Bills Add Canadian Anthem, Sparking Fan Backlash

The Buffalo Bills will play the Canadian national anthem alongside the American one before the first regular-season game at their new Highmark Stadium — and the announcement drew immediate anger from fans outside western New York, with the country in the middle of a trade fight with Canada.

The Buffalo Bills announced Wednesday that both "O Canada" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" will be performed before their Sept. 17 home opener against the Detroit Lions, the first regular-season game at the team's new Highmark Stadium.

"For the first time in Highmark Stadium history, we will celebrate the American and Canadian anthems during pregame," the team said in its announcement, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

Toronto-based band Barenaked Ladies will perform "O Canada." Actress and singer Auliʻi Cravalho, the voice of Disney's Moana and, per the Daily Mail, a lifelong Bills fan, will sing the national anthem.

CTV News framed the decision as coming "amid trade war tensions" between Washington and Ottawa. The New York Post noted the same tensions while pointing out that Buffalo teams have long played the Canadian anthem regardless of opponent.

Why Buffalo Does This

Buffalo sits roughly a two-hour drive from the Toronto area, and the franchise has a substantial Canadian fan base, including season-ticket holders, according to PennLive and the Daily Mail. The NHL's Sabres — owned, like the Bills, by the Pegula family — play both anthems before every home game, and the New York Post reports minor league baseball's Bisons and the National Lacrosse League's Bandits do the same.

Three players on the Bills roster are Canadian citizens, the Daily Mail reported: wide receiver Josh Palmer and linebacker Michael Hoecht, both born in Ontario, and tight end Dalton Kincaid, who holds American and Canadian passports.