Sahlen’s Field
In 1968 Buffalo had the opportunity to gain a Major League Baseball team, and a bid was placed to bring a team to the Buffalo area, and also included a domed stadium. But the teams went to the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres instead.
In 1970, plans were made to build the domed stadium in Lancaster for the Buffalo Bills, which would have also included space to accommodate baseball. But the bid went over budget and plans went awry when the Buffalo Bills owner threatened to move the Buffalo Bills if a new stadium was not introduced to Buffalo so the team wouldn’t have to play at the aged War Memorial Stadium. Erie County’s hand was forced to forsake the domed stadium for Orchard Park’s open-air Rich Stadium. At that point in 1970, the Buffalo Bisons relocated mid-season and turned into the Winnipeg Whips, removing Buffalo from having professional baseball.
More History:
But then in 1978 Mayor James Griffin and a venture capital group acquired the Jersey City A’s, and they were renamed to Buffalo Bisons and donned the chronicle of the preceding Buffalo Bisons squads that had performed in Buffalo from 1877 to 1970. Robert Rich Jr. bought the Buffalo Bisons in 1983. Then in 1985 he obtained the Wichita Aeros, which upgraded the club to the Triple-A class American Association in 1985.In 1986 the stadium broke ground and put Buffalo on the map with the third-biggest venue in Minor League Baseball. In their first year in the new venue after moving from War Memorial Stadium, the Buffalo Bisons surpassed the best Minor League Baseball record turnout with 1,186,651 patrons throughout the 1988 period. And again beat the record in 1991 with a turnout of 1,240,951 patrons.
Sahlen Field Named
The original naming rights for the stadium were bought by Pilot Air Freight in 1986, identifying the stadium as Pilot Field. But the company defaulted on their annual payments in 1995 when it became known as Downtown Park. That same year HMO North AmeriCare bought the rights to name the stadium North AmeriCare Park. Dunn Tire bought out their remaining contract in 1999, renaming the park Dunn Tire Park. Then in 2008 Coca-Cola Bottling Company bought the naming rights for 10 years and named the place Coca-Cola Field, until Sahlen’s snatched up the naming rights after Coca-Cola’s contract ran out in 2018. It remains Sahlen Field to the present day, and started in the 2019 season.Sahlen Field has been a host to a plethora of baseball from all sorts of leagues and events, most notably Minor League Baseball’s Buffalo Bisons, and Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays during Covid. Many different concerts have taken place during the history of Sahlen Field, as well as many Professional Wrestling events. The National Buffalo Wing Festival was hosted there for many years. A music video for the Goo Goo Dolls, and a low-budget film titled Angel Blues was shot at the stadium. Reverend Billy Graham used the stadium to host one of his Crusades in 1988, and his son Revered Franklin Graham hosted his Rock the Lakes outreach at the stadium in 2012.
Sahlen Field is located at 1 James D. Griffin Plaza in Downtown Buffalo, and is conveniently located right off the 190 and next to the Metro Rail system that goes throughout the city of Buffalo.