A wave of Buffalo Bills fans is starting to trickle into Jacksonville ahead of Sunday’s AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Jaguars, turning local spots into lively outposts for the visiting faithful.

One local sports bar, Players Grille in the Mandarin neighborhood, has become an unlikely epicenter for the “Bills Mafia,” offering a home away from home for those who have traveled south and for New York transplants now living in Florida.

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Originally intended to be a Jaguars bar, the establishment’s fate was altered by a single phone call from a local fan group. Now, it is packed wall-to-wall with Bills supporters gearing up for game day.

Mike Loewenguth, who moved from New York to Jacksonville eight years ago, has been a regular at the Players Grille for three years after hearing about it through word of mouth.

“Being down here and surrounded by just Bills fans on a Sunday during the game, it’s really cool,” Loewenguth said. “It makes me feel a little bit at home.”

He added that while the fan base is famous for its passion, it is mostly about shared enthusiasm. “Not all of us get as crazy as some of those table-breaking guys, but for the most part, I think we’re all about just sharing the good time.”

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Nick Dakuginow, the manager of Players Grille, recounted how a local organization, the “Bills Backers of Jacksonville,” changed the bar’s trajectory.

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“We were supposed to become a Jaguars bar. At the beginning, the growth didn’t happen immediately, but then the Buffalo, the Bills Backers of Jacksonville reached out to us and asked if they can come to our establishment and we said of course,” Dakuginow said.

The bar is now officially listed as a gathering spot for Bills fans, a move that fellow fan David Sercu expects to translate to the stadium crowds. “They have the Bills Backers here, and they get packed wall to wall, and the Bills Mafia travels, so I’m expecting them to be at the stadium,” Sercu said.

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The influx of fans is good news for the local economy. Hotels across Jacksonville expect the majority of visiting fans to start trickling in beginning tomorrow.

Visit Jacksonville reported hotel occupancy was around 67 percent last year in January, and while numbers for this year won’t be available until next month, there is optimism. In 2023, a home playoff game for the Jaguars saw hotel occupancy hit 90 percent.

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