History

The concept of creating a sports hall of fame for Buffalo had been suggested and discussed many times over the years. It was brought to the fruition in the fall of 1990 when local businessman John Kapelewski got things moving.

Several years earlier, Kapelewski had helped create the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame. Following his transfer to Buffalo, he discovered the Queen City was without a sports hall of fame of its own. Shortly thereafter, Kapelewski began recruiting a board of directors, a group of local businesspeople and diehard Buffalo sports fans, all dedicated to reaching their goal -- the creation of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.

Incorporated as a non-profit organization, the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame group began meeting regularly in 1991, putting together plans for an inaugural induction dinner, creating a nomination form, distributing them to Western New York sports fans, tabulating results and announcing the first class of 11.

After the induction of the Class of 2007, the total membership in the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame has reached 192. This community's sports hall of fame is one of our nation's most unique since its scope is all encompassing. Our honorees live, have lived and worked in Western New York. They are men and women who have contributed to the welfare of sports in Greater Buffalo by performance, time, effort and/or financial support whether that sport be amateur or professional.

The public is welcome to visit the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame's exhibit, which opened to the public October 7, 1999. It is free and located on the lower level of the HSBC Arena atrium in downtown Buffalo. Memorabilia, information, interactive computer kiosks and video presentations are displayed in honor of these great men and women.