Here is an interesting article in The Buffalo News regarding rowdiness at the Bills games. A few years back, the team was struggling to draw crowds. The excitement of Doug Flutie combined with a new regional marketing strategy has changed all of that. Despite several years of losing seasons, the team continues to draw capacity crowds. However, many of the people attending the games from all over the place are not football fans as much as drinking fans. They start at 8AM on their bus rides and continue in the parking lot before games. Many are too drunk to be allowed into the stadium. It's really gotten crazy at One Bills Drive.
You would think that most of the drunks would be college age but you would be wrong. People in their 40s and 50s take part in the drinking games before the game. It's become about the tailgating experience and the game itself is secondary. It is a binge drinking fest. The article claims it is a small minority of the crowd that gets out of hand but I don't know if I agree with that assessment.
You can't blame the team officials. Their goal is to put people in the seats. They stop selling beer at halftime, there's a jail set up within the stadium, and they only allow people to buy two beers at a time. I hear too many stories of drunken fans throwing their drinks on people or throwing up all over the place. If that's what they consider fun, have a good time. People go to the Sabres games and drink and don't get that crazy. Keep your eyes on this story as I think things could get worse before there are any changes.
Tailgating to the extreme*
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