Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Saturday is expected to be a busy day for Buffalo sports, and businesses in Downtown Buffalo are hoping to reap the benefits.
The day begins with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Minnesota Wild at KeyBank Center with a 12:30 p.m. faceoff. Shortly after the final horn sounds, fans will then shift gears and get ready for kickoff between the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional Round at 4:30 p.m.
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Businesses in-and-around KeyBank Center are hoping to see several Buffalo sports fans dedicating their time to spend with them, and share in the moment with other Western New Yorkers.
"We are expecting a really heavy turnout of everyone downtown wanting to come out and support both teams," said Laurie Yaeger, private event manager at Southern Tier Brewing Co. "We expect to be busy beforehand for the Sabres game, and with that right after rush from the game, getting another push for the Bills game as well. It's always a lot of excitement with everything on the TVs, and the red lights going whenever we get a touchdown or a score for the Sabres."
"It's almost perfect for people being downtown, being right across the street from KeyBank Center. After the Sabres game, people can come right on over and come on in and watch the Bills game," said Matt Rabinowski, co-owner of The Draft Room. "We're going to have giveaways, we're going to have prizes, we're going to have drink specials. It's going to be a great day.
"We really hope that people want to stop in and enjoy it with the 'Bills Mafia' that's going to be here."
For Ed Arnold, co-owner of Hofbrauhaus Buffalo, he says having the Sabres doing so well recently, business has been booming with large pre- and postgame crowds for home games. They will also be having a viewing party for the Sabres and Bills games on Saturday as well.
"With the Sabres playing earlier and then as soon as they're done the Bills starting off, we should have a lot going on," said Arnold in an interview with WBEN. "We're trying to really make it a special event with a special menu for game day, with some giveaways and also playing the fight song and doing that sort of thing when the Bills score their touchdowns."
While business before Saturday's Sabres game may be brief, the influx of people after the game that are sticking around for the football game will be booming.
"We do all first come, first serve. It's definitely the most fair for everyone coming down. But we do expect to see a lot of those people that are over at the Sabres game to stick around to watch the Bills," Yaeger said with WBEN.
"We expect to see a larger than normal crowd staying after the game and staying later. It's going to be just a great atmosphere," Rabinowitz added.
At Hofbrauhaus, it's one of the larger venues downtown that can bring in hundreds of people and fit everyone.
"When you get these big games, people like to be around other Buffalonians, they like to celebrate together. And we think that we're going to have a lot of people there," Arnold said. "Some of it's weather dependent, if we have a major snowstorm on the day of the game or something, that could stifle things a bit. But if the weather is decent, I expect we'll have hundreds-and-hundreds of people watching the game with us."
On a regular basis, businesses after a Sabres game will see a number of fans sticking around and maybe waiting for traffic to calm down before heading out. However, the hope is for those fans to stay and create quite an environment for the Bills game, especially if the Sabres are victorious just prior.
"For this Bills game, we expect more people, and we expect everyone to be jazzed for the game and stick around to watch that game," Rabinowitz said with WBEN.
"You can drive downtown, you can park at the Hofbrauhaus, and you can walk very easily to the [arena]. A lot of people do that, and then when they're down there, rather than try to race home right away and fight the traffic, they can stay there and can enjoy the Hofbrauhaus," Arnold added. "And then if they're sticking around for the Bills game, even better."
While the Bills are in the thick of their quest back to the Super Bowl, businesses have been extremely pleased with the turnout for Sabres games, especially with the team climbing its way back into contention for the playoffs.
"We've been down here since 2021, and I'll tell you, every year we get busier with the Sabres doing a little bit better-and-better. And this year has obviously been a lot better than past years, so we are seeing more people come out, wanting to support them, which is really, really cool," Yaeger noted. "They had a sold out game the other night, so definitely the tap room was very, very busy."
"We've seen an uptick, no doubt, in the last month," Rabinowitz added. "What we've seen in the last month is it's increased so much more so, people are coming earlier and people are staying later. After the game, we're seeing much more people that are coming over to stay with us, and it really is a great atmosphere."
And who can forget the success of the Buffalo Bandits as well, having won three-straight championships?
"We really have three pillars - The Sabres, the Bills and the Bandits," Arnold said. "The Bills, of course, they're once a week, but Sabres play more often, and the Sabres and the Bandits attract a lot of people, because we're right down in the center of things with the arena. Those are big boons to us, and when the Sabres are doing well, we get a lot more people that come out. And the Bandits always do well, and we get a lot of people that come from the Bandits games."