It’s a football party gone national. The Buffalo Bills have become regulars on prime time

The energy and enthusiasm that quarterback Josh Allen brings to the Buffalo Bills is no secret in western New York.

But more and more, the rest of the country is seeing it too, thanks to a surge in prime time NFL games for the team.

“When you take a proud tradition and a fan base that hasn’t seen a lot of success, you get a lot of energy,” said Jon Lewis, owner and writer at SportsMediaWatch.com, which tracks viewing trends and analytics for professional sports. “There’s a lot of interest in the atmosphere and the underdog story.”

No doubt about it, Buffalo has plenty of both when it comes to football and that’s what helps drive decisions at TV networks, even if Buffalo is one of the smallest markets in the NFL. But it’s also the dynamic Allen and the resurgence he’s leading for the Bills that is turning heads, not to mention TV channels.

Helping a great deal is the team’s success with three straight winning seasons along with three straight playoff appearances. Especially after the team in 2017 ended a drought of 17 straight seasons without a playoff appearance.

But more than the winning, there is another shining measurement: Prime time games.

For much of the 2000s and up until two seasons ago, the Bills were an afterthought for television networks and a national audience.

But much has changed. In his four seasons, Allen has played in 11 prime time games.

In the 18 seasons prior to Allen’s arrival (1999-2017), nine different Bills QBs played in 16 prime time games.

“You have a young, star quarterback on the rise and that’s always a great narrative,” said Stewart. “The underdog appeal and crazy behavior (of fans) adds to the mystique.”

The Bills don’t exactly break viewership records on nationally televised games, but it’s clear they are a draw, said Stewart. That goes back years, even to the run of four straight Super Bowl appearances in the 1990s.

“That created some relevance for the Bills,” he said.

Losing all four of those Super Bowls helped forge the underdog image for Buffalo and typically, Americans enjoy witnessing that journey with the hope of a happy ending.

That alone can be a compelling story to follow. Throw in the atmosphere of Buffalo’s weather and the antics of the Bills Mafia in those conditions and you have an appealing product.

“A small market with a personality can be a draw,” said Lewis.

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Certainly, the numbers don’t lie.

During the 18-year stretch prior to Allen, the Bills never had more than two games scheduled for prime time and for five of those seasons (2002-2006), that number was zero.

But this season, Buffalo had four games in prime time between Sunday, Monday and Thanksgiving Day games. The Bills also had four prime time games scheduled for the 2020 season, but it became five after the game against Tennessee was rescheduled to a Tuesday night due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

Even in 2019, Allen’s first full season as a starter, the Bills came into the season with just the Thanksgiving Day game against Dallas as its lone prime time slot. That was the game where the Bills surprised the Cowboys and no doubt played a role (along with playoff implications) in the NFL’s decision to flex Buffalo’s game two weeks later against Pittsburgh into a Sunday night game. It was the first Sunday night game for Buffalo since 2007.

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The Bills won the AFC East title for a second straight season in 2021, a clear sign that the team is once again a championship contender. It’s something Bills fans have waited years for, making football life fun again in western New York.

And thanks to more exposure in prime time, it’s a football party that’s gone national.

Prime time records in regular season for Bills by QB (since 1999)

Josh Allen: 7-4

Tyrod Taylor: 1-4

Trent Edwards: 0-3

Ryan Fitzpatrick: 1-1

Derek Anderson: 0-1

Kyle Orton: 0-1

EJ Manuel: 0-1

Alex Van Pelt: 0-1

Rob Johnson: 1-0

Doug Flutie: 1-0

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills relish prime time football party with national audiences