The Buffalo Bisons (Triple-A; International League) and its lobbying firm are in talks with state officials about funds for Sahlen Field renovations.
Sahlen Field opened for the 1988 season and has remained mostly unchanged on the fan side since then, though the clubhouses and other player areas were upgraded when the Toronto Blue Jays played regular-season games in 2020 and 2021 when COVID restrictions shut down the Canadian border. It occupies a signifiant spot in baseball history, opening as the first retro ballpark in professional baseball (before Oriole Park opened in 1992) and a standard-bearer for a wave of new retro ballparks across baseball. At a capacity of 16,600, it was also designed to be expandable if Major League Baseball ever came to town.
The team has hired a lobbying firm co-owned by former Buffalo mayor Anthony Masiello, which has approached Governor Kathy Hochul’s office about renovations. No work on the specifics of what’s being discussed.