Why the gold ring at the KeyBank Center is a Buffalo landmark

When I think of Buffalo landmarks, I think of things that are easily recognizable for everyone to understand. City Hall has a cool design, Niagara Falls is a natural wonder of the world and the gold ring at the KeyBank Center makes the nearly 30-year-old arena stand out compared to others.

Before MANIAC has a heart attack, I do not mean the Gold Ring sponsor banners (their time for a blog post will be soon) that are on display next to the names of Dominik Hasek, Ryan Miller and the French Connection. I am stating that the gold-painted ring that indicates the section numbers for the 100 level is the best thing about KeyBank Center.

Now that might sound silly, but every single arena these days looks identical from the inside, especially from a hard cam setup. These gold-painted ring immediately indicates to me at least that whatever event that is taking place is in Buffalo. I absolutely adore seeing old wrestling clips on Twitter (is it X yet?) and remembering being at that event when I was a kid with my dad.

The gold-painted ring is a dead-on giveaway that the wrestling or concert video took place in Buffalo, and it could have been a show I was at. It feels like every other major arena in America has two sets of LED banners that go across the whole place. While those look nice and offer great engagement opportunities, they just feel so corporate and shrill. There is no unique personality in these that make an arena special.

The ring needs to stay

It is no secret that the KeyBank Center is in need of some upgrades. While that change probably won’t happen today or anytime soon, there will be a day when either the Sabres find a new home in Buffalo, or some serious money is put in to overhaul the arena and make it up to date with today’s NHL arenas.

We saw it this past year with the Bills receiving a new stadium, not everything made everyone the happiest. I am not asking for anything crazy for the next Sabres’ arena (the arena is nearing being 30 years old now) all I want is something to make the arena feel special. The Aud had the iconic seat colors, and KeyBank has this lovely gold ring.

I love Buffalo having its own unique quirks that make it different from other cities. This gold ring makes our arena noticeable and different from basically every other one in the country.