The Bills are cutting down on the number of opportunities for fans to watch them at training camp.
This year, the team announced, only eight training camp practices at St. John Fisher College will be open to the public. According to the Buffalo News, that’s the fewest since 2000, the first year the Bills began having camp at St. John Fisher.
General Manager Brandon Beane said the reduced open practices are in part a result of the decision to have joint practices with the Panthers before the teams play a preseason game in Carolina.
“For us to go back up there for a couple days before we go to Carolina just doesn’t logistically make sense to wear our guys out up and back,” Beane said. “The positive to this is, I think you know there’s a ton of fans in the Carolina region that we’re going to be able to connect and reach, a lot of fans who don’t get to see the Buffalo Bills in preseason live. So we’re still going to get our Rochester look, but we’re also going to take our show on the road a little bit. It’s good for us to practice against some people we have some trust in and get some heated practices, but I think that region probably has as many Bills fans as any outside of Western New York.”
So Bills fans in the Carolinas can get an up-close look at the team, but Bills fans in Buffalo will have fewer opportunities.