Former Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Richie Incognito has remained deeply rooted in football even after hanging up his cleats four years ago. But leaving the game behind has certainly been tough for the NFL veteran. To fill that void, Incognito co-founded his own media company and launched its flagship show, Initial Contact. Since launching the show, Incognito has had one goal: to take it on the road.
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The flagship show, co-hosted by former New England Patriots tight end Christian Fauria, is centered on authentic insight from former players, coaches, and insiders. In a recent interview, Incognito explained his plans to take InitialContact on the road and build live events around the show. Now, he is all set to bring the show to Mexico, and it has something special for Bills fans.
The Bills will hit the road to play the Patriots at Gillette Stadium for their Week 13 matchup this season. And Incognito, along with Fauria, is hosting an event for the Bills Mafia at La Zebra Tulum, a beachfront resort in Tulum, Mexico. The event will take place from December 3 through 7, which will also include the live telecast of the Bills-Patriots matchup on a giant screen.
“Alright, everybody. We’re taking the show on the road,” said Incognito. “Initial contact is officially headed to Tulum to celebrate at La Zebra Resort down there in Tulum. We’re taking the show down there, boys. It’s going to be a great weekend. Bill Backer event. We’re going to do a wing-eating contest, flag football competition on the beach, and then for the weekend, we’re going to be watching the Bills versus Patriots game.
“The battle: the professor’s team versus Richie’s Bills. It’s going to be a fun weekend. It’s going to be a fun weekend down there. La Zebra. We’re going to be down there. There’s still packages available. Go check it out. December 3rd through the 7th. We’ll be doing initial contact live twice from the beach in Tulum.”
The event at La Zebra resort will feature multiple fun activities for the Bills Mafia.
La Zebra’s Bills weekend will kick off on Thursday, December 3, with guests checking into the resort before heading to the beach club. The day will also feature a special showing of “Just One Before I Die,” a documentary series centered on the Bills fan experience. Meanwhile, the hotel’s sports bar will serve an official Bills Backers bar throughout the weekend.
On Friday, December 4, the resort will bring a taste of Buffalo to Tulum with a special food-focused day. The planned offerings include Buffalo-style wings, a “Wing-Guac Challenge,” Buffalo-inspired beef-on-weck tacos, tropical drinks, and local beer. The event is designed to blend Western New York food traditions with Mexican cuisine.
Saturday, December 5, will serve as the main party day with an Ultimate Beach Tailgate. Fans will have access to activities, including football on the beach, flag football, beer pong, tailgate-style food, Buffalo wings, Sahlen’s hot dogs, a beach BBQ, and Bills-themed entertainment. Incognito has also mentioned plans for a flag-football game on the beach and a chicken-wing eating contest as part of the weekend.
On Sunday, December 6, attention will turn to the Bills’ matchup against the Patriots. La Zebra plans to show the game at its beachfront sports bar, accompanied by pregame analysis and a postgame celebration. The game will be featured on 85-inch HD screens, multiple TVs around the pool, a swim-up bar, and a Bills-themed atmosphere.
Meanwhile, Fauria added a twist to the weekend, as the former Patriots tight end will be offering his special martini to the fans attending the event.
“You know what it’s like out here in the Northeast,” added Fauria. “Those people out here in the Northeast are we are starting to suffer. Mother Nature has had her way with us and we’re just got to get out and find some fun. What better place to do it but in Mexico, and I promise this is what I’ll do for anybody that shows up.
“I will make my world-famous no-filler margarita. I will do that for you, special. I can’t let you know what’s in it, but the word and the name alone will give you an idea. So come join us and hang out and have some fun right and we’ll chop it up throughout the whole weekend.”
Apart from Richie Incognito and Christian Fauria, the weekend will also feature Chelsea Lovell as the event’s on-site host, essentially helping run the various activities throughout the weekend. Buffalo-based DJ Lil Gabby is also listed for the weekend and is expected to handle the music for the watch-party environment.
The event carries significant weight for Incognito as his Tulum trip is one of the first examples of a bigger strategy to take the Initial Contact on the road.
“Yeah, so we’re going to Tulum,” Incognito had said on the Centered on Buffalo Podcast. “We’re going down there for a Big Bills weekend. We’re teamed up with Trainwreck Sports and La Zebra Resorts down there. I got a buddy. I was talking to him at the Masters, and he was like, ‘You’re doing your new show, Initial Contact. You got to come down. We’re opening up a Bills backers bar.’ So we’re going down to have a whole fun weekend. They had Rex Ryan down there a couple weeks ago.
“We’re doing a flag football game on the beach. We’re doing a chicken wing eating contest. So It’s a great thing to take our show on the road, show fans to have some fun. And I’ll be leading the charge for the Bills down there, getting the Bills fans excited and involved. We’re looking forward to it. That’s one thing about initial contact we want to be able to do. We want to take it on the road. We want to build it to where we have a live audience, and we have our passionate fans engaged and doing the thing.”
The weekend will conclude on Monday, December 7, with a recovery day. Guests can enjoy spa treatments, spend one final morning at the resort, and then begin their departures.
The Bills, meanwhile, previously faced the Patriots this season at home, and it marked their only defeat so far this season. With the Bills looking to avenge their lone loss of the season against the Patriots, Richie Incognito’s Tulum event promises to add even more excitement to an already highly anticipated Week 13 showdown.
