Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula had an expiring arena lease and no way to use it to extract arena upgrades from Erie County, which is too busy with helping build a new stadium for the Pegulas’ other team, the Bills. What to do? Why, just extend the old lease until the time is riper for arena subsidies, that’s what:
The Sabres will operate this season under the existing terms of their lease with Erie County and then for the four seasons after – or until a new, long-term agreement can be reached.
This comes as the Sabres negotiate with the county and other parties for a more modern lease than the current one first developed around three decades ago. It’s a process that will likely also involve the state, and possibly the city, and a request for public funding to pay for improvements and upgrades at the arena.
Expiring leases, it turns out, are only a ticking clock for public officials; for team owners, they can be moved at will. (The Sabres lease, like many sports leases, gave the Pegulas an option to extend their lease under the existing terms, which include free rent.) The Buffalo News reports that Erie County could be looking to get out of the arena business, which may mean dumping the Sabres’ home ice on the state, which would then presumably be on the hook for the bulk of upgrades, just like it was for the Bills stadium. That should make downstate taxpayers wary, since they’re already paying for a new stadium for a team hardly any of them ever watch, though “and possibly the city” should make Buffalo taxpayers wary as well.
Sabres COO Pete Guelli said he hoped the team could “be part of something that could help revitalize the City of Buffalo,” while Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz said he wants a revamped arena to be “part of a continued entertainment district that is key to the future of the city,” so everyone is on the same page here as far as being convinced that a glitzier hockey arena would boost the city’s economy. (SPOILER: It wouldn’t.) Looks like it’ll be a few more years before all this comes to a head, by which time everyone will be able to point to the visible impact of the new Bills stadium and, you know, are you sure you want to put this off, Pegulas?
I believe Gov. Hochul included the Bills stadium deal in April 2022 budget in her last run for Gov. Maybe she’ll include a deal for a better (for the team) lease in April 2026 as she runs again? It will probably get her votes upstate, “she saved the Sabres”.
Missing here is any discussion of the team being absolutely terrible. As hard as it will be to pass support for new building or hundreds of millions in renovations, it will be many, many, many times harder to do it for a team that currently holds the active record for being awful.