The Buffalo Bills have announced a five-year deal with St. John Fisher College to keep the school as the team’s training camp home.
The Bills have signed a five-year extension to keep #BillsCamp at St. John Fisher College.
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) October 4, 2016
We love our camp home. https://t.co/Hed8iJKT5x pic.twitter.com/OJfFHpMBu1
The Pittsford campus has housed the team for training camp since 2000, when they moved from SUNY Fredonia.
Coincidentally, the Bills have missed the playoffs each year since making the move. The “Curse of Fredonia” isn’t quite the most famous sports jinx just yet, but it does have it’s proponents, especially among the former Bills who practiced there:
Upon learning of Ragland's knee injury, @thurmanthomas told me Bills should stage a practice in Fredonia to lift St. John Fisher curse.
— Tim Graham (@ByTimGraham) August 5, 2016
For the record, Thurman admitted he was kidding about that.
The St. John Fisher practices, though, have been successful. Located right next to the city of Rochester, the training camp has done well when it comes to “regionalizing” the fan base and expanding beyond the Greater Buffalo area. The move was the brainchild of St. John Fisher alumnus and current Bills President Russ Brandon, who has largely been responsible for broadening the team’s outreach outside of the city.
The Bills are in St. John Fisher for five more years. Hopefully, the curse isn’t there to stay with them.