The Buffalo Sabres are uncertain about the future of KeyBank Center, their home arena, as the lease expires in 2026. While the team's COO, Pete Guelli, reassures fans that they will remain, there are pressing ownership and funding concerns. No formal discussions have taken place between the city, the county, or the Sabres as of April 8.
As it stands right now, we can only believe so much of what Guelli says, as fans are frustrated with his role on the Sabres. Fans are discontinuing their season tickets as things aren’t changing with the arena and environment, but also with the team in general.
Erie County has talked about getting out of the arena business when the lease expires. Buffalo Common Council Member Mitch Nowakowski says if the city were to take on the lease, it might need some help from the state.
“When we're looking at the complexity of if this falls to the city's responsibility, to what magnitude of the cost of repairs could look like $200 million. The total city's capital budget yearly, which is set by the controller, is $38 million.”
It would get to the point where the Sabres would have to ask the New York State commission for money to help with the KeyBank Center. Erie County rep Marc Poloncraz seems to think otherwise as he says the number is unrealistic, and won’t cost that much.
With Erie backing out, possibly, it would cost over 38 million with the lease, repairs, etc. Which means we could be dealing with negotiations for the entirety of next season.
We’ve seen this once before, as the Arizona Coyotes had many issues over the years paying for the leases of their arenas. In this case, luckily, the Sabres aren’t broke and can afford to pay the lease.
The question just lands on how much it will be, but it does lead us to the issue that if this isn’t resolved by the end of next year, the Sabres will need to move for the season.
The odds of this happening, hopefully, are slim, but the Sabres may have to play in Rochester or another surrounding city until something is agreed upon. The Bills had similar issues back in 2023 when their lease ran out as well. Many discussions were had till they finally agreed.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Erie County, most certainly backing out. For the Sabres' sake, this new lease needs to be renewed fast, or fans will start getting antsy.