A Superfan’s Guide to Buffalo Bisons Baseball
Let me spare you the romantic “crack of the bat” language that gets used in every story about baseball and simply say this: Going to a Buffalo Bison’s game is awesome!
It’s easily top five on any Buffalonians summer to-do list and it ain’t number five. Why is it awesome? Well, for all those romantic baseball platitudes I just breezed by of course, but also because at a Bison’s game, there’s something for everyone. Let me explain:
Baseball purists will love it.
Sahlen Field, the Bisons home, was designed by the same architects that designed Baltimore’s iconic Camden Yards. It’s the first example of a retro-classic ballpark fully integrated into a city center. It’s the largest Triple-A park in the country. If you’re a baseball fan, this is a grail.
It’s family friendly.
Tickets are affordable, there’s no bad seats and the games are fun! They’ve got all the fixin’s of a major league park: t-shirt tosses, between-inning-contests, ice cream, hot dogs, and an absolutely mammoth video board for those crowd shots of people dancing. The leader of this nine-inning party is Buffalo mascot Buster Bison. Catch him dancing on the dug-out, snapping pictures with kids, or interfering in the chicken wing mascot races. There’s $2 hotdog and ice cream nights and on Sundays kids get to run the bases. Speaking of promos…
Nobody is doing baseball promos better than the Bisons.
Friday nights end with a fireworks show, there’s Star Wars night and superhero day and merch to go with both. There’s a specialty hotdog and featured specialty nacho for every homestand, Markdown Mondays for discount tickets, early season Hot Stove specials for groups, and bobbleheads! Ohhhhh, the
bobbleheads. Last year local superfan and ballpark icon “Mark” got his own. This year NFL Network star and known Buffalo Bills enthusiast Kyle Brandt got one. He showed up to host the game and autograph them too! Oh! And dogs! They have bring your pup to the park days!
Adults can hang, too.
Bisons games aren’t just for the kids. There’s plenty to keep the 21-and-up crowd entertained as well. The newly renovated restaurant inside the stadium has a full complement of bourbons to work through and a buffet special that includes a game ticket. You can watch “the Herd” from inside the restaurant or access its stadium seats with your drink in hand. There’s a multi-level party deck in the outfield with its own bar and high-top tables that groups can rent out. Pro tip from a local: You don’t need a special ticket to access the restaurant –it’s available to everyone. If no one rented out the party deck, you can head down to those high-top seats for a one of-a-kind view of the game.
It’s quintessentially Buffalo.
A Bison’s game is a classic Buffalo experience. Sahlen Field sits in the heart of downtown Buffalo and everything has a local twist to it. “The Blue Zone” is an entire section dedicated to Buffalo staple: Labatt Blue beer. You can also get local microbrews including my favorite – a Big Ditch Hayburner – at various concession stands throughout the park. Suds are served by beloved Buffalo concessionaire Conehead and his famous, “You get a warm beer from me, you drink it for free” catchphrase that’s echoed the concourses of every Buffalo sporting event for the last 30 years.
La-Nova – the first name in Buffalo pizza – slings slices in the concourse while world-famous Charlie the Butcher’s carves it up fresh for the beef on salted weck roll sandwiches. Even the ice cream is local!
Not content for just an actual Buffalo mascot, the Bisons have chicken wing and blue cheese mascots too, and every visitor is welcomed to Sahlen Field by a statue of famous Buffalo Mayor Jimmy Griffin.
Whether you’re a visitor or local, no summer is complete without a Bison’s game. I’ve heard people say that Buffalo is the “World’s Largest Living Room.” If that’s true, all the couches are at Sahlen Field.
Get your tickets for the Buffalo Bisons’ season at milb.com/buffalo!
