Sabres Tickets - Shockingly Cheap to Start the Year

[Mango]

I was just curious what the ticket situation was this year. $33 for the home/season opener. Every away game through November is 2-3x more expensive. 

That is about as bad as it gets.

We have bottom of the barrell attendance these days, and based on prices to start the year it looks like it is about to get a whole lot worse. They better get off to a fast start or the Sabres are primed to have the most contentious fanbase they have ever had. 
 

[pastajoe]

Pretty soon the concessions will cost more than the tickets.

[SABRES 0311]

They also don’t have any shiny new objects this year. We pretty much just added a second pairing dman and are making a 2C play 1C.

Edited yesterday at 02:49 PM by SABRES 0311

[dudacek]

It remains utterly shocking to me that the Adams regime wasn't flushed in April.

Never mind the hockey reasons, the business of the Sabres is absolutely gasping for it.

The most likely scenario for this season remains a ***** start, followed by boos, paper bags, a bloodletting, followed by the 4 months of empty seats, 'who cares?' hockey and another 8th overall pick.

Edited yesterday at 03:07 PM by dudacek

[Weave]

58 minutes ago, dudacek said:

 

The most likely scenario for this season remains a ***** start, followed by boos, paper bags, a bloodletting, followed by the 4 months of empty seats, 'who cares?' hockey and another 8th overall pick.

Groundhog Day.

I agree with you re: Adams.  How he didn’t get let go as a business move alone is surprising to me.

[Malazan]

What's shocking about it?

[LGR4GM]

13 minutes ago, Malazan said:

What's shocking about it?

[mjd1001]

Im surprised it took this many years for tickets, even for a home opener, so be so far behind the rest of the league.

Lets see, at $33 per ticket (I'm assuming no taxes/fees on that?)

If I wanted to go with one other person, wife, kid..whoever.  $66. Add in parking (is that up to about $20 now?)  Lets assume not much in the way of concessions and certainly no full meals, but maybe one drink and one snack per person. At arena prices that is another $30-$40 for 2 people?

So, for the team that hasn't made the playoffs in a decade-and-a-half, in one of the 'worst' arenas in the league, getting some of the worst seats in the house and having some pretty undesirable food, I might still be looking at $150 per night or more? On a weeknight/worknight/schoolnight?  When I could watch it at home for free and if the game is awful tune into the Thursday nigtht NFL game instead?

I'm not a person that goes to games anymore, but even if I was, between the quality of the team, the quality of the Arena/Arena experience, they would have to give me SOMETHING for me to spend any money to support them.

[Taro T]

Tix on the resale market are NOT moving.  Might be making a lot more weeknight games than expected.

Not sure how much Pegula "saved" by essentially bringing back the entire FO and coaching staff; but uniess they get out of the gate REALLY quickly expect that'll have been a negative NPV decision by the end of October at the latest.

[Porous Five Hole]

It might be related that Bills tix are shockingly (but not surprisingly) more expensive this year.  The cheapest ticket for week four against the Saints in the upper bowl is $300.  Taking my family to this game blows out my ticket budget for a while.

[PASabreFan]

Seems high to be honest. Where is the seat? I'd expect to pay under 20 to sit up top.

[Mango]

4 hours ago, Taro T said:

Tix on the resale market are NOT moving.  Might be making a lot more weeknight games than expected.

Not sure how much Pegula "saved" by essentially bringing back the entire FO and coaching staff; but uniess they get out of the gate REALLY quickly expect that'll have been a negative NPV decision by the end of October at the latest.

Right, there is no more face value, pricing is dictated by current demand.

This is right around when most tickets are peak-ish pricing. If they're $33 today they'll be near $20 by puck drop.

3 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

It might be related that Bills tix are shockingly (but not surprisingly) more expensive this year.  The cheapest ticket for week four against the Saints in the upper bowl is $300.  Taking my family to this game blows out my ticket budget for a while.

Dude just wait until 48 hours before. You'll get to $200.

3 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Seems high to be honest. Where is the seat? I'd expect to pay under 20 to sit up top.

I bet it is by the week of.

[Cascade Youth]

Pegs seems to be just letting the org die.

[Palm Trees And Taxes]

Sabres / Mammouth tickets for Nov 4th are going for as little as 14 dollars. JJ Peterka's emotional return to Keytank, get em while they are hot!

[Demoted]

7 hours ago, pastajoe said:

Pretty soon the concessions will cost more than the tickets.

They could go the Lions route and you get a free beer with your ticket.

[Pimlach]

8 hours ago, dudacek said:

It remains utterly shocking to me that the Adams regime wasn't flushed in April.

Never mind the hockey reasons, the business of the Sabres is absolutely gasping for it.

The most likely scenario for this season remains a ***** start, followed by boos, paper bags, a bloodletting, followed by the 4 months of empty seats, 'who cares?' hockey and another 8th overall pick.

 

[Night Train]

What site are you viewing these prices  ? 

[...]

1 hour ago, Demoted said:

They could go the Lions route and you get a free beer with your ticket.

Or get a free ticket when you buy a beer.

[bob_sauve28]

11 hours ago, ... said:

Or get a free ticket when you buy a beer.

If that was true, by the end of the season the drunks would take over the venue, which might be fun! 

[Flashsabre]

I’m truly shocked that anyone is paying money to go watch the Sabres play.

 

Adams and crew are still here because they all had 1 year left on their contracts and they didn’t want to pay people not to be here. Adams is also the ultimate yes man who listens and does everything Terry says and will stand in front of the media and lie through his teeth and take all the bullets.

The Sabres this year are built on the idea of hoping that a bunch of players all “take a step” which leads to sneaking into the playoffs. The same model that has worked so well the past decade and a half.

The Sabres are not a serious organization and deserve an empty arena this season.

Edited 9 hours ago by Flashsabre

[Weave]

Lol an arena beer has 1/2 the value of a ticket in the top section.

Good job, Terry!

[Mango]

12 hours ago, Night Train said:

What site are you viewing these prices  ? 

Vivid. I was actually just going to check the schedule and ESPN links the ticket prices next to each game. 

The opener is actually down to $30. 

https://www.espn.com/nhl/team/schedule/_/name/buf/seasontype/2

Edited 9 hours ago by Mango

[JohnC]

There is such a disparity between how the owner oversees his football operation compared to the hockey operation. In the football operation, he ended up hiring a good coach and GM, and then without much interference allowed them to run the operation. Over the past five years or so, the Bills have been one of the most consistently well-run franchises in the league.  Without question, it's a respected franchise in the league.  

In comparison, the hockey franchise has become a long-term stepchild that is not taken seriously in in the league. The silent owner's critical hires have gone beyond being bad to being simply odd. The hiring of KA made no sense other than he installed a sycophant who would allow him to intrude whenever he wanted to. And what's even worse is retaining him after his five-year record of abject failure. What followed was the fraudulent hiring process for a HC. It was a charade that fooled no one. The owner hired the person he wanted to in the first place, Ruff, and then amateurishly masked it as the end product of a legitimate search process. It seemed that nostalgia was the critical factor for the hire. 

Based on the record, it's not unfair to say that Pegula is one of the worst owners in the league. And based on the record, it's not unfair to say that KA is one of the worst GMs in the league. And few would argue that the Sabre's coaching staff that includes the assistants is a very accomplished staff. This is not a recipe for success. 

Edited 6 hours ago by JohnC

[CallawaySabres]

23 hours ago, dudacek said:

It remains utterly shocking to me that the Adams regime wasn't flushed in April.

Never mind the hockey reasons, the business of the Sabres is absolutely gasping for it.

The most likely scenario for this season remains a ***** start, followed by boos, paper bags, a bloodletting, followed by the 4 months of empty seats, 'who cares?' hockey and another 8th overall pick.

Everyone I know is already there, it's too late. 

[JoeSchmoe]

3 hours ago, JohnC said:

The silent owner's critical hires have gone beyond being bad to being simply odd.

The problem is, he's not actually silent. His hands are all over this team given hockey is his main passion. 

Football on the other hand was never his main sport. For that reason, he's happy to let the experts run the team.