NFL keeps feeding America's appetite for Buffalo Bills with primetime preseason game

Exactly three weeks prior to opening NBC's Sunday Night Football schedule on September 7 at Highmark Stadium, the Buffalo Bills will play a primetime exhibition on national television.

When the Chicago Bears host the Bills on August 17, FOX will provide live coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

The game is one of three Preseason Week 2 matchups that will be featured by the NFL's primary broadcast partners. On Saturday, August 16, CBS will air the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will kick off at 7 p.m. ET. ESPN will showcase the Cincinnati Bengals at the Washington Commanders in an August 18 preseason edition of Monday Night Football.

FOX has assigned Joe Davis (play-by-play), Greg Olsen (color) and Pam Oliver (reporter) to the broadcast crew for the Bills at Bears exhibition on Sunday night at Solider Field.

It may only be preseason, but there's just something about having football back on the TV on a Sunday.

We are so close to the good days. pic.twitter.com/PSSQg8yTIB
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) August 10, 2025

Led by reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen, the Bills have become a primetime darling in recent years, and 2025 is no different. After kicking off the regular season in the league's most-watched time slot against the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo will make four more primetime appearances with the potential to earn more through NFL flex scheduling.

"Josh has definitely ascended into that 'what did he do today?' sort of, you can't really get through a weekend of highlights and news and stats without checking on the Bills quarterback. And that's what being an MVP does. That's what winning football games does. Obviously, marrying the actress doesn't hurt," said NFL VP for broadcast planning Mike North on the It's Always Gameday in Buffalo podcast this past April.

Josh Allen MVP — Feb 6, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen poses wtih the Most Valuable Player award during Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Bills will entertain the Miami Dolphins in a September 18 edition of Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. Two weeks later, Buffalo will host Sunday Night Football again when the New England Patriots visit on October 5. The Bills also have a Monday Night Football appointment in Week 6 at the Atlanta Falcons before returning to Thursday Night Football when visiting the Houston Texans in Week 12.

Meanwhile, America has gotten an inside look at the Bills this summer through HBO's "Hard Knocks" documentary series with the second of five episodes airing Tuesday night, August 12.

Then, later this fall, multiple Bills' players will make their Hallmark Channel acting debut in "Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story."

Ask any diehard Bills' fans, however, and they'll most definitely trade all of these showcase games and prime TV slots for the chance to see their team in Super Bowl LX on February 8, 2026.

Hard Knocks crew — The NFL Hard Knocks film crew film players arriving on the field during opening day of the Buffalo Bills training camp at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford on July 23, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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