The HSBC Arena was opened on September 1st 1996. The HSBC Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena situated on downtown Buffalo, New York, USA. The arena is addressed as One Seymour Knox III Plaza, Buffalo, New York, 14203-3096. The building cost $127.5 million to construct and was designed by architect Ellerbe Becket. The HSBC Arena replaced the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and the site, during construction the building was called as the Crossroads Arena. Yet after naming rights were sold to Marine Midland Bank, part of HSBC banking group, and was renamed Marine Midland Arena, even before any game had been played there. In 1999 the area was renamed the HSBC Arena, subsequent to HSBC's corporate re-branding that was taking place globally.

The arena is home venue of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL) and then Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The arena was also home to some teams that existed for some time, such as the Buffalo Destroyers of the Arena Football League, the Buffalo Blizzard of the National Professional League II and the Buffalo Wings of Roller Hockey International.

The arena is also a place for college basketball games and concerts. In 2003 Avril Lavigne performed her "Try To Shut Me Up" tour here to a sold out audience. The HSBC Arena also hosts various professional wrestling tournaments. Some of these tournaments include the World Wrestling Entertainment's Fully Loaded 1999, The Great American Bash 2005, Armageddon 2008, and World Championship Wrestling's Fall Brawl 2000. The HSBC arena was home to the house party for the 2008 NHL Winter Classic, and also the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team games.

Attending the various events at the HSBC Arena would be entertaining, and after a day of action a stay in a Buffalo Hotel such as the Millennium Airport Hotel Buffalo, would be a good idea, to take some time out to relax and have a break.