Who are the referees assigned for Bills vs. Chiefs? All about officials for the AFC conference championship clash

The Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills will go up against each other in the AFC championship game on Sunday in what promises to be a thrilling matchup between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes.

When Buffalo and Kansas City met in the 2021 championship game, the Chiefs prevailed 38–24. Now, the Bills have another chance to earn a spot in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1994.

The Bills won their meeting with the Chiefs in Week 11 of the regular season, recording a 30–21 victory.

Let's look at the referees in charge of presiding over the AFC championship game.

Referees for the AFC championship game revealed

The following officials will be in charge of the Bills vs. Chiefs game in the AFC Championship:

Head Referee: Clete Blakeman

Umpire: Scott Campbell

Down Judge: Dana McKenzie

Line Judge: Julian Mapp

Field Judge: Karina Tovar

Side Judge: James Coleman

Back Judge: Jonah Monroe

Replay Official: Chad Adams

Replay Assistant: Amber Cornell

The spotlights will be on Blakeman and his team during the conference championship following a string of contentious rulings in the Chiefs' divisional round game. Blakeman, who is in his 17th season as an official and his 15th season as an NFL referee, officiated a single Bills game and none of the Chiefs games in the regular season.

The veteran referee's crew called 23 penalties in the Week 17 game between the New York Jets and the Bills, 16 against the Jets and seven against the Bills.

In his NFL career, Patrick Mahomes has a 6-5 record when Blakeman officiates games, which is his second-lowest record with all the referees in the league. However, in the 18 Bills games that Blakeman has officiated, Buffalo has an 11-7 record.

Additionally, Blakeman's statistics this season show a peculiar pattern: home teams only won five of the 16 games he and his crew supervised, which is the poorest record for home teams in the NFL in 2024. Blakeman stands out as a referee who doesn't seem to favor home-field advantage in light of this trend.

Analysts and fans alike will be hoping for a well-officiated AFC championship contest unimpeded by contentious decisions that might take away from what looks to be an exciting contest.

How to watch the Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship round?

The Buffalo Bills, the AFC's second-seeded team, will go to Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri to play the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs. The AFC championship game will kick off on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

Play-by-play commentator Jim Nantz, color analyst Tony Romo, and sideline reporters Tracy Wolfson and Evan Washburn will make up the CBS broadcast crew that will cover the game.

Fans can also stream the game on a number of streaming platforms, including Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV, FuboTV, Paramount+ and Sling TV.