The Buffalo Sabres Are About to Have New Landlords

The question is, "who?"

The Buffalo Sabres play at KeyBank Center. The arena opened in 1996 and its lease has been controlled by Erie County since then. The county was therefore on the hook for maintenance costs, among other things.

That's about to change.

Erie County Walking Away From KeyBank Center

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz told 2 On Your Side that the county will walk away from its lease of KeyBank Center when it expires in October. He says the County is getting out of the stadium business, which also includes the new Bills stadium.

What Does this Mean?

It means the City of Buffalo takes over KeyBank Center's lease. That's a problem, too. Operating the arena costs millions of dollars a year, and the city is already in a $50 million deficit.

That doesn't mean they can't do it, but it does bring up other interesting options. For example, owner Terry Pegula could just buy the arena and own it outright. There are some advantages for him if he does that, since having total control over your own building lets you do potentially more. It also could mean he does less because of the costs. It's hard to say.

A CNN article explained last year that any sports owner would own their arena because it drives up the value of their franchise. It also gives them more negotiating power to get money from government entities when they want to build new stadiums. In other words, the owner can say they own all of this, so pay up or they're leaving. Communities have little to nothing they can do about it.

So, Is This Good or Bad?

Probably neither. Just an opinion here because it's complicated and hard to know, and I'm no expert. If you don't want to invest a lot more tax money into sports teams, then it's probably not great. Unless you don't care about them and want them to leave, it's not fair that billionaire owners suck tax dollars away form people for the sake of a game that they and their players make rediculous amount of money to play. But, if you want that here, that's simply the way of the world, and it doesn't appear to be changing any time soon.

If Terry Pegula takes total control of the arena, he has all the negotiating power in the future, and the future will be soon. The arena is considered old by most and chances are he will be pushing for a new one almost immediately.

If the City of Buffalo keeps the lease, then it becomes a huge burden on a struggling city immediately. The thing is, it's always a burden, no matter who owns it.

“Stadiums are giant paper weights and are incredibly expensive” -Geoffrey Propheter, University of Colorado Denver.

So, who knows? Honestly, no matter what, our tax dollars are going to pay for this or a new arena. I guarantee you that, fair or not.

Things have not been great for the Sabres or the arena in recent years. Here are some of the most savage complaints.