Tickets, Without Getting Burned

Everybody wants the trick. There isn't one, and it's year one in a new building, so the old patterns are all on probation.

• If the game is the whole point of your trip, buy the tickets and sleep at night. Sure, you might overpay by fifty bucks. You might also watch prices climb for three months waiting on a dip that never comes.Essential
• Honest answer for this year: nobody knows. In past seasons the week-of dip was real, and plenty of Sundays you could buy a ticket walking up to the stadium. With ten thousand fewer seats, I wouldn't bet the trip on either one until we all see how this season shakes out.Essential
• The home opener against Detroit, the Patriots game, and the Thanksgiving night game against Kansas City (the first Thanksgiving home game in franchise history) will be expensive all year. Waiting on those is wishful thinking.Essential
• The cheap seats live in December, against a bad team, with an ugly forecast. Suffering has always been the Bills fan discount.Pro Tip

There are more fake Bills tickets on the internet than real ones. Stay on the paved roads.

• Ticketmaster verified resale is the boring, safe answer. The tickets land in your account and scan at the gate like they're supposed to.Essential
• SeatGeek, StubHub, and Vivid Seats are all legitimate. Compare the total with fees, though. The same pair of seats can differ by 80 bucks in fees between sites.
• Facebook groups have the best prices and all of the scams. The long-running Bills resale groups with actual moderators are usable, but pay through PayPal Goods and Services or don't pay. Nobody in the history of Zelle has gotten their ticket money back.Essential
• A pair of 100-levels at half of market the day before the game is not a deal. It's a screenshot of somebody else's tickets.Pro Tip

There are still affordable doors into the building.

• Preseason. That's the answer. Tickets go for the price of a Wegmans sub, the starters play a series or two, and this August is the cheapest look anyone will ever get at the new stadium. The tailgate doesn't know it's preseason.Essential
• Single seats sell cheap. Always have. If your group is willing to split up, you'll save real money.Pro Tip
• The 400s in the new place still have good sightlines, and the upper deck has always been where the loudest fans sit. No shame up there whatsoever.

Short answer: probably not.

• Skip the official stadium parking pass. The private lots and lawns on Abbott and Big Tree are cheaper, they take cash at the gate, and you don't have to buy a thing ahead of time.Essential
• Two exceptions. If you've got kids in tow, a guaranteed spot close to the stadium beats hauling a wagon across somebody's lawn. And if you need accessible parking, the official ADA lots are the ones that actually put you near an entrance.Essential

The cases where the standard advice breaks down.

• Eight or ten seats together off resale basically doesn't happen. Buy pairs in the same section and plan to meet up at the tailgate. You'll see plenty of each other.Essential
• If everyone truly has to sit together, the all-inclusive tailgate packages (Bullseye Event Group runs one) buy up blocks of seats. It costs what it costs, but it does solve the problem.
• For accessible seating, use Ticketmaster's ADA filter and call the stadium box office ahead of time. Don't buy regular seats planning to sort it out at the gate, because you won't.Essential
• And yes, everyone needs a ticket. Including the baby.