Private Investors Will Ante Up For Buffalo Sabres' New Arena

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Buffalo Sabres said private investors would pay more than half the cost of a new arena under a financing plan unveiled yesterday.

Club Chairman Seymour Knox III said investors and bank loans would pay the Sabres' $58 million share for the proposed 20,000-seat Crossroads Sports and Entertainment Complex. The Sabres are counting on New York State, Erie County and the city of Buffalo to kick in the rest, said Knox.

The project calls for $52 million to come from public funds. Knox said he is requesting $25 million from the state and $20 million from the county.

Knox threatened to sell or move the team if an agreement isn't reached by June 1993, when he wants construction to begin. Knox wants the arena opened by September 1995.

The new complex would replace 52-year-old Memorial Auditorium as home to Buffalo's winter sports teams.

"We must get out of here," Knox said. "All I can say is that it's going to be a very sorry day if this doesn't go through, especially for me."

Knox said the Sabres are prepared sign a 30-year lease with the city of Buffalo, which would own the building. The Sabres would pay $1.5 million the first year and adjust that figure in following years according to the inflation rate, Knox said.

The new arena also would be home to Buffalo's professional indoor soccer team, the Blizzard, and indoor lacrosse team, the Bandits. It would be managed by Crossroads Arena Corp., a subsidiary of the Sabres.

Knox said Buffalo's failure to reach the second round of the NHL playoffs contributed to the organization's $10 million annual losses in recent years. The Sabres have not made it past the first round since 1983.

McSorley suspended

-- NHL President Gil Stein suspended defenseman Marty McSorley of the Los Angeles Kings for six days without pay for cross-checking forward Darren Banks of the Boston Bruins on Oct. 29. McSorley will lose $14,130 in salary. The suspension will be served on non-game days and non-travel days beginning Nov. 7.