If it’s Chiefs-Bills in Atlanta for AFC title, ticket sales will make it a spectacle
If the Chiefs and Bills meet in the AFC Championship Game in Atlanta next week, the atmosphere will be one of the most unique in NFL history.
The league announced Friday that season-ticket holders for both teams combined to purchase more than 50,000 tickets in the first 24 hours after the announcement was made that such a title game would be contested at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Chiefs fans would sit on one side of the stadium, Bills fans on the other.
Think of split-seating college football spectacles like Oklahoma-Texas, Army-Navy or Georgia-Florida — or games played during the College Football Playoffs — and you get the picture.
The NFL said it would announce later whether any additional tickets might be made available for a possible Chiefs-Bills matchup.
For the game to happen on Jan. 29 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, the Chiefs and Bills would need to win their Divisional Round games this weekend. The Chiefs play host to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, while the Bills are home against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
The NFL announced the neutral-field option when the Jan. 2 Bills-at-Bengals regular-season game was suspended when Buffalo safety Damar Hamiln collapsed after tackling Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin’s injury, which required immediate emergency medical treatment on the field, stunned the Chiefs, NFL and observers around the world.
The Chiefs finished with the AFC’s best record — 14-3 — and by winning the top seed earned a bye in the Wild Card Round. Had Buffalo (13-3) finished the regular season tied with the Chiefs, the Bills would’ve been the AFC’s top seed thanks to their regular-season victory at Kansas City.
If there is no game in Atlanta, ticket purchases will be refunded, the league said.
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 12:24 PM.