However, they were perennial postseason contenders from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, peaking between 1990 and 1993 when they appeared in a record four consecutive Super Bowls, an accomplishment often overshadowed by the fact they lost all four.

From the early 2000s to the mid-2010s, the Bills endured the longest playoff drought of 17 years in the four major North American professional sports, making them the last franchise in the four leagues to qualify for the postseason in the 21st century.

[19][b] In December 2024, the Bills became one of the first teams in NFL history to sell part of their franchise to outside private equity investors.

20.6% of the team interest was sold at a valuation of $5.6 billion, including 10% to the American investment group Arctos Partners LP.

[20][21] The Bills began competitive play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League led by head coach Buster Ramsey and joined the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970.

[25][26] Once the AFL–NFL merger took effect, the Bills became the second NFL team to represent the city; they followed the Buffalo All-Americans, a charter member of the league.

[28] After being pushed to the brink of failure in the mid-1980s, the collapse of the United States Football League[29] and a series of highly drafted players such as Jim Kelly (who initially played for the USFL instead of the Bills), Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Darryl Talley allowed the Bills to rebuild into a perennial contender in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s under head coach Marv Levy, a period in which the team won four consecutive AFC Championships; the team nevertheless lost all four subsequent Super Bowls, records in both categories that still stand.

[30][31][32] The rise of the division rival New England Patriots under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, along with numerous failed attempts at rebuilding in the 2000s and 2010s, helped prevent the Bills from reaching the playoffs in seventeen consecutive seasons between 2000 and 2016, a 17-year drought that was the longest active playoff drought in all major professional sports at the time.

[56] The team earned its first division championship and playoff wins since 1995 during the 2020 season, aided by Brady's departure to Tampa Bay and out of the AFC East, as well as the Bills' own development of a core of talent including Allen, Stefon Diggs, Matt Milano, and Tre'Davious White.

The helmet logo adopted in 1974—a charging royal blue bison with a red streak, white horn, and eyeball—remained unchanged.

[96][101] The Bills have taken a 8–3 edge since Brady's departure in 2020, which included consecutive AFC East titles from 2020 to 2022 and a season sweep of the Patriots in two of the three years.

[105] The rivalry is also noted for several players being a members of both teams during their careers, including Drew Bledsoe, Doug Flutie, Lawyer Milloy, Brandon Spikes, Scott Chandler, Chris Hogan, Mike Gillislee, and Stephon Gilmore.

[127] The Tennessee Titans (formerly the Houston Oilers) share an extended history with the Bills, both teams being original AFL clubs and rivals in that league's East Division before the AFL-NFL merger.

Former owner Ralph Wilson insisted on not reissuing the number, even after Simpson's highly publicized murder case and later robbery conviction.

Wide receiver Curtis Samuel currently wears the number; prior to Emmanuel Sanders's one-year stint with the Bills in 2021, it had been 19 years since it had been worn in the regular season when kicker Mike Hollis wore it in 2002.

[148] → Coaching staff → Front office → More NFL staffs Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR) Tight ends (TE) Defensive linemen (DL) Defensive backs (DB) Special teams Reserve Impending free agents (FA) Restricted free agents (RFA) 44 active (+13 exempt), 12 free agent(s) The Buffalo Bills Radio Network is flagshipped at WGR AM 550 in Buffalo, with sister station WWKB AM 1520 simulcasting all home games.

[151] In 2018, the team signed an agreement with Nexstar Media Group to carry Bills preseason games across its network of stations in the region.

As of 2020, WIVB-TV serves as the flagship station of the network, which includes WJET-TV in Erie, WROC-TV in Rochester, WSYR-TV in Syracuse, WUTR in Utica, WETM-TV in Elmira and WIVT in Binghamton.

[154] The Bills' official mascot is Billy Buffalo, an eight-foot-tall, anthropomorphic blue American bison who wears the jersey "number" BB.

[161] The Bills are one of six teams in the NFL to designate an official marching band or drumline (the others being the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Commanders, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks).

The most popular is a variation of the Isley Brothers hit "Shout," recorded by Scott Kemper,[164] which served as the Bills' official promotional song from 1987 through 1990s.

[175][176] In 1982, a local grocery store introduced the Whammy Weenie as a promotional item, a maraca-like hot dog-shaped device, painted green (which was not a Bills color, but instead painted as such in reference to a military slang term), that Bills fans were supposed to shake at the team's opponents; Bills owner Ralph Wilson, after having seen a Whammy Weenie dangled in front of his suite in the midst of a disappointing season, ordered the Whammy Weenie to be discontinued due to the double entendre it posed.

[177] Bills Mafia members are also well known for jumping off of elevated surfaces (often cars or RVs) into folding tables, in the style of professional wrestlers, during the pre-game tailgate.

[178][179] Bills fans are noted for their frequent support for charitable causes, especially helping charities run by players from opposing teams.

Actor Nick Bakay, a Buffalo native, is also a well-known Bills fan; he has discussed the team in segments of NFL Top 10.

[194] Persons notable almost entirely for their Bills fandom include Ken "Pinto Ron" Johnson, whose antics while appearing at every Bills home and away game since 1994 earned enough scrutiny that his tailgate parties were banned from stadium property on order of the league;[195] John Lang, an Elvis impersonator who carries a large guitar that he uses as a billboard;[196] Marc Miller, whose professional wrestling promo-style interview with WGRZ prior to Super Bowl XXVII (distinguished by the line "Dallas is going down, Gary!"

and picked up at the time by The George Michael Sports Machine) was rediscovered in 2019;[197] and Ezra Castro, also known as "Pancho Billa", a native of El Paso, Texas who wore a large sombrero and lucha mask in Bills colors.

Castro was diagnosed with a spinal tumor that had metastasized in 2017; he was invited on stage during the 2018 NFL draft to read one of the Bills' selections.

[199] Several former Buffalo Bills players earned a name in politics in the late 20th century after their playing careers had ended, nearly always as members of the Republican Party.

The most famous of these was quarterback Jack Kemp, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Western New York in 1971—two years after his playing career ended and remained there for nearly two decades, serving as the Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States under Bob Dole in 1996.