Bills to play O Canada at home opener amid strained cross-border relations

BUFFALO — The Buffalo Bills are taking a page out of the Sabres’ playbook when it comes to cross-border relations.

The NFL club says both O Canada and The Star-Spangled Banner will be performed before its Sept. 17 home opener against the Detroit Lions, the first regular-season game at the new Highmark Stadium.

Canadian band Barenaked Ladies will perform O Canada, while actress and singer Auliʻi Cravalho will perform the American anthem.

The move comes as Canada-U.S. relations have deteriorated amid an escalating trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to Canadian sovereignty.

The NHL’s Sabres perform both national anthems before every home game, regardless of opponent, a tradition tied to Buffalo’s proximity to the border and its strong Canadian fan base. In April, fans helped finish O Canada after the singer’s microphone failed during a Stanley Cup playoff game against Boston.

The Bills also have deep ties north of the border, with the team saying last year that Canadian residents accounted for an average of 10 to 15 per cent of its season-ticket base.

This isn’t the first time the Bills have played both anthems during games at Orchard Park. Under former owner Ralph Wilson, the Bills once hosted an annual Canadian fan appreciation game scheduled near Canadian Thanksgiving.

The games were discontinued about 20 years ago, before the team began playing a series of annual regular-season games in Toronto. That six-year run ended in 2013.

The Bills and Sabres are now both owned by Terry Pegula.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press