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My Dallas and Nashville trip


jsb

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2 hours ago, jsb said:

Most disappointing was missing Mr. Doohickie, really was trying to catch up with him but with the horrible driving in weather we had, having a hard time finding the hotel because of same, having to find something to eat prior to game and then Uber-ing into the arena, I just couldn't find the time to meet up with him. All my fault and was looking forward to this.

Next time, my friend.

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I agree with you on visiting Nashville.  The bar/nightlife scene isn't really for me, but it is an active downtown area.

I have been to a game in Nashville....not in Dallas, but besides Nashville I have visited several of the other Arenas around the country. Every time I am outside of Buffalo and at a different Arena, one thing sticks with me.  Just how far behind the rest of the league the Arena/gameday experience is in Buffalo. 

And I know...a "Real fan' doesn't need the bells-and-whistles that the other Arenas have...but if I'm only in it for the game and not the gameday/Arena experience, than I can see more of the game at home than I can in person most of the time. The Sabres really have to look into improving the Arena.  Once you see where the rest of the league plays...the broken seats in Buffalo, the cracked concrete, the bathrooms with no hot water...and all the other little things here really stand out.

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When you’ve been to games in other cities, it really puts it into perspective how terrible the game experience in Buffalo is. Much of it seems to be a whole lot of small details that are ignored, which culminates into a total problem. Yes, most of us are there for the game, but that shouldn’t nullify any attempts at a better experience or entertainment factor for casual fans, new fans, kids, etc. 

One example was the recent “90s” day. I bought tickets to bring my father who has been a fan since inception, and my daughter to her first game. There was a pennant giveaway. They must have been a limited supply, because we didn’t get any. Even my father commented how trivial it would be to only supply a certain amount of a cheap item like a pennant instead of to everyone who paid for a ticket. 

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30 minutes ago, Andrew Amerk said:

When you’ve been to games in other cities, it really puts it into perspective how terrible the game experience in Buffalo is. Much of it seems to be a whole lot of small details that are ignored, which culminates into a total problem. Yes, most of us are there for the game, but that shouldn’t nullify any attempts at a better experience or entertainment factor for casual fans, new fans, kids, etc. 

One example was the recent “90s” day. I bought tickets to bring my father who has been a fan since inception, and my daughter to her first game. There was a pennant giveaway. They must have been a limited supply, because we didn’t get any. Even my father commented how trivial it would be to only supply a certain amount of a cheap item like a pennant instead of to everyone who paid for a ticket. 

Agree totally that they should have enough pennants for the entire crowd.  When they give out T-shirts, which have to cost at least 5x if not 10x the pennants, they have 1 on every seat.  But they only give out 10k pennants.   They do announce that, but is really easy to miss the announcement in the advertisement of that particular night.  And for the cost of ~9k extra they'd garner so much goodwill.  Poundwise, penny foolish.  If I had a spare I'd get it to you, but only have 1.  Sorry.

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10 hours ago, Andrew Amerk said:

Even my father commented how trivial it would be to only supply a certain amount of a cheap item like a pennant instead of to everyone who paid for a ticket. 

That's pretty standard for giveaways- they usually include fine print to the effect of "for first 10,000 fans through the gate."  They want you to get there early so you buy another beer.  This is true everywhere.

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10 hours ago, Taro T said:

And for the cost of ~9k extra they'd garner so much goodwill. 

Funny thing is, the team typically doesn't even pay for them.  The costs are born by the sponsors of the giveway.  (Not sure if that was the case with the pennant, but it usually is.  There is usually a sponsor logo on the item.)

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1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

Funny thing is, the team typically doesn't even pay for them.  The costs are born by the sponsors of the giveway.  (Not sure if that was the case with the pennant, but it usually is.  There is usually a sponsor logo on the item.)

Those pennants are not sponsored by any of the team's "partners."  All the full cost ($10k at absolute max, probably more like $1k) of the 3/4 standard size pennants appears to have been born by the Pegulas.

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44 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Yeah, I did some googling and didn't see any sponsor logos.

But still, the whole "first 10,000 fans" thing is pretty standard stuff.

True, it is standard.  Doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt their business when people end up disappointed &/or upset that they didn't get the trinket they expected to get.

So, the question is, can an organization that could very well miss the playoffs for a 9th consecutive time really afford to be ticking their customers off further in such a trivial way?  They seem to believe the answer is yes.  Not so sure that's the right answer.

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8 hours ago, Doohickie said:

That's pretty standard for giveaways- they usually include fine print to the effect of "for first 10,000 fans through the gate."  They want you to get there early so you buy another beer.  This is true everywhere.

I’m well aware of this, being a veteran of many sports games and giveaways. We were there early - but apparently so were 10,000 or less other people (a guy sitting by himself in front of us had a stack of 6 of them somehow). 

I can understand limiting something more “pricey” such as a bobblehead, but this was a cheap pennant. On top of that, this is supposed to be a season of celebrating the fans and the team history. 

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39 minutes ago, Andrew Amerk said:

I’m well aware of this, being a veteran of many sports games and giveaways. We were there early - but apparently so were 10,000 or less other people (a guy sitting by himself in front of us had a stack of 6 of them somehow). 

I can understand limiting something more “pricey” such as a bobblehead, but this was a cheap pennant. On top of that, this is supposed to be a season of celebrating the fans and the team history. 

The guy w/ 6 of them probably just grabbed a stack when entering from the parking garage near the Labatts Brewhouse or getting ready to head up the escalator to the 300's.  There were tons of them lying right there unattended by the escalator. 

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41 minutes ago, Taro T said:

The guy w/ 6 of them probably just grabbed a stack when entering from the parking garage near the Labatts Brewhouse or getting ready to head up the escalator to the 300's.  There were tons of them lying right there unattended by the escalator. 

He was probably the same person that I saw  selling them for $24.99 on eBay during the 2nd intermission. 

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also went to Nashville for game this past weekend and had the same problem with getting tickets.  According to one local the Preds "think they are bigger then what they really are".

They only sell tickets to the 5 states neighboring TN as to keep the home ice advantage and allow the local fans to get tickets.

Of course there are ways around it and I was able to get inside.  

As far as the game, the goaltending by Rinne and Ullmark was amazing.  I usually am not a fan of 2-1 games as they can be slow and sloppy.  But this game was entertaining and had lots of scoring chances. Score could have easily been 5-4. 

You could tell Sabres got worn down in the third period, and phantom trip call on Jack cost the Sabres at least a point.

Heres hoping they come out of this week off well rested and can get 14 points out the next ten games.  (nine are at home)

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