The Buffalo Bandits are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at KeyBank Center. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, then in its successor the NLL since 1998. The Bandits are one of the oldest franchises in the league, behind the Oshawa FireWolves (which were founded in 1987 as the original Philadelphia Wings (1987âÂÂ2014) franchise) and the Colorado Mammoth (which were founded in 1987 as the Baltimore Thunder). The Bandits are the oldest franchise still playing in their original city and are the most successful team in the league, holding the record for most league titles at 7.
The Bandits are owned by Hockey Western New York LLC, led by Terry Pegula who also owns the Rochester Americans, Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bills.
The Bandits played their first season in 1992. They played home games at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium sharing with the Buffalo Sabres until its closure in 1996.
The Bandits became the first expansion franchise in MILL/NLL history to win a championship in its first season. The Bandits repeated as champions in their second season, compiling the league's only perfect season to date that year, lost the championship game their third season and captured their third Championship in 1996, their fifth season. It was not until 1999, their eighth season, that the Bandits did not make the playoffs.
After their 1996 championship-winning season, the Bandits returned to the NLL Championship game on three separate occasions (1997, 2004, 2006) only to lose each time, including twice at home. It would not be until 2008 that the Bandits would win their elusive fourth championship, a 14âÂÂ13 triumph over Portland. The Bandits would lose the finals three more times before securing their fifth championship in 2023. The Bandits won their fifth title against the Colorado Mammoth winning the third and final game of the three game series 13âÂÂ4. The following year, the Bandits repeated as champions, winning their sixth title in a sweep of the Albany FireWolves. The Bandits secured a third-straight championship in 2025, their 7th overall and most in the NLL all-time, as well as one of only seven top-level professional North American sports teams to achieve the feat of a "three-peat."
As of 2025, Buffalo is the longest tenured team in the NLL, in terms of continuous years in their home city, at 33 seasons. The team is also the strongest-attended franchise in the league, with an average attendance of over 18,000 fans per game in 2025, an NLL record and substantially outdrawing its NHL counterpart, the Sabres.
<nowiki>* â voted as starter</nowiki>
(active NLL franchises only)
(Active NLL franchises only)
First Round Selections
The Bandits have four retired numbers, three of which are represented at the Arena in the rafters with the Championship banners.
Buffalo Bandits games can be heard on Buffalo's Audacy stations, either WGR 550 AM or WWKB 1520 AM. John Gurtler, former play-by-play man for the Buffalo Sabres, handles announcing duties, while former Bandit Randy Mearns handles color commentary. During its existence from 2010 to 2021, Seneca Nation-owned WGWE in Little Valley simulcast Bandits games in the Southern Tier.
All games are broadcast on ESPN+. Select games can be found nationally on ESPN Linear Networks, and locally (to the Buffalo market) on WNLO CW23. The Bandits are a strong television draw for WNLO, outrating the CW programming that usually airs in prime time on that network.