These fans shovel snow out of seats, so does Canberra need a new stadium?

It would be much easier to just tune in from home - but try telling the thousands of fans who filled Highmark Stadium during Buffalo's NFL playoff win with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday [AEDT].

The AFC wildcard game was initially scheduled for Monday [AEDT], only to be rescheduled because of the significant storm forecast. Fans were offered $20 and a feed to shovel snow out of the aisles. Come game day, fans were being told to wear waterproof boots and pants because rows of seats were still snowed under.

From Bills games at Orchard Park to a Browns game in Cleveland, from Foxborough to Green Bay and Denver, NFL fans wear the snow as a badge of honour.

Yes, Canberra fans have been there when snow falls on the capital's sporting venues.

Snowy conditions sent AFL fans into a spin when 11,741 turned up to watch the Hawthorn Hawks pummel the GWS Giants at Manuka Oval in August 2019 - although the crowd thinned in the second half. It is understood to be the first time snow has fallen during a senior VFL/AFL game in league history.

The records show 7384 watched the Canberra Raiders tackle the Wests Tigers on a blanket of snow at Canberra Stadium in May 2000 - although you'll probably find 15,000 people will tell you they were there.

But you wonder how fans would respond to the conditions faced by fans in Buffalo - some of whom spent the pre-game leaping off piles of snow and landing on burning tables - this week.

Sport fans in the United States and Australia operate in different realms. The NFL is the most-attended league on the planet. If anyone needs a stadium with a roof, it must be Bills fans. Instead, their new $1.54 billion facility will feature radiant heating and a canopy covering 65 per cent of seats.

Then you start to think - does Canberra really need a new stadium? Does it need a roof? Have we really got a reason to complain about the cold winter when, as one punter put it, Buffalo can make Canberra look like Townsville?

The resounding answer to question one from those who turn up to watch the Raiders and Brumbies at Canberra Stadium is yes. A lack of snowfall doesn't change the fact the stadium in stuck in a ghost town lacking game day atmosphere. A roof is a luxury but far from a necessity - all we can hope is more than 15 per cent of seats are undercover in a rebuilt venue at Bruce.

Canberra's stadium war is set to heat up again with an ACT election looming in October.

Whether we see any tangible movement is anyone's guess, because these conversations have gone the way of the Petrie Plaza carousel for the past 15 years. Around and around and around.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr is targeting a Canberra Stadium makeover in Bruce, while NRL, Super Rugby and A-League officials want a brand new venue in Civic.

The Civic dream appears dead in the water, while uncertainty regarding the future of the AIS in Canberra continues to rear its head.

A decision on the institute's future - whether it stays in Bruce or is shipped to Queensland ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games - is supposed to come by the end of January.

While we're talking stadiums and snow, our pitch for a roofed stadium in Civic dubbed the Snow Dome is still on the table, Terry.

Canberra Airport owner Terry Snow joined the billionaire's club in 2017 following a massive increase in the value of his property around the capital city's main airport. Given it's easier to spend someone else's money, why not ask for a shiny new venue?