Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz seeks arena exit despite new KeyBank name agreement

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- A new contract announced on Wednesday will keep the home of the Buffalo Sabres known as KeyBank Center for more than a decade, but Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz still wants Erie County out of the arena business.

KeyBank extended its naming right of the arena until the 2035-36 season. The new contract will begin for the 2026-27 NHL season.

Poloncarz spoke at Wednesday's announcement and said this deal reflects a strong commitment to keep the Sabres in the Queen City. Even with this exciting announcement, he said he still wants the county, who currently owns the shell of the building, to step away from its involvement eventually.

"The goal is to keep the team here," Poloncarz said. "We're going to keep the team here, but I have no interest in the county continuing having ownership and there's reasonings behind that."

Poloncarz cited potential costs of investments and litigation as two main reasons.

"The county has been sued multiple times as result of litigation associated with injuries and falls at the football stadium, just like we sometimes have at the hockey arena," he said.

Poloncarz also announced some upsetting news for fans. As of now, he said there are no plans to do any sort of interior renovation to the KeyBank Center and that the focus is on the Buffalo Bills' new stadium in Orchard Park.

"It's coming up on 30 years. It's going to need some updates, but thankfully we're not talking about building a new hockey arena to keep the team in town," he said. "I expect the team to stay here a long time and there will be some work that will be done, but we'll resolve that all through negotiations. Probably coming later this year through, of course, next year but we got to get that football stadium done on time."

The lease on the building expires in September 2026, but it has the chance to be extended. Poloncarz said that is something that has been done in the past. He said negotiations are in the early stages and he's looking forward to conversations continuing in the future.