ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) — Last week Bills fans cheered overseas, and this weekend they return home to the delight of the local establishments right by the stadium.

“Sundays are days we usually get out early at 7 or 8 o’clock but if there’s a football game going on we run the bar in business up until the end,” said Mark Ebling, owner of Danny’s South. “People fade out quick but there’s diehard fans, they come in all night long and those are the people that you like, and enjoy,”

Prime time games are great for business, bringing in not only fans before, but also during and after, the game.

At Danny’s South on Abbott Road, people can park on the property with their campers and RV’s, making the game day experience even simpler.

“The campers have nowhere to go because the bills shut down their RV lot. So, you wouldn’t believe the people that pull up and have nowhere to go right now. It’s a boost for the whole area and to lose all that money for one game is crazy. It’s a good weekend for us when there’s a football game, let’s put it that way. It’s a night and day difference,” Ebling said.

Season ticket holder Eric McHone, who has been parking his camper at Danny’s for as long as he can remember, drives 12 hours every home game weekend from South Carolina for the festivities.

“My buddy here, Josh, we met in this parking lot. We met up in London. We’ve met at away games now and every home game we end up together. So, we’ve been growing this parking lot in the back of Danny’s here and I thank God for Mark keeping it going for us,” McHone said.

Across the street at the Big Tree Inn, they also welcomed campers into their parking lot, adding to the bounce back Bills atmosphere, bartender Larry Dempsey said.

“With the London loss, it was kind of slow after the game. Bills fans are pretty resilient, and they’ll come back. Campers are back, fans are back and hopefully the Bills are too,” Dempsey said.

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Dillon Morello is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has been part of the News 4 team since September of 2023. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.