It opened as Rich Stadium in 1973 and kept that name through 1997. In 1998 it became Ralph Wilson Stadium (named after the team’s founder and owner) and kept that name through 2015. In 2016 New Era won the naming rights and the stadium is now called New Era Field.
