First Niagara Center Information:
Location: Buffalo, New York
Address: One Seymour Knox III Plaza, Buffalo, New York, 14203
Capacity: 18,595 (hockey)
Year Opened: 1996
Previous Names: HSBC Arena, Marine Midland Arena
Occupants: Buffalo Sabres
The First Niagara Center sits in the heart of downtown Buffalo, New York, is easily accessible from all major highways and is within walking distance of many of the city's hotels, restaurants and bars. There are few places with a more ravenous hockey fanbase than Buffalo. The venue, established in 1996, has been called the HSBC Arena and the Marine Midland Arena in past years. The arena offers more than 18,500 seats and boasts an eight-sided scoreboard that gives ample views of replays, stats and messages from all sides of the stadium. Thanks to a range of restaurants, banquet facilities and luxury boxes, the First Niagara Center is one of the most electric atmospheres to catch an NHL game.
Buffalo sports have often been categorized by epic highs and crushing lows, but that hasn't dampened the spirit of the dedicated Sabres fans. The Sabres have been one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference for decades, and they have made the playoffs an impressive 29 times since 1970. The Sabres would make their first Stanley Cup Finals in 1975 with an offensive explosion from Rene Robert, Gilbert Perreault and Rick Martin. The Sabres cruised past the Montreal Canadiens in the conference finals and were pitted against the Philadelphia Flyers for the big showdown. The Sabres played a tough series, but they were beaten in six games having faced the strong play of Flyers' goalie Bernie Parent.
The Sabres made it back to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999 and pushed the series to a seventh game, but an instant replay mix-up allowed their opponent, the Dallas Stars, to get an extra goal in overtime, which gave them the championship. With the tougher moments of their history aside, Sabres fans are still a committed bunch who will eagerly pack the stands and wait for that elusive title.
The First Niagara Center is also the place to catch a live concert or performance in downtown Buffalo. The venue has hosted blockbuster tours such as Taylor Swift's Speak Now World Tour, Nicki Minaj's I Am Music Tour and Pearl Jam's North American Tour 2010.
The city of Buffalo, New York, has plenty to offer music aficionados and sports fans alike, and the First Niagara Center has the cutting-edge technology, world-class amenities and easy access that attendees have come to expect.
First Niagara Center Ticket Information:
The seats TicketCity offers for events at the First Niagara Center come from our large network of suppliers. Those suppliers list and price the tickets for these events at the First Niagara Center, and in many cases the ticket prices will be higher than the face value printed on them. After submitting your ticket order, TicketCity will verify the availability of those seats with our supplier before confirming your purchase. Tickets are shipped via FedEx as soon as they are available to send.
TicketCity is not affiliated with the First Niagara Center or the official First Niagara Center website.