Rochester Reporter

(Tuesday, April 2, 2024) – Mayor Malik D. Evans today announced that the City has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the operation and management of the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. Located in the heart of Downtown Rochester, the 14,000-seat arena is the Finger Lakes Region’s primary sports and entertainment destination and is slated to undergo a $7 million upgrade as part of the City’s Roc the Riverway initiative.

"The Blue Cross Arena is one of the jewels that keeps our city vibrant," said Mayor Evans. "We continue to build tremendous momentum in redefining our center city as a place where people desire to live, work, and play, and the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial is central to that goal."

Rochester Arena, LLC (RA), a Pegula-related entity, is the current operator of the Blue Cross Arena. RA entered into an arena license agreement with the City on Oct. 14, 2019 that granted the organization exclusive use of the Arena. RA provided written notice on March 28, 2024 of their intent to opt-out. Under the MOU, RA will continue to operate the Arena through April 30, 2025, at which time the Arena operator selected through the RFP process will fully assume operation and management responsibilities.

"In the RFP, the City is seeking qualified facility managers to provide operational, sales, and marketing services for the 255,540 square-foot arena," Mayor Evans explained. "Minimum qualifications for bidders include the successful management of at least one all-purpose arena with a seating capacity of at least 10,000 persons during the last three years."

The City's intended schedule would allow the selected vendor to commence transitioning the operation and management of the facility on October 15, 2024. The RFP document with complete details is located at www.cityofrochester.gov/bidandrfp.