The Buffalo Bills are giving Highmark Stadium a new soundtrack this season: both national anthems before every home game.
Front Office Sports reported that the team will play “O Canada” before each game in Orchard Park, and the Bills posted the opening-night plan on Wednesday. It marks the first time both the U.S. and Canadian anthems will be recognized in the new building.
The first version of that setup comes on Sept. 17 against Detroit, when Toronto’s Barenaked Ladies will perform the Canadian anthem. Auliʻi Cravalho, best known as the voice of Moana, will then sing the Star-Spangled Banner. That Thursday night matchup is also the first regular-season kickoff at the $2.1 billion stadium, with OneRepublic set for halftime.
The move makes plenty of sense geographically and financially. Canadian season-ticket holders are already estimated to make up about 10 to 15 percent of the base, and Southern Ontario is only a two-hour drive from Orchard Park. The Bills have long drawn from that market, and the franchise has a history of leaning north of the border, including the Toronto home games it staged from 2008 to 2013.
There’s also precedent in the building next door. The Sabres have played both anthems since 1970, so the Bills are the ones catching up here. Terry Pegula owns both teams, and minority owners include former Raptors and Toronto FC names.
The timing, though, is hard to miss. Trump signed new import bans on Canadian goods Tuesday, putting the anthem decision in the middle of a trade-war week. Still, the team has framed the move as a salute to fans rather than a political statement.
Josh Allen and the Bills open on the road at Houston before returning home to christen the new stadium against the Lions. The official graphic has only confirmed that home opener so far, but Front Office Sports said the anthem plan applies to every home date.
Orchard Park has never made both anthems a regular-season tradition. That changes now, with the building already carrying a 20-foot broken table built into the concrete and, soon enough, two flags at the start of the night. The only real question left is how loud it sounds when both crowds answer back.
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