🏈 NFL: 1960-2021
62 2
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's Am...
NHL: 1971-2021
51
The Buffalo Sabres were established in 1970, along with the Vancouver Canucks, when the league expanded to 14 teams. They have played at KeyBank Center since 1996. Prior to that, the Buffalo Sabres pl...
Defunct Teams
Teams that have folded or moved away from the Buffalo area.F i l t e r & S o r t Filter & Sort
🏀 NBA: 1971-1978
8
The franchise was founded as the Buffalo Braves in 1970 as an expansion team. Led by Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo, the Braves reached the NBA playoffs three times during their eight seasons in Buffalo. Co...
🏀 NBA: 1947-1963
17 1
Founded in 1946 and originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA and one of only eight (out of 23) to survive the league's first decade.
The 76ers have...
🏀 NBA: 1926-1957
32 2
The franchise began with the Rochester Seagrams (a semi-professional team) from Rochester, New York, that formed in 1923 and hosted a number of teams there over the next 20 years. They joined the Nati...
🏈 AAFC: 1946-1949
4
The Buffalo Bills were an American football team, based in Buffalo, New York, that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During its first season in 1946, the team was known ...
🏀 NBL: 1947-1947
1
The team's origins can be traced to the establishment of the Buffalo Bisons in 1946 in Buffalo, New York, a member of the National Basketball League (NBL) owned by Ben Kerner and Leo Ferris. After 38 ...
🏀 ABL: 1939-1947
9
After changing locations the first few seasons, in 1940 they became known as the Troy Celtics. The team is not connected to New York's "Original" Celtics.
🏈 AFL3: 1940-1941
2
The Buffalo Indians were a professional American football team that competed in the third American Football League in 1940 and in 1941. The team played its home games in Civic Stadium in Buffalo, New ...
🏀 NBL: 1926-1938
13
The Buffalo Bisons (also known as the Germans) were an American basketball team based in Buffalo, New York that was a member of the American Basketball League.
🏈 AFL2: 1937-1937
1
The Rochester Tigers were a professional American football team that competed in the second American Football League in 1936 and 1937. Owned by Mike Palm (who doubled as coach) and Harry Newman, the T...
🏈 NFL: 1915-1929
15 2
Buffalo, New York had a turbulent, early-era National Football League team that operated under multiple names and several different owners between the 1910s and 1920s.
In 1918, shoe salesman Warren ...
🏀 MBL: 1910-1928
19 5
Troy Trojans played for 19 seasons from 1910 to 1928, several in the MBL, before folding....
🏈 NFL: 1908-1925
18 2
Formed as an amateur outfit by a rag-tag group of Rochester-area teenagers after the turn of the 20th century (a 1925 report has the team being founded in 1898), the team became known as the Jefferson...
🏈 NFL: 1916-1921
6 1
The Tonawanda Kardex (also known as the Tonawanda Lumbermen and, during its first season, the All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks) was an American football team active between 1916 and 1921. It played its games...
🏈 NYPFL: 1896-1919
24
The Watertown Red & Black is a semi-professional American football team based in Watertown, New York. The team is the oldest active semi-pro football team in the United States, and can trace its histo...
🏈 NYPFL: 1902-1919
18 1
A nameless professional American football team, based in Syracuse, New York and generically known as the Syracuse Pros or Syracuse Eleven, was once thought to have joined the American Professional Foo...
⚾ FL: 1914-1915
2
Team disbanded after the Federal League folded following the 1915 season.
⚾ PL: 1890-1890
1
Team disbanded after the Players League folded following the 1890 season.
⚾ NL: 1879-1885
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After 7 years in the National League, the franchise folded and sold all player contracts to the Detroit Wolverines following the 1885 season.
⚾ NL: 1879-1882
4
After 4 years in the National League, the franchise folded following the 1882 season.
⚾ NA: 1866-1872
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After 2 years in the National Association, the franchise folded following the 1872 season.
The early history of sports contains hundreds of teams that appeared for only 1 or 2 seasons before folding. Most of these teams have no historical photographs or articles, so are omitted from this list to reduce clutter. To view a comprehensive list of all defunct teams, browse to the early leagues section for baseball, football, basketball, or hockey.