First Niagara Center

Opened in 1996

About First Niagara Center

First Niagara Center is a former name of KeyBank Center, used 2011–2015. KeyBank Center is an NHL arena in Buffalo, New York. It opened in 1996. It was designed by Ellerbe Becket. It seats 19,070. Its current tenant is Buffalo Sabres (NHL), since 1997. By capacity it ranks 17th of 32 current NHL venues, counting only venues with a known capacity. On our ranked lists it ranks 221st oldest of 354 stadiums and arenas still in use and 19th for most name changes among 121 venues with 3 or more names. It has also been known as Marine Midland Arena (1996–1999) and HSBC Arena (2000–2010).

Appears in

Photo of First Niagara Center
Photo by Andre Carrotflower. License: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Venue Information

Capacity

19,070

Source: Wikidata

Year Opened

1996

Address

1 Alumni Plaza, Buffalo, New York 14203

Elevation

586 ft

179 m above sea level

Architect

Ellerbe Becket

Operator

Pegula Sports and Entertainment

Address derived from the venue's coordinates using data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL).

Elevation of the venue's coordinates from USGS and NASA SRTM elevation data, via Open Topo Data.

Architect and operator credits from Wikidata.

Capacity by layout

Layout Seats Source
General 19,070 Wikidata
Basketball 19,200 Wikipedia
Concert 18,500 Wikipedia
Professional wrestling 16,597 Wikipedia

Seating capacity depends on how the building is laid out for each event. Figures are the best sourced claim per layout.

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Teams

Home seasons at First Niagara Center by team, 1996–2026. Bars use each team's colors at the time; the table below lists every season.
Team League Years
Buffalo Sabres
While based here: 29 seasons · 1040-1175-90 regular season · 10 postseason trips
NHL · 1997–present
  1. Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 1971–1996
  2. KeyBank Center 1997–present
NHL 1997–present

Records are each team's full-season results while it was based here, home and away games alike, from final scores. They are not records of games played at this venue.

NHL records count overtime and shootout losses as losses.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the capacity of First Niagara Center?

The capacity of First Niagara Center is 19,070.

When was First Niagara Center built?

First Niagara Center opened in 1996.

Who designed First Niagara Center?

First Niagara Center was designed by Ellerbe Becket.

Who operates First Niagara Center?

First Niagara Center is operated by Pegula Sports and Entertainment.

Who plays at First Niagara Center?

First Niagara Center is the home venue of Buffalo Sabres.

Where did the Buffalo Sabres play before First Niagara Center?

Before moving to First Niagara Center in 1997, the Buffalo Sabres played at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium from 1971 to 1996.

Sources

Where the facts on this page were read from. How VenueStats compiles them.

Historical Names

KeyBank Center

2016 - Present

First Niagara Center

2011 - 2015

Current

HSBC Arena

2000 - 2010

Marine Midland Arena

1996 - 1999

Location

Coordinates: 42.8751, -78.8766
View on Google Maps

Nearby Venues

VenueYearsDistance
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 1940–2009 0.2 mi
Sahlen Field 1988– 0.4 mi
Olympic Park (I) 1884–1889 2.1 mi
War Memorial Stadium 1937–1989 2.3 mi
Riverside Park 1878–1884 2.3 mi
Olympic Park II 1890– 2.8 mi

Straight-line distance between the venues' coordinates.

References

Read more on Wikipedia

Teams on Wikipedia

Every source for the facts on this page is listed under Sources.

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