By Ryan Surmay
View from Bud Light Suite/Image Courtesy of Connor Beal
Over the weekend, Bonaventure roommates had different experiences watching the Buffalo Bills playoff game. Besides the result of the game, they enjoyed their experiences. Juniors Peter Byrne and Matthew Branco watched the game in their townhouse with friends while fellow roommate Connor Beal attended the game in person with his mom.
Food
Food prices at most stadiums are generally known for being expensive.
One of the advantages of staying home is being able to make your food at home or purchase it from your preferred restaurant.
“We got burgers and wings from Third Base to support local businesses,” Branco said. “We avoided the expensive prices at the stadium and saved money on parking and gas.”
At the game, Beal got a plain burger for $14 while his mom got a pork belly sandwich for $30. He described the food as being “good and better than normal stadium food.”
Atmosphere
Beal had seats in the Bud Light Suite, an indoor club seated above the 200th level of Highmark Stadium. While it might seem like indoor seating would be a different experience, this was not the case for Beal.
“Sitting in the suites was a similar experience to the outdoor setting,” Beal said. “Even though there were around 100 people inside, they pumped sound in and played music as they do for the outdoor setting.”
Branco and Byrne said that they had around 15 people gathered around the TV watching the game. The excitement was felt when a big play happened but to a much lesser degree than if they were in the stadium.
Transportation/Traffic
While the atmosphere of several cheering fans may be more energetic than watching it on TV, a problem that comes from that is the traffic from the stadium. The parking lots often fill quickly, and fans are forced to park elsewhere.
“I went to the Dolphins game the week before,” Byrne said. “It took over an hour to get out of the stadium because of all of the traffic.”
For this game, Beal said that it took over two hours to get home due to the traffic. Luckily for Branco and Byrne, the trip from the house room bedrooms to the living room was much quicker.
Weather
A major factor in this game was the weather. The forecast had clear skies during the morning but one of the factors that may have kept some fans at home was the snow that began falling by the time warmups started.
Byrne and Branco had discussed attending the game earlier in the week. Byrne said that “We decided that we didn’t want to go because of the excessive ticket prices, and we did not want to sit in the snow for hours.”
A benefit of being in the Bud Light suite for Beal was that it was temperature controlled, so the weather was not a factor for him.
Overall, there are many ways to enjoy gameday with friends and family. Each category makes it a unique experience. While the game didn’t go in favor of Bills fans, it was a fun season supporting their favorite team.
surmayrn20@bonaventure.edu
