Sabres ticket sales still pretty dismal

[Taro T]

Just now, Brawndo said:

Even if a judge says that the clause is voided,  Any new owner still requires still an approval from the Board of Governorship, if the new owner’s plans do not align with the NHL’s they will not be approved 

IIRC, the NHL, Mario and Golisano all worked closely with the bankruptcy courts to ensure a smooth transition. 

And again, personally do not expect to ever see the team moved.

But, a deep pocketed potential owner could bring the league to court if they refuse to honor a sale agreement worked out between 2 willing parties.  Or, an owner playing 3D chess would agree to buy the team and never never ever cross his heart consider moving the team, get the purchase approved, and then a couple of years later unfortunately be forced into declaring bankruptcy and get the clause voided.  Once it's voided, the league either acquieses to the petition to move the team or they get sued and the team moves any way (hello Los Angeles Football Raiders).

Do not expect the team to ever move but am not willing to say there is no way it could happen nor that it never would/will happen.

When people with really deep pockets want something to happen, oftentimes it does.

(And Balsillie was an idiot.  He put his cards on the table and the league was never going to approve him as an owner.  Had he held his cards closer to the vest, the Pens and Wings might be working up a great rivalry.  Of course, with as much of his fortune tied up in RIM, he might not have been deep pocketed enough to force the move had he been more coy about his actual intents when making his initial offer on the Pens.)

[Taro T]

Btw, pretty sure am done with this discussion (at least for now).  (Can't say it with 100% certainty, because that's like firing up the Bat Signal for a particular old poster based in NW PA.)

It is a really depressing topic and doubt anybody is going to change anybody else's opinion about this subject.  And there is no reason to be focusing on a subject this negative when the Sabres are on the verge of entering another golden era.

Edited October 1, 2023 by Taro T

[MBD]

10 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Didn't say it necessarily would be the Pegulas as the owners that are looking to declare bankruptcy to remove that condition from the earlier sale.  

And, considering the caveat that was in the sale agreement between Golisano and Pegula, you are mistaken about whether Pegula would have to have the Sabres declare bankruptcy to sell to an owner that wanted to move the team.

I haven't read anywhere that it was the league who stipulated the NMC and not Golisano himself.

[PASabreFan]

29 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Btw, pretty sure am done with this discussion (at least for now).  (Can't say it with 100% certainty, because that's like firing up the Bat Signal for a particular old poster based in NW PA.)

It is a really depressing topic and doubt anybody is going to change anybody else's opinion about this subject.  And there is no reason to be focusing on a subject this negative when the Sabres are on the verge of entering another golden era.

Come on, don't quit, keep on kicking. It's always a good goal to have in life.

[Sabres Super Fan]

First the Buffalo Sabres aren’t going anywhere. Downtown Buffalo what is down there at Canalside fails without the Buffalo Sabres. I know everyone says how important the Buffalo Bills are. But the reality Orchard Park has very little infrastructure so if the Buffalo Bills were to leave Orchard Park would be fine. Downtown Buffalo would be a shell of itself without the Buffalo Sabres 41 times a year. Remember that when Buffalo Sabres fans hear about lease negotiations.
 

I get it the Buffalo Sabres aren’t very good for years. If this professional sports stuff didn’t matter Las Vegas wouldn’t be bending over backwards to acquire professional sports teams for their hotels. It matters so the Buffalo Sabres aren’t going anywhere. As for drawing this is the new normal Buffalo doesn’t do weekdays games anymore. I don’t know why that is a thing but it is what it is. I personally would play Sunday night games again regardless of the Buffalo Bills because for whatever reason Monday through Thursday is no go for Buffalo. I would play all Saturday afternoon games like the Boston Bruins use to do because families can bring there children. Look at the Buffalo Bisons baseball next season they are starting there games at 6:30 instead of 7:00 so families can get there kids home for bed.
 

The Buffalo Sabres need to make changes that matches the cultural norms of today’s Buffalo sports fans. When the Buffalo Sabres renovated Key Bank Center I would reduce capacity to 16,500 because television is also a factor and our arena for this economic area is too large capacity wise. Technology is too good today with these Smart televisions it is very easy to watch at home which is also a reason why the Key Bank Center capacity should be reduced in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo 

Edited October 1, 2023 by Buffalo Sabres Fan

[LabattBlue]

Did you see the comeback today? Buy tickets or this team is good as gone. 
 

Welcome to Houston Zach Benson and Devon Levi.  

[Brawndo]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

And again, personally do not expect to ever see the team moved.

But, a deep pocketed potential owner could bring the league to court if they refuse to honor a sale agreement worked out between 2 willing parties.  Or, an owner playing 3D chess would agree to buy the team and never never ever cross his heart consider moving the team, get the purchase approved, and then a couple of years later unfortunately be forced into declaring bankruptcy and get the clause voided.  Once it's voided, the league either acquieses to the petition to move the team or they get sued and the team moves any way (hello Los Angeles Football Raiders).

Do not expect the team to ever move but am not willing to say there is no way it could happen nor that it never would/will happen.

When people with really deep pockets want something to happen, oftentimes it does.

(And Balsillie was an idiot.  He put his cards on the table and the league was never going to approve him as an owner.  Had he held his cards closer to the vest, the Pens and Wings might be working up a great rivalry.  Of course, with as much of his fortune tied up in RIM, he might not have been deep pocketed enough to force the move had he been more coy about his actual intents when making his initial offer on the Pens.)

Or more likely, the NHL has taken steps to prevent any new potential owners from going rogue, after all Bettman and Bill Daly are lawyers.
I imagine there are a multitude of terms and conditions that new ownership groups must agree to in order to purchase a team. 
These could include stipulations that the franchise cannot move without BOG approval and since the NHL has experience in doing so a stipulation that any franchise/owner that goes into bankruptcy surrenders control of the team to the league and that owner is compensated for the team after the bankruptcy process is finished. 

Leagues learned to protect themselves after Al Davis sued the NFL. 
 

There are some old school owners in the NHL such as Jacobs, Dolan and the Iltiches who could dictate what they want to do with their teams without receiving much push back from the league, but newer owners (even the deep pocketed ones) not so much 

[SwampD]

On 9/30/2023 at 2:39 PM, Pimlach said:

Least successful in the past 12 years is true.   Longest playoff drought in league history is true. 

Prior to Pegula, the Sabres had the fourth highest winning percentage from the start of their existence.  So least successful team in the history of the NHL - NO!  

 

On 9/30/2023 at 5:43 PM, sabremike said:

Please read my post clarifying what I meant earlier in the thread.

What I think you meant to say, about these last twelve years, is that no team has had a lower low in the history of the league.

[tom webster]

At least the home opener looks like a sell out.

[nfreeman]

On 9/30/2023 at 2:42 PM, Brawndo said:

There have been Three NHL Teams which have filed for bankruptcy since 1999, The Penguins, Sabres and Senators and all three remained in their original market. 
 

The Sabres sale was valued at 92 Million, but the actual cash paid for the team was 15 Million, despite higher offers for the organization.
There were multiple bidders for the Ottawa Senators, many well over 100 million, but the team was ultimately sold to Eugene Melnyk for 93 million. 
 

Why were the lower bids accepted? Because the NHL stipulated that neither team could be moved as part of the sale, Golisiano and Melnyk were the two that agreed to that provision, with Melnyk being the only potential bidder for the Sens to do so. 
This same way they stipulated the Sabres cannot relocated in the sale to Pegula. 
The League has control over where franchises are located and is saving the potential cities for expansion and the Billions of dollars that comes with it.
This is the reason why the Coyotes have gotten so many opportunities to find a new home, the league hates the idea of relocation. 
The Jets were moved because of ownership issues in Atlanta namely no one wanted to buy the team and keep it there

Hence the NHL is looking to put a team back in Atlanta and Arizona is rumored to be at the top of the expansion list (per Jeff Marek) in the event the Coyotes move. 
 

Good stuff here.  The NHL's rights to call the shots on franchise relocation -- and their longstanding opposition to it -- is the key, IMHO.  I think the alleged NMC in TP's purchase agreement is a red herring -- it almost certainly includes conditions relating to financial performance, attendance, arena, etc. that may or may not be met in the future and if not met would allow the team to move.  But the NHL, for many reasons including the desire to protect expansion fees, would almost certainly prohibit a move.

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, tom webster said:

At least the home opener looks like a sell out.

Cool.  

Also, guess it was in the Snooze sometime this past week or 2, but Sabres themselves say there are over 10k ST.  (Presumably that's equivalents when 1/2 & 1/4 ST packages are included, but not positive of that.)

[tom webster]

14 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Cool.  

Also, guess it was in the Snooze sometime this past week or 2, but Sabres themselves say there are over 10k ST.  (Presumably that's equivalents when 1/2 & 1/4 ST packages are included, but not positive of that.)

Yeah, I think that does include partials but that’s a significant improvement over last year. They haven’t sold out an opener in four years but they have less then 800 for this one so it’s a marked improvement 

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, tom webster said:

Yeah, I think that does include partials but that’s a significant improvement over last year. They haven’t sold out an opener in four years but they have less then 800 for this one so it’s a marked improvement 

No idea how much over 10k they're at, but it was around 4k 2 years ago and around 8k last year.

Pretty sure 12-14k is historically typical post 70's and pre-President's Trophy years.  So, they're close to normal.  Making the playoffs this year will put them there.

People are going to want to get their tix now; they'll be hard to get next year and moving forward.

Edited October 5, 2023 by Taro T

[Derrico]

I have my tickets listed for Tuesday and Thursday at a $10 loss from my season ticket price (more when you consider the fees Ticketmaster charges).  Price is $40 cheaper then the unsold Sabres tickets beside us and they still haven’t sold.

I guess this is what it’s like being a Sabres season ticket holder especially early in the season 🤡

[Gatorman0519]

35 minutes ago, Derrico said:

I have my tickets listed for Tuesday and Thursday at a $10 loss from my season ticket price (more when you consider the fees Ticketmaster charges).  Price is $40 cheaper then the unsold Sabres tickets beside us and they still haven’t sold.

I guess this is what it’s like being a Sabres season ticket holder especially early in the season 🤡

Yeah the barn will fill up again, after they make the playoffs and show true growth.  We have been fooled for 15 years lol. 

[Zamboni]

It was a sellout Thursday.

Who is going to the next home game? I’m not. But if somebody is… Please post whether or not the next home game is a sellout. 👍🏼

[centralparkhockey]

I’ll add this to the conversation:

 I filled out the interest form from the Sabres ticket office on three occasions to purchase a weekend pack before the season started and never heard back.  
 

In addition to the product on the ice not being that hot, the sales team is too busy doing other things to call back or email customers who are trying to buy tickets. 
 

Not going to fill a lot of seats that way.
 

 

[Believer]

49 minutes ago, centralparkhockey said:

I’ll add this to the conversation:

 I filled out the interest form from the Sabres ticket office on three occasions to purchase a weekend pack before the season started and never heard back.  
 

 

Three failures by Sabres Ticket Sales Team to reply to their own solicitation??

We know Roth was distracted…

Hope whoever is in charge reads your message.

[LabattBlue]

1 hour ago, centralparkhockey said:

I’ll add this to the conversation:

 I filled out the interest form from the Sabres ticket office on three occasions to purchase a weekend pack before the season started and never heard back.  
 

In addition to the product on the ice not being that hot, the sales team is too busy doing other things to call back or email customers who are trying to buy tickets. 
 

Not going to fill a lot of seats that way.
 

 

Either the form submission page is broke and your request never made it to staff…or they don’t give a ***** about their jobs. 
 

I would email someone high up on the business side of the house detailing the issue. 
 

Unacceptable. 😡
 

[edited] I looked on the Sabres website.  Someone named Zach Johnson is the Director of Ticket Sales.  I would call the main number, and ask for him.  ***** like this pisses me off. Mickey Mouse organization.  

Edited October 14, 2023 by LabattBlue

[Derrico]

1 hour ago, Zamboni said:

It was a sellout Thursday.

Who is going to the next home game? I’m not. But if somebody is… Please post whether or not the next home game is a sellout. 👍🏼

Looking at ticketmaster its nowhere near looking like a sellout.

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, Derrico said:

I have my tickets listed for Tuesday and Thursday at a $10 loss from my season ticket price (more when you consider the fees Ticketmaster charges).  Price is $40 cheaper then the unsold Sabres tickets beside us and they still haven’t sold.

I guess this is what it’s like being a Sabres season ticket holder especially early in the season 🤡

Am going on Tuesday.  Can't make Thursday's game.  Tix sold pretty quickly for that one for our seats.  A big part of how easy/hard it is to sell is the location.  (Gee, thanks for that tremendous insight, never would've come up with that, Sherlock.  😛)

[Derrico]

35 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Am going on Tuesday.  Can't make Thursday's game.  Tix sold pretty quickly for that one for our seats.  A big part of how easy/hard it is to sell is the location.  (Gee, thanks for that tremendous insight, never would've come up with that, Sherlock.  😛)

Agreed.  Our seats are in 300s but it’s front row.  Preseason tickets sold quickly.  Would have thought for season ticket price (now even less) they would have went quick.  Still time I suppose…..

[sabremike]

They are the exact opposite of the Devils who will never stop contacting you.

[PASabreFan]

Does anyone buy seasons and actually go?

Do the Sabres have STHs or STSs?

[Derrico]

3 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Does anyone buy seasons and actually go?

Do the Sabres have STHs or STSs?

I go to as many as I can.  Committing 41 nights to anything in life is difficult but get to as many as possible.