Seneca Resorts and Casinos Lands First Home Jersey Sponsorship for Buffalo Sabres

^{Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin will sport a Seneca Casinos logo on his home jersey next season. (Photo: Jeffrey T. Barnes / AP)}

Seneca Resorts and Casinos, a tribal gaming organization owned by the Seneca Nation of Indians, reached a deal with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres to become the team’s official home jersey sponsor for the upcoming season.

Seneca Resorts and Casinos joins Stark Tech – which reached a deal with Buffalo to be the away jersey sponsor in May – as the first sponsors to appear on Sabres jerseys.

Better Late Than Never for Sabres Jersey Sponsors

The NHL first allowed teams to have jersey sponsors in the 2022-23 season, making it a relatively late addition to the marketing format. While European soccer teams have long had shirt sponsors, the first major North American league to allow the practice was the NBA in its 2017-18 season, followed by Major League Baseball in 2023. Most NHL teams quickly jumped at the opportunity, and the Sabres are one of the last teams to add sponsors on their game jerseys. 

The Seneca Resorts and Casinos that will be features on Buffalo Sabres jerseys. (Photo: courtesy of NHL)

The approach in the U.S. stands starkly in contrast to what's happening in Europe. The Premier League agreed to a ban on gambling shirt sponsors that takes effect at the start of the 2026-27 season later this year, and several other European leagues have implemented or are pursuing similar restrictions. North American leagues have moved in the opposite direction, embracing gaming sponsorships as a significant revenue stream, while simultaneously enforcing increasingly strict rules against players and employees gambling on their own sports.

For the Sabres, adding Seneca made sense thanks to their long-time partnership with the tribal gaming organization. The Buffalo team has worked with Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino for over a decade since the resort opened in 2013.

Pete Guelli, president of business operations for the Sabres, said that the partnership between the team and Seneca Resorts and Casinos has made a great example of supporting both a sports team and the community.

“Expanding our relationship to our home uniform speaks to Seneca’s commitment to the Buffalo Sabres and reflects the confidence they continue to place in our organization," Guelli said in a statement. "It is a strong indication of how the energy around our team is translating into meaningful growth opportunities.”

Partnership Includes Hockey Clinics for Native Kids

As part of the jersey partnership, the Sabres will introduce the “Train Like a Pro” program. The initiative will provide hockey clinics and other team-building activities for Native American youth.

“Bringing our brands together in such a visible way deepens and evolves our longstanding connection with the Sabres,” said Seneca Resorts and Casinos Chief Marketing Officer Cynthia Liu in a statement. “When the Sabres are at home, the game day energy in the Cobblestone District, from Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino to the arena and back, is unmistakable.”

The sponsorship comes at a time when all five major North American sports leagues – the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS  – are wrestling with balancing integration of gambling brands and competitive integrity. While leagues allow teams to have gaming sponsors, they have also had to enforce rules against players and employees gambling on their own sports, with punishments as severe as lifetime bans becoming increasingly common.

Sponsorship agreements such as the one between the Seneca and the Sabres exemplify the impact that tribal gaming has across the country. Learn more about the impact of tribal gaming in North America with Casinos.com as we celebrate Tribal Gaming month.