ALLEN PARK — For those interested in attending an NFL game with the Detroit Lions on the road in Week 11, tickets will be made available to the general public on Saturday. Due to a historic snowstorm slamming New York, the Buffalo Bills will host the Cleveland Browns at Detroit’s Ford Field this weekend.
The Bills report that their presale for season-ticket members opened at 2 p.m. Friday, with the team’s app presale starting at 5 p.m. For those getting seats on Friday, there is a six-ticket limit. And if tickets remain past this phase, the public will get their chance on Saturday, per the team’s website.
Click here for more information on how to park, ticket information and the rules at Ford Field.
It’s also an opportunity for fans to get an early look at Detroit’s Thanksgiving opponent, which is fast approaching. The Bills will be the home team against the Browns, then turn around and throw on the away jerseys four days later on turkey day. The game is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday on CBS, with Ford Field’s doors set to open at 11 a.m. The first round of tickets were reserved for Buffalo’s season-ticket holders, with those expecting to go to a game at Highmark Stadium getting priority.
And it’s not the first time the Bills have had to play an impromptu neutral site game in Detroit. Buffalo beat the New York Jets 38-3 in 2014 at Ford Field, with snow again forcing them out. A reported 56,044 fans attended that game, with free tickets offered after the first round of priority.
“I do know this, everybody that works over at the stadium, like you just talk about the coaches, like this just became very hard on them,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of the staff at Ford Field. “I mean, this is difficult. We’ve got the holiday show, all this they’ve set up. They’ve got to break it down and get ready for this game, then get ready for our game on Thursday, so they didn’t intend on that — spending their whole weekend and really the next week leading into Thanksgiving, dealing with all this. So, they’ve got a lot on their plate, man, so sometimes that gets lost in the shuffle. You forget about all them over there putting in the work.”
Related: Lions give Bills keys to Ford Field for Week 11: ‘Please don’t break the tables’
Related: NFL moves Bills-Browns game to Detroit’s Ford Field due to historic snowstorm
As of Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service reports nearly 20 inches have already hammered down on most upstate and western New York. And the short-term forecast doesn’t paint a prettier picture. The NWS calls for another 4 to 8 inches Friday, with 9 to 13 inches at night and another 4 to 8 inches of snowfall across Saturday.
“The decision to move the game from Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, NY was done in consultation with the Buffalo Bills and local and state authorities as the region prepares for the storm,” the Bills said in a statement. “Details on tickets and other game day information for Sunday’s game in Detroit will be announced shortly. The Bills will provide information for those fans with tickets to the game originally scheduled for Orchard Park.”
