Buffalo, N.Y. — When the Buffalo Bills play their season opener at home on Sunday night, the Bills Mafia will get an assist from a relatively new legion of fans thousands of miles away.
Many football fans in Wyoming have adopted this NFL franchise as their own in the seven years since Josh Allen was drafted as the quarterback for the Bills — and Wyomingites are welcomed with open arms, whether in-person or cheering from afar.
Just as likely, Buffalo fans will be watching when Allen returns to War Memorial Stadium on Nov. 22 for the first time since 2018 to watch his No. 17 jersey be officially retired at halftime of the Wyoming vs. Nevada football game.
Allen's football career has forged an alliance between two places that's also brought along for the ride Trent Weitzel, owner of Laramie-based Weitzel’s Wings — aka Double Dub’s.
Weitzel has tailgated at Bills games in Buffalo the past few years, making the long drive to bring Allen’s favorite college food to his new hometown.
In that time, Buffalo has come to feel like a second home, Weitzel said. “Even though we’re from so far away, it feels like home because of the culture of the Bills and the city itself.”
Dallas Lopez, who runs the Double Dub’s food truck in Rock Springs, likewise said that Buffaloanians have been nothing but welcoming when he’s made the trek east.
“A lot of customers will ask what it’s like to come out here for a game and they want to do it,” Lopez said. “I always tell people if, by some chance, Wyoming had a big city, it would be exactly like Buffalo, New York.”
Die-hard University of Wyoming fans wear their UW jerseys and Buffalo Bills beanies while at Niagara Falls, New York, near Buffalo. (Doug DiRamio via Facebook) 
As Wyoming has adopted the Buffalo Bills as their NFL team because of Josh Allen, so have folks in Buffalo embraced the University of Wyoming. This fan in Buffalo, New York, added a Pistol Pete blowup to keep the buffalo company. (John Brourink via Facebook) 
Kathy White of Casper shows her support for former University of Wyoming and current Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen before an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 16, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo, Peter Aiken) 
University of Wyoming fans are crossing over to also be Buffalo Bills Fans. (University of Wyoming Alumni via Flickr) 
The Laramie-based Double Dub's Buffalo wings crew cheer for the Buffalo Bills at a game in 2023 against the Kansas City Cheifs. (Double Dub's) 
The Laramie-based Double Dub's Buffalo wing crew not only tailgate at Buffalo Bills games, they also helped shovel out Highmark Stadium after a big storm. At right, they're joined by Bills punter Brian Moorman. (Double Dub's)
The ‘Insane’ Bills Fandom
While some cities (ahem, Philadelphia) don’t have the best reputation for their fan bases, Buffalo is different, its denizens claim.
The fans may be “insane” — in a good way — but they’re also welcoming to everybody who comes to town, the rival team included, said Clyde North, a longtime Bills season ticket holder.
As the father of a University of Wyoming alumna, North opted for a Cowboys polo at the festival but said one of his favorite things to wear to a game is an Allen jersey that’s split down the middle: Buffalo on one side and Wyoming on the other.
People who come to a Bills game should definitely make time for pregame tailgating and to experience one of the NFL’s most famous fandoms, North said. “This is a community that lives and breathes for the Buffalo Bills.”
The Allen Effect
The MVP quarterback deserves the credit for ushering in a new era of Bills fans in Wyoming and beyond.
Allen has become so beloved in Buffalo that people who have never visited the Cowboy State will walk around in the brown and gold colors of the Cowboys.
Brian Kubisty is one of those Bills fans who likes to rock a University of Wyoming No. 17 jersey, often with a cowboy hat, even though he’s never stepped foot in Wyoming.
Whenever he puts on his Wyoming jersey, rather than his plethora of blue and red Bills gear, Kubisty said he receives “so many” compliments.
As a 21-year season ticket holder, Kubisty said the Allen era is his favorite — and it doesn’t surprise him that Wyomingites have become Buffalo fans, as a result. “I think he’s the best quarterback to ever play the game.”
While Buffalo is a town of fun and friendly people, Allen has also helped to broker this sister state relationship of sorts, said Drew Creza, who founded the National Buffalo Wing Festival in the early 2000s.
A phone call from Allen helped the Double Dub’s crew land a spot at the festival, though Creza had repeatedly turned Weitzel down because he didn’t have a sit-down restaurant and the quarterback attended the festival that year to help out the Laramie crew.
“Josh Allen is a classy guy,” Creza said.
Just as Wyomingites have embraced the Buffalo Bills thanks to Josh Allen, so too have Buffalonians embraced Wyoming. (Anna-Louise Jackson for Cowboy State Daily) 
Tyler Mastin lives in Buffalo but you might not know it based on his jersey choice. (Anna-Louise Jackson for Cowboy State Daily) 
Brian Kubisty has never visited Wyoming, nor had he heard of Josh Allen before the 2018 NFL draft, but now he regularly wears the Wyoming jersey to Buffalo Bills games. (Anna-Louise Jackson for Cowboy State Daily) 
Former University of Wyoming football star Josh Allen signed a NFL record $330 million contract extension with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. It includes $250 million in guaranteed money, the most in NFL history. (Getty Images) 
Josh Allen during a game against Nebraska on Sept. 10, 2016. (Getty Images)
The Tailgating Experience
Even for football fans who may have gone to an NFL game in the past, nothing quite compares to how Buffalo rallies around its team.
“Tailgating out here is wild,” Lopez said.
A Bills game is something that must be experienced in-person, added Chuck Skelly, aka Billsquatch, one of several Bills “superfans” who can be found at every home and away game.
Wyomingites coming out for a game should make a point to visit the Big Tree Inn, a sports bar near Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York where the Bills play, for the Water Buffalo Club 716 tailgate, Skelly said.
“You have to come and experience it for yourself to see what it’s truly like,” Skelly said. “There’s a big sense of community.”
Nicole Martin, aka the Bills Wonder Woman, is another “superfan” who loves making game days a fun experience for new and longtime fans alike.
Among her recommendations for fans coming to a game? “Don’t stay at one tailgate.”
Like other Buffaloanians, Martin urged first-time visitors to the city to take in everything there is to offer — including a visit to Niagara Falls, trips to several different famous buffalo wing spots, and some cultural attractions like the boardwalk in Canalside on the Erie Canal.
Just like Allen, whose Midwestern-style values have fit right in in Buffalo, Martin said Wyomingites will likewise be welcomed. “Games are so much fun, and you don’t have to have season tickets to tailgate.”
If Buffalo Beckons …
And if, by some chance, you fall so deeply in love with Buffalo on a visit that you decide you want to stick around, you may be surprised to find that real estate is pretty affordable.
Though it depends on the area and extent of upgrades, you can reliably find a three-to-four bedroom home in the greater Buffalo area for $250,000 and up, said Sandra Paine, a Buffalo area real estate agent.
Since the 2010s, people have flocked to Buffalo from lots of other places, attracted by the relatively affordable cost of living and variety of things to do, Paine said.
Even if the city has a reputation for brutal winters, many Wyomingites might not mind, and they’ll find that the tailgates are but one indication of how friendly Buffalonians are.
“It’s an awesome city,” Paine said.
