Bills chosen for 'Hard Knocks' 2025: Why HBO show was forced to pivot from UNC football program to Buffalo

Daniel Mader

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Bills chosen for 'Hard Knocks' 2025: Why HBO show was forced to pivot from UNC football program to Buffalo image

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The next chapter of "Hard Knocks" will include one of the NFL's best quarterbacks.

After some drama over where the famous documentary series would be in 2025, originally tracking to head to the college ranks for the first time at UNC, it will instead be the Buffalo Bills that are the subject of this year's show. 

The series has been running since 2001, each summer selecting an NFL team to follow in training camp as position battles take place and preparations for the new season are in full swing. In recent years, there has even been the addition of an in-season "Hard Knocks" series that follows teams in the early stages of the regular season.

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However, it will be the Bills' training camp work that appears on this year's "Hard Knocks" series. Here's what to know about Buffalo's selection.

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Bills 'Hard Knocks', explained

On Wednesday, HBO officially announced that the Bills would be the 2025 subject of the annual "Hard Knocks" series. The show is set to air for the first time on Aug. 5. 

Additionally, the in-season version of the 2025 show will feature the four NFC East teams: the Eagles, Commanders, Cowboys and Giants.

In 2024, the Bears were the focus of the training camp edition of "Hard Knocks" as rookie quarterback Caleb Williams took over the offense, while the NFC North teams were featured in the in-season edition. The year prior, the Dolphins were the subject of the HBO show for training camp.

There had been a struggle for the NFL to find a 2025 "Hard Knocks" team, as oftentimes, executives and coaches will push against being selected for the show because it brings a distraction to their training camp. But the requirements for candidacy to be on "Hard Knocks" have changed over the years, no longer ruling out reigning playoff squads from consideration. The only limitations on "Hard Knocks" eligibility are having a first-year head coach, already appearing on the upcoming in-season edition of the show, or having been on the training camp show in the last eight years.

Because of that, the Bills were eligible for this year's HBO show. As Buffalo enters yet another season of being a Super Bowl contender behind Josh Allen, consistently coming up short of their title goals in recent years, "Hard Knocks" figures to offer a look at the star quarterback's early-season preparations as he pursues the Super Bowl that's evaded him thus far.

Other storylines to watch with the Bills on "Hard Knocks" could be running back James Cook's growing desires for a contract extension, or a potential position battle at wide receiver, where Buffalo once again has some veteran talent, but no clear go-to options for Allen.

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Have the Bills been on 'Hard Knocks' before?

The Bills have never been on "Hard Knocks." Because the show has been running since 2001, a majority of the league's teams have appeared on it already.

Within the AFC East, the Patriots are now the only team that hasn't appeared on "Hard Knocks," although they were ineligible in 2025 because they have a first-year head coach.

Why did UNC back out of Hard Knocks?

In February, reports suggested that "Hard Knocks" was set to cover UNC football as Bill Belichick arrived for his first season. But not long after, the deal reportedly fell through. Belichick was later asked about the deal falling through, saying, "We're not a training camp."

"'Hard Knocks' is training camp, and we’re not training camp. We’re just not," Belichick said, per On3. "That’s not what we are. The drama of training camp, who’s a cut and all that. Like, we’re a season, and they don’t want that. Yeah, there are film issues, too, but forget about the film issues. Just say you could straighten all those out, 'Hard Knocks' just didn’t fit for us."

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The HBO series had never focused on an NCAA program previously. However, further reporting from the New York Times' Katherine Rosman on May 20 suggested that Belichick's girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, played a role in "Hard Knocks" backing out from UNC. Hudson was reportedly seeking content approval and oversight of the show if it was going to focus on the Tar Heels, and because of that, HBO "pulled the plug," according to Rosman.

"The producers later learned that Ms. Hudson was also in negotiations with another production company, EverWonder, to make a similar series," Rosman also reported. 

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Daniel Mader

Daniel Mader joined Sporting News as an editorial intern in 2024 following his graduation from Penn State University. Previously, he covered Penn State, high school and local sports beats for NBC Sports, the Centre Daily Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Daily Collegian and LancasterOnline. He grew up in Lancaster, Penn., with a love for baseball that’ll never fade, but could also talk basketball or football for days.