HSBC Arena

Location One Seymour Knox III Plaza Buffalo, New York 14203
Opened September 21, 1996
Owner Niagara Frontier Hockey LP
Construction cost $127.5 million
Architect Ellerbe Becket
Former names
Marine Midland Arena(1996-1999)
Tenants
Buffalo Sabres (NHL) (1996-present)
Buffalo Bandits (NLL) (1996-present)
Buffalo Destroyers (AFL) (1999-2003)
Buffalo Blizzard (NPSL) (1996-2001)
Buffalo Wings (RHI) (1997-1999)
Seats
Hockey: 18,690

The HSBC Arena is a sports and entertainment venue located in downtown Buffalo, New York, USA. It is home to the Buffalo Sabres hockey team and the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team. The arena also hosts concerts and is used regularly for college basketball games, including opening-round games of the NCAA basketball tournament and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournaments (1997, 1999, 2001, 2005). It recently has been used for wrestling as well, hosting Fully Loaded 1999, WCW Fall Brawl 2000, and the 2005 WWE Great American Bash. It is also the former home of the Buffalo Destroyers, Buffalo Blizzard and Buffalo Wings. It additionally was the host of the 2003 NCAA Frozen Four.

The HSBC Arena opened on September 21, 1996, replacing the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Its original name was the Crossroads Arena; however, this was changed to Marine Midland Arena before the first game had even been played there. The Marine Midland Bank, which was part of the HSBC banking group, had purchased the naming rights. In 1999, as part of HSBC’s worldwide corporate rebranding, the arena’s name was changed to The HSBC Arena, when the US bank’s name became HSBC Bank USA N.A.. This name change coincided with the playing of the first college basketball tournament game in the arena’s history. It has been occasionally referred to by Buffalo residents as The Marina (a portmanteau of Marine Midland Arena), Fort Knox (a reference to the Sabres original owners Seymour and Northrup Knox) or “The Bank” (a reference to HSBC Bank). The press box in the arena is named after former Sabres broadcaster and Hockey Hall of Fame member Ted Darling.

The arena’s scoreboard after its fall in November 1996.

For sporting events, the arena can seat 18,690 spectators. In the event that the arena is being used for a concert, basketball game, or similar event, the total number would increase - accounting for seats or standing space on the arena’s floor. Both sporting events and concerts at the arena are served by the Special Events station of the Buffalo Metro Rail.