Home opener almost sold out

[tom webster]

Given the tenor of this board, I think it’s a little surprising that less than 1000 seats remain for Thursday’s game.

 

[LabattBlue]

NYC college students?

[OverPowerYou]

Rangers must have a lot of fans that relocated 

[Demoted]

1 hour ago, tom webster said:

Given the tenor of this board, I think it’s a little surprising that less than 1000 seats remain for Thursday’s game.

 

Going to a game with cheap tickets is a nice thing to do when there is nothing to do. 

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, tom webster said:

Given the tenor of this board, I think it’s a little surprising that less than 1000 seats remain for Thursday’s game.

 

Selling out the arena for the opening game is not an achievement,  especially when a quarter or more of the fans are rooting for the visiting team.
 

Regardless what the announced attendance was for games last year, when I watched the games I saw a lot of empty seats that belied the announced tickets sold. When a person has a purchased ticket and can’t go to the game and can’t give it away, that is telling and an indictment.

I want the Sabres to succeed and am rooting for them. But what I see is what I see.

Edited 4 hours ago by JohnC

[inkman]

Hope it stays this way.  I doubt it. 

[That Aud Smell]

Ranger games usually sell well - especially when UB is in session.

I'll be there, sitting near Chet and Muffy. (Although, Muffy doesn't go to many games anymore given that the arena has become a bit of a dump. Plus, in-seat service stopped offering Sauvignon Blanc which is a beverage dealbreaker for her.)

[PASabreFan]

2 hours ago, Demoted said:

Going to a game with cheap tickets is a nice thing to do when there is nothing to do. 

They're not that cheap. Yet.

[K-9]

30 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

They're not that cheap. Yet.

It might get to the point where the Sabres have to actually pay people to attend. And even then, demand might be low.

[tom webster]

As others have said, Ranger games sell well. I don’t expect them to do well with tickets till the team starts winning.

 

A couple of things, though.

 

1) while Buffalo gets a lot of heat for it, opposing fans making up 25% of the crowd has become the norm around the league in roughly 80% of the building. It’s in large part a function of the ease of getting tickets on the secondary market, although there are other factors.

2) I understand all the pessimism but my point was that it’s not as universally felt as some people tend to believe.

3) Last year I sold roughly 100 tickets at, or above cost. At least half of those to Sabre fans. I also know that at least half those Sabre fans are as pessimistic as anyone on this board. However, people still like to go for a multitude of reasons. 

[dudacek]

I think they can thank Josh Doan for this is.

Kid was working that Tim Horton's drive-thru window hard.

[bob_sauve28]

Buffalo loves their Sabres. It's that simple 

 

You don't have to be a winner to get loved by your fan base 

[PromoTheRobot]

5 hours ago, tom webster said:

Given the tenor of this board, I think it’s a little surprising that less than 1000 seats remain for Thursday’s game.

 

We're slacking off getting out message out there.

3 hours ago, JohnC said:

.

I want the Sabres to succeed and am rooting for them. 

Would you rather they win or be right?

[PASabreFan]

The tire pumpers are in midseason form.

31 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Buffalo loves their Sabres. It's that simple 

 

You don't have to be a winner to get loved by your fan base 

So the rest of the season will be sold out?

[tom webster]

3 hours ago, JohnC said:

Selling out the arena for the opening game is not an achievement,  especially when a quarter or more of the fans are rooting for the visiting team.
 

Regardless what the announced attendance was for games last year, when I watched the games I saw a lot of empty seats that belied the announced tickets sold. When a person has a purchased ticket and can’t go to the game and can’t give it away, that is telling and an indictment.

I want the Sabres to succeed and am rooting for them. But what I see is what I see.

I really do respect your opinion and you are one of my go to posters when I visit the board, but man you are like a reformed smoker.😉

[Brawndo]

My kids still enjoy going to games, I will take that for as along as possible 

[Pimlach]

5 hours ago, tom webster said:

Given the tenor of this board, I think it’s a little surprising that less than 1000 seats remain for Thursday’s game.

 

Good to hear this but keep in mind Buffalo is a college town loaded with NYC metro and Long Island students.  The price of tickets is ridiculously cheap for them.  

Looking forward to the game anyway.  As always.  

[bob_sauve28]

11 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

The tire pumpers are in midseason form.

So the rest of the season will be sold out?

In a small market like Buffalo? Don't think so 

 

Buffalo loves their Sabres, though 

[CallawaySabres]

39 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Buffalo loves their Sabres. It's that simple 

 

You don't have to be a winner to get loved by your fan base 

Mike Schopp stopped by our tailgate yesterday and we were talking about how soon the Sabres season will get derailed. If Buffalo does not have a decent record by end of November (lots of winnable games IF they are going to be a playoff team), we both thought the season would spiral.

[Pimlach]

43 minutes ago, tom webster said:

As others have said, Ranger games sell well. I don’t expect them to do well with tickets till the team starts winning.

 

A couple of things, though.

 

1) while Buffalo gets a lot of heat for it, opposing fans making up 25% of the crowd has become the norm around the league in roughly 80% of the building. It’s in large part a function of the ease of getting tickets on the secondary market, although there are other factors.

2) I understand all the pessimism but my point was that it’s not as universally felt as some people tend to believe.

3) Last year I sold roughly 100 tickets at, or above cost. At least half of those to Sabre fans. I also know that at least half those Sabre fans are as pessimistic as anyone on this board. However, people still like to go for a multitude of reasons. 

Former season ticket holder here.  I started my home game boycott after the "solution is in the room" speech last season. 

I don't want to do it but for me to attend games I have to travel to Buffalo and my expenses are much more than just the cost of the hockey tickets.  Otherwise I would have met up with you and the rest for the game this season. 

I still visit Buffalo often but going to that arena and paying for that product is not worth it.   When I see a tangible semblance of a Sabres organization on the right track I will be back.   I will be happy to pay more to support a team that cares about their fans.  

[dudacek]

57 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Buffalo loves their Sabres. It's that simple 

 

You don't have to be a winner to get loved by your fan base 

This is interesting to me.

I'd say for a large portion of this board it's more of a love-hate relationship: most seem to care deeply but it's not a warm and forgiving win-or-lose kinda love, more the love of a repeatedly let down or betrayed spouse or parent.

Very few around here are the "we'll get 'em next time" types.

I have no frame of reference for the more typical fan in and around Buffalo, but I suspect Sabrespace is not reflective of the "typical" fan.

But I think back to the '80s Canucks teams of my youth who had a similar level of success to the Adams Sabres. Sure plenty of fans grumbled and tickets were easy to come by, but generally they still loved their Tony Tantis, hated the Flames and Oilers, and were ready to jump back on the bandwagon given the slightest opportunity.

Those kinda fans just kinda fade when things aren't good, whereas most Sabrespace types stay invested and spend their time venting to their online friends.

Edited 33 minutes ago by dudacek

[Thorny]

51 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

We're slacking off getting out message out there.

Would you rather they win or be right?

How right does one need to be? I called out the imminent failure of Adams’ plan from day numero uno. Literally to a T told you how and why it would fail. It’s been 14 years, man. Not only have folks been proven right, they can no longer be proven wrong.

everything in moderation. It’s time for a playoff berth and I think we can all agree on that 

[shrader]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I think they can thank Josh Doan for this is.

Kid was working that Tim Horton's drive-thru window hard.

I’m not looking forward to his first game against Ryan O’Reilly. 

[Thorny]

24 minutes ago, dudacek said:

This is interesting to me.

I'd say for a large portion of this board it's more of a love-hate relationship: most seem to care deeply but it's not a warm and forgiving win-or-lose kinda love, more the love of a repeatedly let down or betrayed spouse or parent.

Very few around here are the "we'll get 'em next time" types.

I have no frame of reference for the more typical fan in and around Buffalo, but I suspect Sabrespace is not reflective of the "typical" fan.

But I think back to the '80s Canucks teams of my youth who had a similar level of success to the Adams Sabres. Sure plenty of fans grumbled and tickets were easy to come by, but generally they still loved their Tony Tantis, hated the Flames and Oilers, and were ready to jump back on the bandwagon given the slightest opportunity.

Those kinda fans just kinda fade when things aren't good, whereas most Sabrespace types stay invested and spend their time venting to their online friends.

This, absolutely 

I hate the sabres in many ways. Hate what they’ve become. I also love them dearly and always will. Hate and love have always been 2 sides of the same coin, and that coin is passion.

im totally comfortable with this. Hate isn’t the fear. Neglect is far more dangerous in this world and always has been. Apathy is the fear. 

[DarthEbriate]

A sellout is good -- with luck, they'll arrive early and give the players audible cheers (over the TV feed, maybe the new sound system will help with that) during the introductions.

And even better is if the home team, from the opening shift, is engaged and playing hard to give the fans additional reasons to cheer, much like in 2021-22 -- a 5-1 opening night win vs. Montreal. It was post-COVID and the building was empty for the opening ceremonies. But Okposo and returned-from-busted-leg Girgensons set the tone on the first shift and the building got loud (on TV) because the team showed they cared.

No flat starts.