A will-they, won’t-they relationship in Orchard Park? A meet-cute set up by Thurman Thomas? Love letters stained with hot sauce and blue cheese? It reads like a Western New York Mad Libs or an extended Kyle Brandt bit, but it all comes into focus and onto screens Saturday night.

“Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story” is precisely what its title promises, a Hallmark Channel movie through the lens of a storied NFL fandom. The usual genre trappings are in place — small-town connections, unthawing romance, the clock ticking down to a big Christmas reunion — but everything gets a Buffalo remix.

“It’s unique, a different platform that we haven’t been associated with in the past,” Bills chief operating officer Pete Guelli told The Athletic. “The entire city has really embraced the project.”

How to watch “Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story”
Date: Saturday, Nov. 22
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: Hallmark Channel
Streaming: Fubo (Stream Free Now)
What exactly is this movie about?

Here’s the gist. Morgan Quinn is a pediatrician, and Gabe DeLuca is a (fictional) Bills vice president. They’re longtime friends and neighbors, living next door to Highmark Stadium. Morgan learns that an anonymous benefactor (Secret Santa?) has been watching out for her Uncle Tommy and the rest of her family for decades. Gabe tries to help Morgan uncover the mystery. Cue the Christmas hijinks, the Buffalo hijinks, all the hijinks.

“Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story” is part of pro football’s partnership with Skydance Media, which began in 2022. This is actually the second NFL Hallmark rom-com to come out of this arrangement, which means there’s an official “Holiday Touchdown” multiverse as of Saturday night. The first one, “A Chiefs Love Story,” was released in November 2024. Donna Kelce, mother of Travis (and Jason), had a prominent role. Former Kansas City quarterback Trent Green stole a scene. Andy Reid popped up as well. The contemporary cameos came from Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Mecole Hardman and George Karlaftis. As of this writing, the made-for-TV movie has a 6.4 out of 10 on IMDb, so that’s the mark for their AFC counterparts to clear.

Earlier this year, Skydance announced a development deal with Josh Allen.

Who’s in it?

The reigning NFL MVP is not on this call sheet, but the cast is still stocked with Bills of past and present significance. Current players who show up on screen include four-time Pro Bowl OT Dion Dawkins, tight end Dawson Knox, fan favorite Damar Hamlin, running back Ray Davis, wideout Joshua Palmer and defensive tackle DeWayne Carter. According to Guelli, Carter, a theater minor in college, was particularly enthused by his role.

Alumni from Buffalo’s 1990s run are in it, too. The Hall of Fame trio of Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed all make appearances. So does Scott Norwood, the former All-Pro kicker who’s been embraced by the fandom despite his Proper Noun heartbreaker in Super Bowl XXV.

Thousands of other cameos come from season ticket holders and Highmark Stadium regulars. “The support of almost 4,000 Bills Mafia fans made our job as casting directors very seamless and easy,” said Peter Johnson of Casting Buffalo.

Del Reid, a recognized co-founder of Bills Mafia, told The Athletic that he’s in a bar scene with fellow lifers Pinto Ron (the guy who covers himself in ketchup and mustard at tailgates) and Bills Elvis (self-explanatory). “We have a shared love, and a shared trauma, that bonds us,” Reid said. “We have these kinships with fellow fans that we otherwise don’t see outside of football settings. I think that’s often forgotten.”

As for the professional actors, the love story in question revolves around Holland Roden (Morgan) and Matthew Daddario (Gabe). Steve Schirripa and Joe Pantoliano, two former staples of “The Sopranos,” hold down supporting roles. “Joey Pants” (official, stately nickname) plays Uncle Tommy. Is Schirripa the ornery dad who advises the leads through their entanglements? Does he start as a grumbler who rarely talks beyond “big third down here,” only to warm up with the holiday spirit by story’s end? Can Schirripa break down zone coverage and put the star atop the tree? Time will tell.

Are the Bills actively involved?

Yup, very much so.

“Immediately, it clicked. I don’t think there’s a better brand or market for a holiday-type movie than the Bills,” Guelli said. “So it socialized internally, from our communications team to ownership to Brandon [Beane] and Sean [McDermott]. Everybody was aligned.”

Hayley Beane and Jamie McDermott, respective wives of the Bills’ general manager and head coach, are both Hallmark movie fans. The team even helped coordinate a parade through East Aurora, N.Y., which Guelli calls “Christmas Town, U.S.A.” DownBeat Percussion, the Bills’ drumline, paced the procession. Billy Buffalo, the fuzzy blue bison mascot, dressed for the occasion. And Ray Davis completed a side quest, popping up midway through the themed “peppermint rally.”

The stadium pregame circuit got a boost, too. Casting Buffalo included Paula’s Donuts, Elm Street Bakery and Vidler’s variety store as set pieces. And there’s consistent use of Bar-Bill, an East Aurora tavern that packs to capacity each Sunday.

Are there any flaming table jumps?

Nope. Perhaps that will be saved for a future Bills action blockbuster or buddy comedy. But to many locals, the fans’ raucous reputation is overblown at this point.

“Maybe we’re known as rowdy from the national perspective, but Buffalo and Western New York overall is a very family-oriented place. We often say that ‘Mafia’ means ‘family.’ It’s also well-documented how charitable Bills Mafia is. I’d like to think that’s more of our calling card,” Reid said.

“We’ve transitioned from rowdiness to spirited, in a sense, and I think that’s what they wanted to capture,” Guelli added.

It’s holiday content, but also cultural demarcation. Buffalo is one of the NFL’s smallest markets. As the league expanded with new media deals and a digital imprint, the Bills endured a 17-year playoff drought that covered most of the 21st century. For a while, their supporters were left out in the cold, sequestered to a corner of New York far closer to Canada than Manhattan. Now, the Bills are popular enough to warrant their own novelty movie.

“Everyone’s different. When a band becomes huge, you’ll always have those people who say, ‘I liked them before they got big.’ But most people, and myself included, the more the merrier,” Reid insisted. “We were watching games when Kelly Holcomb was stealing starts from J.P. Losman. The only time we used to see the Bills on national TV, they were getting scored on in a highlight reel. I’d say we’re in a really special time now. This stuff doesn’t last forever, so we have to enjoy it while it’s happening.”

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