Getty Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills talks at a press conference during Bills mini camp on June 14, 2022 in Orchard Park, New York.
There are still 56 days until the Buffalo Bills face the Los Angeles Rams for the 2022 NFL season opener, and fans were pumped to fill the football void this summer by being first in line to snag tickets to see their favorite players participate in training camp.
While the Bills’ season ticket holders were able to secure tickets starting on Wednesday, July 13, members who downloaded the Ticketmaster app got their chance starting at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, July 14.
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In order to obtain tickets to training camp, which kicks off at St. John Fisher University in Rochester on July 24, people needed to register on the Bills mobile app. However, it appears the app wasn’t able to withstand the influx of ticket requests and bugged out, making it impossible for fans to obtain the free tickets.
@BuffRumblings I was in before 10 in the virtual line and the site kept crashing. I tried to get tickets for either the 24th or 7th since I have my girls those days. Sadly no luck due to the site issues. Sad to tell them they can’t go this year. I’m beyond frustrated with this!
While there was brief hope from Cover 1’s Greg Vorse, who tweeted at 1:46 p.m, “ATTENTION #BillsMafia – the line for #Bills training camp tix just started moving super quick!” at 2:07 p.m., he followed up to write, “The app appears to now have crashed… again!”
I created a new #Bills app account at 11am to see how things were going with the @Ticketmaster process for #TrainingCamp tix. It’s been stuck here since about noon. #BillsMafia
Buffalo Rumblings noticed the app was malfunctioning and asked other members of Bills Mafia on Twitter were experiencing the same issues. The response was immediate as the situation appeared to be an overall calamity.
One fan tweeted, “I got on at exactly 10AM. Wait 40 mins in que, was actually able to select the tickets and get them to my cart and then the site crashes. I panic. Get on PC and am now sitting in a que stuck at 5217 and all the tickets are gone. I’m legit depressed. I took off 2 weeks for camp.”
While numerous people assumed that tickets merely sold out early, many fans who stuck it out got lucky once ticket sales opened up to the general public at 1 p.m. ET. Ultimately, training camp tickets didn’t appear to officially sell out until around 3:50 p.m. ET.
‘It’s a Shame’ for Families Who Can’t Afford Regular Seasons Tickets
GettyBuffalo Bills fans hold signs during the first quarter in the AFC Wild Card playoff game against the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium on January 15, 2022 in Buffalo, New York.
While attending training camp may not sound like the most exciting way to see the Bills play, for those who can’t afford to take their entire family to a regular season game at Orchard Park, this is a fantastic alternative.
As stated on the Bills website, “Near the main entrance of camp, fans will have the opportunity to interact with Bills sponsors and team partners, receive complimentary souvenir photos” and can participate in the following activities: Football toss, Running Back Challenge, QB Challenge, and to meet Billy, the team mascot. There are also food concessions set up and merchandise tables.
Go Long founder Tyler Dunne felt for the bummed-out Bills fans, and also the franchise. Dunne tweeted, “Bills aren’t alone with horror stories like this one. Seems to be the case for several teams of late, and it’s a shame. Training camp has always been that fam-friendly opp to watch an NFL team.”
One fan tweeted, “It’s crazy- I got in the queue at 10:05 and I was 7,000ish “in line”, waited about 2 hours and got to 3000ish and haven’t moved since. Was hoping to take the family to see the team since we most likely won’t make it to a game.”
Another fan tweeted, “App sucks! 🤬👎🏼 You think a MULTI BILLION dollar organization would have a better app! 💯 Constantly crashes, freezes or just don’t work! FRUSTRATING!!!!”
The Full Training Camp Schedule
For those who were able to power through app malfunctions, they were able to select up to four tickets each for the following practice sessions:
• Sunday, July 24 (9:45 a.m.)
• Monday, July 25 (9:45 a.m.)
• Wednesday, July 27 (9:45 a.m.)
• Friday, July 29 (9:45 a.m.)
• Saturday, July 30 (9:45 a.m.)
• Monday, August 1 (9:45 a.m.)
• Tuesday, August 2 (9:45 a.m.)
• Thursday, August 4 (9:45 a.m.)
• Friday, August 5 (5:30 p.m.) at Highmark Stadium (Return of the Blue & Red)
• Sunday, August 7 (11:45 a.m.)
• Wednesday, August 10 (9:45 a.m.)
• Thursday, August 11 (9:45 a.m.)
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