A winning football team will host a game at Ford Field this weekend.
That became official Thursday, as a lake-effect snowstorm in the Buffalo, New York, area forced the NFL to announce the Buffalo Bills will be playing Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns at Detroit’s Ford Field.
Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday issued a State of Emergency for at least 11 counties in western New York, warning of snow accumulations that could reach four feet.
Ford Field has twice filled in as an emergency venue, most recently for a Bills-Jets game in 2014. The Bills won, 38-3. The Minnesota Vikings were also forced to play the New York Giants at Ford Field in 2010 after the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome’s roof collapsed.
In both of those events, the games were pushed to Monday to account for the team’s late change in travel. But due to the Bills having to return to Detroit for a Thanksgiving Day showdown with the Lions next Thursday, the league was under greater pressure to quickly accommodate
The Lions will go on with their regularly scheduled road game Sunday against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
