The Buffalo Bills inaugural regular season home opener couldn’t have gone much better. The brand new Highmark Stadium was buzzing from hours before the game in the parking lot with fans crashing through foldable tables, to the final whistle in a convincing win over Detroit. The one stain on the night was how it started. The team decided to honor neighboring Canada by singing their national anthem. To many fans it felt strange and out of place to sing a foreign nation’s anthem when there was no Canadian team involved in the game. I wholeheartedly agree.
A general view of Highmark Stadium during the national anthem as fireworks explode before the game in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Sept. 17, 2026. (Getty Images)
The Buffalo Bills have a longstanding relationship with the people north of the border. The team has a substantial footprint in Canada, with many fans making the short drive to attend Bills games for decades. The organization even had a 2026 draft pick announced from Canada on the broadcast. Bills owner Terry Pegula also owns the Buffalo Sabres, who sing “O Canada” before every home game, regardless if they are playing a Canada-based team. I still don’t believe this was the right decision on Thursday night.
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While the Barenaked Ladies, a Canadian alternative rock band sung a subpar rendition of “O Canada”, the broadcast showcased a massive Canadian flag on the field by one end zone and an American flag on the other. It felt odd to watch the inaugural regular season game of America’s newest stadium, featuring American teams exclusively, go out of their way to honor a foreign nation. Honestly, it came across more like a marketing ploy and virtue signaling more than anything. I know I’m not alone in that sentiment. Many fans expressed confusion online, including Canadians, and even Contributor and US Marine Joey Jones scolded the decision. Jones said, “We play the [United States] National Anthem not to honor fans who enjoy entertainment, but to honor the men and women serving this country, providing freedom and security so we can do that during a time of war.”
Josh Allen No. 17 of the Buffalo Bills stands for the national anthem before the game against the Detroit Lions at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Sept. 17, 2026. (Getty Images)
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Jones went on to provide a history lesson to the Bills and the National Football League saying, “We play our national anthem because in 1918 we entered WWI, and they wanted to honor a Navy player that was out on the field. They wanted to honor that our sons and some daughters were fighting a war in trenches in some of the ugliest warfare every seen in our lives.”
Jones is exactly right. This isn’t about not liking our neighbors to the north. It’s not about refusing to be friendly. It’s not about Trump. It’s incredible to see so many Canadians enjoy our sports, but honoring their nation by singing their national anthem goes too far, especially when no Canadian teams are involved. You can honor the Canadian Bills fans and season ticket holders without honoring the nation as a whole. If the Bills wanted to give a special shoutout to Canadian fans pregame, thanking them for their support and dedication over the years, I’d have no problem with it, but going as far as honoring another nation, is borderline disrespectful to the history of our anthem and those that have fought and died to defend its rights and freedoms.
Barenaked Ladies sing the Canadian national anthem before the game between the Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Sept. 17, 2026. (Getty Images)
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The funny and ironic aspect of all of this, is the fact that Ford Field (Lions stadium) is just as close to the Canadian border as Highmark Stadium is, yet they have never sung “O Canada” in order to “honor” their prominent Canadian fan base.
I don’t see this as much of a virtue signal as singing “Lift Every Voice,” also known as the Black National Anthem, but it’s a close second. When American teams are playing an American sport on American soil, we should stick to honoring our nation. America has one anthem and if foreign sports fans want to come over the border to enjoy these games, they are welcome, we’re glad they’re here, but they shouldn’t expect or want us to honor their nation through songs of allegiance.
The Bills are said to only perform the Canadian National Anthem for their home opener. Let’s hope that is the case.
