A Buffalo Bills stadium study prepared for Pegula Sports and Entertainment also outlines ideas for upgrading KeyBank Center, the home of the Buffalo Sabres.
But don't expect any immediate improvements at the downtown arena.
"Right now, we are solely focused on the future of the Bills and the stadium," said Ron Raccuia, executive vice president with PSE. "Once we find a solution for that, then we'll move onto the next project."
The study by Populous was prepared in 2019, so priorities for arena renovations could change when the time comes for improvements. But the study represents a brainstorm of ideas for refreshing the downtown facility, which opened 25 years ago as Marine Midland Arena. Fans have complained the arena is long overdue for upgrades in areas such as seating, technology and amenities.
People are also reading…
A study by Populous outlines ideas for upgrading KeyBank Center.
Portions of the study were released by New York State on Thursday, as negotiations continue over a new stadium for the Bills. While the portions released go into heavy detail about a future Bills stadium, comparatively little was released about plans for KeyBank Center.
The Populous study contains separate lists of "aspirational" and "functional" ideas for improvements at the arena.
Leading the list of aspirational ideas was improving amenities at every level of the arena, followed by "differentiated seating" – meaning different options to appeal to different segments of the population.
The list also mentions enclosing the plaza outside the arena, to increase its use; increasing options for suites and reducing their inventory; and creating a "wow factor," which the study summarized as "make the arena great again."
Other ideas include retail on all floors; making the main Sabres store accessible from two levels; and reducing the arena's capacity from 19,070, to a range of 18,000 to 18,500.
On the "functional" list, the top items were rethinking the arena's Lexus Club; incorporating a new video board, ribbon boards and sound system; and addressing congestion at the 300 level and in suite corridors.
Other ideas on the functional list include new seating options; replacing the seats, and improving the food and beverage experience, along with the possibility of a Wall of Fame display.
While the study imagines how to improve the arena, the Sabres continue to struggle on the ice and in attendance.
The Sabres rank last in average home attendance this season among the NHL's 32 teams, at 8,492 fans per game. In the 2019-20 season, in which the Sabres had 35 home dates before the league was shut down because of the pandemic, the team's average attendance was 17,167.
The team this year is 10-15-5, and last made the playoffs in the 2010-11 season.
The Sabres' lease at KeyBank Center is scheduled to expire in 2025.
Raccuia said PSE remains "pretty focused" on a new Bills stadium.
"The stadium project has been updated since 2019," he said. "Clearly, we hired Legends since then. We’ve re-engaged with different consultants.
"We have not done any of that yet on the arena side.”
But Raccuia said it made sense to take both facilities into account in the same study.
"We have a lot of overlap in terms of season ticket holders, fans, sponsors, the community, so if we’re talking about what fans are looking for, what we’re looking for, how we’re moving into the future, we wanted to look at it in totality," he said.
"We also wanted to know what type of lift that was from both perspectives, because that’s important, as well."
News Sports Reporter Jason Wolf contributed to this report.
Matt Glynn
