Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, and its greater metropolitan area is currently home to three major professional sports teams, the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

(

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

(

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

), and

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at KeyBank Center. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse L ...

(

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

). Buffalo is also home to other professional sports teams, including the Buffalo Bisons (

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

) and Buffalo Pro Soccer (

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

). Semi-professional teams include the Buffalo eXtreme (

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

FC Buffalo FC Buffalo is an American soccer club based in Buffalo, New York, United States, with teams in men's and women's soccer. Founded in 2009, the men's team plays in the USL League Two, a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the Americ ...

(

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

), FC Buffalo Women (

USL W League The USL W League (USLW) is a Women's association football, women's soccer league in the United States. It began play in May 2022 and follows the USL W-League (1995–2015), USL W-League, a similar league that existed from 1995 to 2015. It is c ...

), and Buffalo Stallions (

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

). Local colleges active in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

athletics include Canisius University,

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in the census-designated place Niagara University, New York, in the town of Lewiston near Niagara Falls. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and ...

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private university, private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans established the university in 1858. In ath ...

and

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

. Sports are a major part of the city's culture. In recent decades, Buffalo based teams have become known for crushing and sometimes controversial defeats. Wide Right, No Goal and the Music City Miracle have come to define the suffering of Buffalo sports fans. In February 2012, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' listed Buffalo #4 on its list of "Most Miserable Sports Cities." The city's only major championships were

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

titles won by the Buffalo Bills in 1964 and 1965. Buffalo had at one point three franchises in major league sports beginning in 1970, when the

(established 1960) were joined by the

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. However, the Braves struggled financially and were relocated to California in 1978. This led to the perception that Buffalo's market could not support a third franchise. Sahlen Field was built in 1988 for the minor league Buffalo Bisons with hopes that it could attract a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

franchise to the city. The major league franchise never came, although the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

would eventually play their home games at Sahlen Field in 2020 and 2021 because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Joe Mesi was a

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

from Buffalo who earned the nickname "Third Franchise" during his undefeated career between 1997 and 2007 after selling out

KeyBank Center KeyBank Center is a multipurpose indoor arena located in Buffalo, New York, United States. Originally known as Marine Midland Arena, the venue has since been named HSBC Arena and First Niagara Center. Home to the Buffalo Sabres of the Nation ...

and other local venues multiple times.

Current teams

Professional

(AFL) championships were earned prior to the

AFL–NFL merger The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, wh ...

of 1970. † Date refers to current incarnation; Buffalo Bisons previously operated from 1886 to 1970, and the current Bisons count this team as part of their history.

Semi-professional

Collegiate

* College Hockey America (CHA) men's hockey championships were earned prior to the league's discontinuation of the conference's men's program in 2010.

Former teams

Baseball

* Niagaras of Buffalo (

National Association of Base Ball Players The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American baseball (spelled as two words in the 19th century). The first convention of 16 New York City area clubs was held at Smith's Hotel, 462 Broome ...

) 1857–1861 * Buffalo Bisons ( International Association) 1878, 1887–1888 * Buffalo Bisons (

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

) 1879–1885 * Buffalo Bisons (

) 1886–1970 * Buffalo Bisons (

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded American professional baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Pr ...

) 1890 * Buffalo Blues (

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

) 1914–1915 *

Indianapolis Clowns The Indianapolis Clowns were a professional baseball team in the Negro American League. Tracing their origins back to the 1930s, the Clowns were the last of the Negro league teams to disband, continuing to play exhibition games into the 1980s. Th ...

(

Negro American League The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''An ...

) 1951–1955 * Buffalo Nighthawks ( Ladies Professional Baseball League) 1998 *

(

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

) 2020, 2021

Basketball

* Buffalo Germans (

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

) 1895–1925 * Buffalo Bisons ( American Basketball League) 1925–1926 * Buffalo Bisons ( National Basketball League) 1937 * Buffalo Bisons ( National Basketball League) 1946 * BAA Buffalo (

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

) 1946–1949 (never played a game) *

(

) 1970–1978 * Buffalo Sharks (

) 2005–2008 *

Buffalo Stampede The Buffalo Stampede were a basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The team competed in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) for two seasons in 2009 and 2010, and in the Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League (ACPBL) for the 2010� ...

( Premier Basketball League/ Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League) 2009–2011 * Buffalo Warriors ( Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League) 2011–2012 * Buffalo 716ers ( Premier Basketball League) 2013–2016 * Western New York Thundersnow ( Premier Basketball League/

) 2015–2017 * Buffalo Blue Hawks (

North American Basketball League The North American Basketball League (NABL) was an American List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor professional basketball league organization founded in 2016. History Formed in 2016, the NABL began with 10 teams based in the So ...

) 2015–2019 * Buffalo Blaze (Pro Basketball Association) 2021

Football

Tonawanda Kardex Lumbermen The Tonawanda Kardex (also known as the Tonawanda Lumbermen and during its first season, the All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks) was an American football team active between 1916 and 1921. It played its games in Tonawanda (city), New York, Tonawanda, New ...

(

New York Pro Football League The New York Pro Football League (NYPFL) was a professional American football league, active in the 1910s, and based in upstate New York, primarily Western New York. Between 1920 and 1921, the league's best teams were absorbed into the National Foo ...

) 1916–1921 * Buffalo franchise (

) 1918–1929 * Buffalo Indians/Tigers (

) 1940–1941 *

(

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a major professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many ...

) 1946–1949 * Buffalo Destroyers (

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

) 1999–2003 * Buffalo Blitz (

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional Indoor American football, indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the ...

/ Can-Am Indoor Football League) 2015–2017

Hockey

* Buffalo Bisons ( International Hockey League) 1928–1936 * Buffalo Majors ( American Hockey Association) 1930–1932 * Buffalo Bisons (

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

) from 1940–1970 * Buffalo Norsemen (

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

) 1975–1976 *

(

Roller Hockey International Roller Hockey International was a professional inline hockey league that operated in North America from 1993 to 1999. It was the first major professional league for inline hockey. History League president Dennis Murphy had been involved in ...

) 1994–1995 * Buffalo Wings (

/ Major League Roller Hockey) 1997–1999 * Buffalo Beauts (

Premier Hockey Federation The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...

) 2015–2023

Lacrosse

* Buffalo Bowmans (Indoor Professional Lacrosse League) 1932 * Buffalo Renegades (National Lacrosse League (Canada)) 1991

Soccer

* Buffalo White Eagles (

Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League The Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada. The league operated for six seasons from 1961 to 1966 across four cities in two Canadian provinces and one American state. In the 1960s, the Eastern Canada Professional ...

) 1962 * Buffalo Blazers (

Canadian National Soccer League The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the folding ...

) 1976–1980 * Buffalo Stallions ( Major Indoor Soccer League) 1979–1984 * Buffalo Storm (

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

) 1984 * Buffalo Blizzard ( National Professional Soccer League) 1992–2001 * Buffalo FFillies ( USL W-League) 1996–1998 * Queen City FC (

) 2007–2008 *

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...

(

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

) 2008–2018 * Buffalo City FC (

) 2009

Tennis

* Toronto-Buffalo Royals (

World TeamTennis World TeamTennis (WTT) was a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally took place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA would ...

) 1974

Major sports events held in Buffalo

* 1912 U.S. Open * 1927 NYSPHSAA Basketball Championship * 1927 Little World Series * 1933 Junior World Series * 1936 Junior World Series * 1957 Junior World Series * 1961 Coaches All-America Game * 1962 Coaches All-America Game * 1963 Coaches All-America Game * 1964 Coaches All-America Game * 1964 AFL Championship Game * 1965 Coaches All-America Game *

1975 Stanley Cup Finals The 1975 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1974–75 season, and the culmination of the 1975 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Buffalo Sabres and the defending champion Philad ...

* 1978 NHL All-Star Game * 1985 Empire State Games * 1986 Empire State Games * 1988 National Old-Timers Baseball Classic * 1988 Triple-A All-Star Game * 1989 National Old-Timers Baseball Classic * 1990 National Old-Timers Baseball Classic * 1990 Skate America * 1991 NHL Entry Draft * 1993 NCAA Division III Final Four * 1993 Summer Universiade * 1994 NCAA Division III Final Four * 1995 NCAA Division III Final Four * 1996 Empire State Games *

1999 Stanley Cup Finals The 1999 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1998–99 season, and the culmination of the 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Eastern Conference champion Buffalo Sabres and the ...

* 2003 NCAA Frozen Four * 2008 NHL Winter Classic * 2010 Empire State Games * 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships * 2012 NLL All-Star Game * 2012 Triple-A All-Star Game * 2015 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship * 2015 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships * 2016 NWHL All-Star Game * 2016 NHL Entry Draft *

2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship was the 42nd edition of the IIHF World U20 Championship, Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, and was hosted by the city of Buffalo, New York at KeyBank Center and HarborCenter. It opened on Decembe ...

* 2019 NCAA Frozen Four

References

{{Buffalo Sports