HSBC ARENA
By PATRICK LAKAMP
News Staff Reporter
1/5/2003
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial...05/1025911.asp

The single biggest improvement prospective Sabres owner Mark E. Hamister says he would need at HSBC Arena is a new "electronic ribbon" advertising display that can carry full-color animation between seating levels around the arena.
Getting such a display would allow Hamister to increase revenues for the arena and the Sabres by selling advertising to smaller companies that now cannot afford to advertise, he said.

"It will have a profound impact on the economic stability of the arena and of the team," Hamister said.

Some of the newer arenas across the country have such displays. They were not available when the 6-year-old HSBC Arena was built, he said.

"We're not criticizing what's wrong with a 6-year-old building," Hamister said. "What we are saying is, if you want to correct the economic challenges of this building in this market in this economy today, we need to be more flexible in how we obtain our revenue sources. This will enable us to do that."