That Aud Smell

Fair deuce. I will reserve some of my outrage! 45, eh? The team has the stat’s presumably. I’m not sure they number in the 1000s on most nights. They might. Damn sure a lot more than 45.

A misplaced inference on your part. And an unfair one to boot. I have zero problem with the reality that some STH's will structure their STH purchase by planning to sell their primo tickets to fans of the visiting team (Leafs, Canadiens). Good on them. Those folks are probably some of the most ardent fans of the club. Nothing I've posted above is to the contrary. I need to give this factor some more thought. It is a unique dynamic.

Did you read the ticket sales guy's quote? They're apparently going to define local fans by zip code. I didn't see anything there about including postal codes. So, in that event, your man in Thorold who has a vintage French Connection lunch box on a shelf in his man cave can't get a first crack at tickets, but some blomo from Pembroke can?

It may have been poorly worded, but it'd be myopic for the Sabres not to consider (the most) southern (parts of) Ontario part of their potential home market. There may be a better chance of someone from St. Catharines coming to a game than there is a chance of someone from Batavia coming to a game. Defined how?

Way off base. Okay. You say "For many." I think that should read "For some." I'll stand by my original point: If you want to keep the arena sounding more like a home crowd than a visitors' crowd, then ice a good hockey team. If your team stinks or hasn't yet won back its fanbase, then be prepared for a takeover when certain teams visit. I would not have expected that from you. It troubles me a bit that the players were griping. It reminded me a bit - maybe not fairly - of Terry Pegula's February 2011 overture to the Buffalo News editorial board to make their writers be nicer to the Sabres players. (Remember when TBN had Sabres writers that ownership would worry about?) If the business office is placing restraints on ticket sales in order to address complaints from players on the team, I like this initiative even less. This is such an important consideration. I know many Sabres fans who live in places like Port Colborne, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls (Ont.), etc. Part of attendance rebounding at the arena was the re-opening of the border crossing. Border crossings on Sabre game nights don't look like they do for a Bills game, but there's generally a solid uptick. The article reported that the restraint would be based on zip codes. So Tom from Rochester will be able to get tickets, but Gary from Welland won't? Even thought they're both Sabre fans? What horsesh1t.

The 1999 ECF were very fun. The house was probably 1/3 (?) Leafs/Canada fans. That dynamic is fine. And repeatable.

Huh? It happened. I was there.

I have no interest in the Sabres looking to emulate those franchises’ practices. This market is different from each of them. If the Sabres are in the playoffs, you won’t have to block “foreign” zip codes from buying tickets in order to have it be a rabid Sabres crowd.

This isn’t a matter of keeping them out of the building. It’s a matter of keeping it a mostly Sabres crowd. The late 90s and 05-07 teams are proof that this can be done organically without restrictions on ticket sales.

More loser stuff.

No one’s telling anyone to do anything. But if the team is consistently good, you’ll have a big STH base and a large majority of them will attend rather than sell. Because they’ll want to. Not because anyone’s telling them to do that. You can’t. Although I think a Florida team tried for the playoffs? This is why it’s loser stuff.

It’s loser stuff. Get the STH base way back up. Make it so those STH’s don’t want to sell their most valuable tickets. You do that by being a good hockey team, not through artificial market restraints. We’re not Florida or Tampa, ffs.

Ticket buyers from non-local zip codes are going to the “back of the line” for Sabres ticket sales. Per TBN, linked below. The article twice mentions how aggravated some Sabres players were with the Leafs having a super majority of the fans in the building last year when the Leafs visited and ran out to a 4-0 lead. This sort of policy strikes me as pathetic. Become a better hockey team and the ticketing will take care of itself. Also, they can’t control what STH will do with secondary markets. https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/sabres-planning-experiment-to-make-sure-their-fans-gets-first-chance-at-tickets/article_e657d1da-467a-11ee-872a-abe3a10ac2d4.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

Lol - this feels true and is funny if so. Amazing what having an elite QB will do for a GM. The Patriots presumably did well with bringing in FA’s? They certainly found a hidden gem with Edelman. This Beane draft record debate is begging for good data analysis. Surely it exists?

Yes indeed - what *if* Terry were dissolving PSE because of a divorce from Kim and not because Kim had become disabled following a medical event. 🧐

The organization’s press release was garbage and subsequent reporting has brought clarity. That is, that PSE is dissolving and, thus, the Bills and Sabres are being divested therefrom.

Quessenberry (sp?) cut. They must be planning to sign a FA OT or trade for one. Upgrading at MLB and QB2 also seems possible. They were in on the SF QB - what’s his name - Trey Lance (?). (Unsure and not looking it up - sounds like a member of a 90s boy band.)

@Doohickie could you edit the topic to reflect that PSE didn’t so much separate the Bills and Sabres as it dissolved? E.g., PSE dissolved; Bills and Sabres are separated as businesses; Terry Pegula named Sabres President

I’m usually quick to join a dog pile on Timmay Graham, but, in this case, it seems like he gave a tough but fair assessment of the Pegulas’ affairs after Kim became disabled. But … yeah. Maybe being “tough” here isn’t all that defensible. 🤷‍♂️

I don’t follow about 75% of this.

Oh, fo sho. No choice, like I said.

He did. No choice, really. But at least now his status as chief officer is more direct and the PSE layer is gone.

Rip is a savage, as the kids say/used to say. There is no pretense about and no artifice to him. His stories and perspectives are great.

On further reflection, I’ve come to see the dismantling of PSE as, at least in part (and probably in large part), a consequence of Kim’s condition. This is a good take above. I’ll add this: I think Terry is happy to be pretty busy with ownership work that he likes — remember the “we walk in 2 different directions when we get off the elevator” line from Kim. Terry doesn’t like the PSE business administration work.