Home to the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL) since 1996, is the largest indoor arena in Western New York, seating 19,070.

In addition to concerts and professional wrestling, the venue has hosted major events including the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, 2003 Frozen Four, 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, 2012 NLL All-Star Game, 2016 NHL Draft, UFC 210, 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and 2019 Frozen Four.

[2] The venue was named after its central downtown location, which was originally proposed as the site of a domed stadium in the 1960s for the Buffalo Bills and a potential Major League Baseball team before that project was abandoned.

[6] On November 16, 1996, the arena's first JumboTron, an eight-sided scoreboard made by Daktronics with Sony video screens, fell to the ice while it was being remotely moved.

This happened minutes after a few players ended practice and hours before a game between the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins.

The second update to the arena took place in 2002–2003, when the Sabres replaced matrix board on the face of the second bowl with a LED ribbon.

Two illuminated Sabres logos were added in the upper level of the pavilion on both sides of the Sports Headlines bar.

Also, new LED ribbon boards were installed in the arena seating bowl in conjunction with the new HD scoreboard manufactured by Daktronics.

The major renovation included the demolition and installation of brand new locker rooms, decor and concession updates as well as fan enhancements.

This $6 million locker room project[8] led by Cannon Design of Grand Island saw an expansion from 8,000 to 15,220 square feet (743 to 1,414 m2) in size.

Limestones that were salvaged from the former Buffalo Memorial Auditorium are surrounded by glass, which features the names of all team players throughout franchise existence.

[11] Outside, a new LED ribbon board was added to the entrance pavilion which can display upcoming events, scores, and team information, though it was subsequently removed to make way for the construction of a new pedestrian bridge to the adjacent LECOM Harborcenter complex in 2014.

[17] In July 2012, the space located between the arena's entrance pavilion and the parking ramp saw the concrete bridge columns covered with brick.

LECOM Harborcenter is a mid-rise building with 2 hockey rinks, a Marriott hotel, retail space, IMPACT Training facility, restaurants including 716 Food and Sport and flagship Tim Hortons and a parking garage.

All suites will now feature the Sabres Blue and Gold color scheme, 50" TVs, new carpeting, new furniture and gathering islands.

In 2011, Buffalo-based First Niagara Financial Group reached an agreement to purchase HSBC Bank's upstate New York and Connecticut branch network, including much of the core of the old Marine Midland.

In October 2014, the arena hosted its first Ontario Hockey League contest, a neutral-site game between the Erie Otters (who counted among its players marquee prospect Connor McDavid) and the Niagara IceDogs.

On February 23, 2025, the first Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) game in Buffalo will be played at the arena between the Boston Fleet and the New York Sirens.

This included TV tapings of Monday Nitro, Raw is War, SmackDown, ECW, Superstars, Main Event, NXT, Dynamite, and Rampage.

In addition, the venue hosted several pay-per-view events including Fully Loaded (1999), Fall Brawl (2000), The Great American Bash (2005), Armageddon (2008), Night of Champions (2011) and Battleground (2013).

The press box in the arena is named after former Sabres broadcaster and Hockey Hall of Fame member Ted Darling.