All things Pegula 1

[MayDay]

It's their starting offer so they cam come down and act like they gave some ground. It's honestly hilarious; it's a pretty basic tactic that one uses which is comical to think will be effective with the State of New York.

I would hope that state and local governments have smartened up a bit about the wisdom of giving these massive handouts to billionaires so that they can enrich themselves further.

Especially in NY State, which can point to other recent examples such as the Islanders' shiny new UBS arena, which was funded almost entirely with private money.

 

[KeyserSoze81]

I think it's hilarious that KBC is almost as decrepit and outdated as The Ralph yet doing anything about it is almost an afterthought.

Who needs a new stadium when no one wants to watch the team live?

 

[SackTastic]

I would hope that state and local governments have smartened up a bit about the wisdom of giving these massive handouts to billionaires so that they can enrich themselves further.

Especially in NY State, which can point to other recent examples such as the Islanders' shiny new UBS arena, which was funded almost entirely with private money.

The arena build itself and much of the redevelopment project was privately funded, yes.

But they absolutely got public benefits in the deal. All of the land is owned by NYS, and they got really sweetheart leaseback terms. There is also a substantial volume of things for the project that are being purchased by Empire State Development on behalf of the developers to avoid sales taxes on those purchases, which is a lot of money.

Governments and developers have learned how to structure deals to avoid the PR nightmares of direct government funding. They now structure this stuff to make it much harder to follow.

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

 

[BuffaloGooner]

Wawrow is questioning the validity of today’s report

 

[dortt]

Moved to stadium thread

 

[TehDoak]

So, I have a theory here, and I have zero inside info.

I think the pandemic and the last season was probably the last straw for the Pegulas and the Sabres.

They have owned the Sabres for a decade and have one playoff appearance to show for it. The Bills get all the attention and praise, the Sabres take up a similar time commitment and just probably piss off the Pegula's, mostly.

They also bleed money while the Bills print money. And the Sabres are due a new arena soon-ish. Not as soon as the Bills, but it's on the horizon.

So, let's review what you do when you are trying to sell a business:

1. You are reducing your fixed costs as much as the business can bear. An example would be a company might cut some of their "cost centers", such as IT, R+D, anything that isn't showing immediate dividends and won't immediately lead to new sales, gone or reduced to minimal levels
2. Likely a management change. Someone who is on at least on board with the culling that will take place and will be rewarded for it.

So, what have the Sabres done? Well, they've cut cost.

Most notably, in the support staff areas, with scouting being the biggest red flag. In early June 2020, the Sabres employed 21 people as scouts/director(s) of scouting. They now employ 9 in the same roles.

And again, not to beat a dead horse here, but Adams was not qualified by any objective measure to be a NHL GM, yet here he is, dismantling the team. His lone qualification(s) seem to be willing to fire people and loyalty to the Pegulas.

Now, we look to this year, and what is happening? Other than Skinner and Okposo, who are nigh unmovable, every high dollar contract is out the door. It's on thing to run a budget team, but this appears to be a cap floor team. Sure, this is being done under the guise of "players who want to be here", but in reality, it's "Players who want to get paid here" is what they are trying to get rid of.

I have to think the endgame here is the Pegula's selling the team. Not sure to whom

 

[Kublakhan]

So, I have a theory here, and I have zero inside info.

I think the pandemic and the last season was probably the last straw for the Pegulas and the Sabres.

They have owned the Sabres for a decade and have one playoff appearance to show for it. The Bills get all the attention and praise, the Sabres take up a similar time commitment and just probably piss off the Pegula's, mostly.

They also bleed money while the Bills print money. And the Sabres are due a new arena soon-ish. Not as soon as the Bills, but it's on the horizon.

So, let's review what you do when you are trying to sell a business:

1. You are reducing your fixed costs as much as the business can bear. An example would be a company might cut some of their "cost centers", such as IT, R+D, anything that isn't showing immediate dividends and won't immediately lead to new sales, gone or reduced to minimal levels
2. Likely a management change. Someone who is on at least on board with the culling that will take place and will be rewarded for it.

So, what have the Sabres done? Well, they've cut cost.

Most notably, in the support staff areas, with scouting being the biggest red flag. In early June 2020, the Sabres employed 21 people as scouts/director(s) of scouting. They now employ 9 in the same roles.

And again, not to beat a dead horse here, but Adams was not qualified by any objective measure to be a NHL GM, yet here he is, dismantling the team. His lone qualification(s) seem to be willing to fire people and loyalty to the Pegulas.

Now, we look to this year, and what is happening? Other than Skinner and Okposo, who are nigh unmovable, every high dollar contract is out the door. It's on thing to run a budget team, but this appears to be a cap floor team. Sure, this is being done under the guise of "players who want to be here", but in reality, it's "Players who want to get paid here" is what they are trying to get rid of.

I have to think the endgame here is the Pegula's selling the team. Not sure to whom

endgame is to sell the Sabres and move the Bills..

 

[TehDoak]

endgame is to sell the Sabres and move the Bills..

No, I think they just want to sell the Sabres because it both loses money and is a point of embarrassment for the family because they keep f***ing it up.

The Pegula's might be a bunch of out of touch, egotistical billionaires, who would gladly fire 100 people on Christmas if it meant they'd be able to keep their super yacht. At the same time, I think the city is part of their identity and are never moving.

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

Buyers remorse eh? I have hated Pegula since day 1 and was vocal about it...while every one of you here who now hates him was fawning over that Sopranos style Buffalo video with him driving around smoking a cigar like a tool, or him delivering season tickets. I have hated him ever since the 1st time I saw him in person...it was the first game after he was announced as owner, maybe it was against Atlanta but during a stoppage in play they panned up to the 300s to show Mult Billionaire Terry acting like one of the peasants sitting in the 300s with a spotlight shining on him...and just the smug pompous look on his f***ing douche bag face made me despise him since that day.

 

[Gabrielor]

I wish they would've never bought the Bills.

 

[TehDoak]

I wish they would've never bought the Bills.

The alternatives were not good. The Toronto Bills or the Buffalo Trumps? Take your pick.

Less of 3 evils.

 

[Gabrielor]

The alternatives were not good. The Toronto Bills or the Buffalo Trumps? Take your pick.

Less of 3 evils.

If the latter kept that guy from becoming a politician, then that one x10000.

But as I've said, I'm a 49ers fan, so I was comfortable just letting the Pegula's focus on the one team. I knew in 2014 it would divide their attention, which would be bad.

 

[TehDoak]

If the latter kept that guy from becoming a politician, then that one x10000.

But as I've said, I'm a 49ers fan, so I was comfortable just letting the Pegula's focus on the one team. I knew in 2014 it would divide their attention, which would be bad.

Trump owning the Bills would have ended will the Bills going into bankruptcy or being resold. He didn't have the resources to do the deal and he would have over leveraged to make it work.

The issue isn't the Bills 'dividing' the attention of the Pegula's, it's that the Pegula's are far too hands on with the Sabres and don't know what they are doing. They seem to be more traditional owners in terms of the Bills, hire good people, let them do the work. Terry seems to like playing Be-a-GM mode with the Sabres, and it continues to be an issue.

The fact that the Sabres appear to be running a cap floor team is what really makes me think the Pegula's are done with the Sabres. They haven't spent to the cap every year, but they've never been a budget team. The lack of any even medium sized signings/acquisitions this year despite a ton of holes on the roster screams "run it cheap as humanly possible", which is the opposite of what the Pegula's have done historically with the team, even in the tank year.

 

[Gabrielor]

Trump owning the Bills would have ended will the Bills going into bankruptcy or being resold. He didn't have the resources to do the deal and he would have over leveraged to make it work.

The issue isn't the Bills 'dividing' the attention of the Pegula's, it's that the Pegula's are far too hands on with the Sabres and don't know what they are doing. They seem to be more traditional owners in terms of the Bills, hire good people, let them do the work. Terry seems to like playing Be-a-GM mode with the Sabres, and it continues to be an issue.

The fact that the Sabres appear to be running a cap floor team is what really makes me think the Pegula's are done with the Sabres. They haven't spent to the cap every year, but they've never been a budget team. The lack of any even medium sized signings/acquisitions this year despite a ton of holes on the roster screams "run it cheap as humanly possible", which is the opposite of what the Pegula's have done historically with the team, even in the tank year.

Here's a more likely scenario: They're at the cap floor, because either no one who costs money wants to sign here, or because it doesn't matter, and they know they have to rebuild slowly again, so why make the Moulson mistake twice?

This sounds exactly like Freidman last year saying we're a budget team, before the Hall signing.

I'll believe they're a budget team, when they're a budget team. I don't consider them a budget team this year. They're a trash team with no one to pay.

The lack of any even medium sized signings/acquisitions this year despite a ton of holes on the roster screams "run it cheap as humanly possible", which is the opposite of what the Pegula's have done historically with the team, even in the tank year.

Yeah, that 5 year contract to Matt Moulson really helped in 2014-2018. I'm glad they spent money....

(Dahlin contract notwithstanding, it's not time to spend any money at all)

 

[Sabre Dance]

I wish they would've never bought the Bills.

Lol why?

 

[Sabre Dance]

Buyers remorse eh? I have hated Pegula since day 1 and was vocal about it...while every one of you here who now hates him was fawning over that Sopranos style Buffalo video with him driving around smoking a cigar like a tool, or him delivering season tickets. I have hated him ever since the 1st time I saw him in person...it was the first game after he was announced as owner, maybe it was against Atlanta but during a stoppage in play they panned up to the 300s to show Mult Billionaire Terry acting like one of the peasants sitting in the 300s with a spotlight shining on him...and just the smug pompous look on his f***ing douche bag face made me despise him since that day.

You hate him because of how you viewed his face? My goodness.

 

[Gabrielor]

Lol why?

I wanted their attention to be 100% on what Terry preached as his passion, the Sabres.

If I were a billionaire, and I'll never be, I'd own one team.

 

[Sabre Dance]

I wanted their attention to be 100% on what Terry preached as his passion, the Sabres.

If I were a billionaire, and I'll never be, I'd own one team.

Maybe he just doesn't know what he's doing but thinks he does?

I never felt like they haven't given the Sabres attention. Seriously? The Sabres and hockey in general get a lot of attention.

I won't dislike the Pegulas because they haven't won with the Sabres. I'll dislike them if we start losing players because they won't pay. We'll see where the Sabres go from here. I am a little nervous with the direction they're heading financially.

 

[EichHart]

I wanted their attention to be 100% on what Terry preached as his passion, the Sabres.

If I were a billionaire, and I'll never be, I'd own one team.

If I owned multiple teams I'd hire the smartest people in that field to run my teams. I'd have zero involvement besides signing the checks. That's what smart management does.

 

[Sabre Dance]

If I owned multiple teams I'd hire the smartest people in that field to run my teams. I'd have zero involvement besides signing the checks. That's what smart management does.

Come on. For one thing most owners aren't hard core fans. I couldn't even imagine what I would be doing, but I know I wouldn't sit back and stay silent. I would probably try to play. Lol.

 

[OkimLom]

The alternatives were not good. The Toronto Bills or the Buffalo Trumps? Take your pick.

Less of 3 evils.

They were never going to Trump. He had issues with money, and he broke rules that were laid out.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

I think he just thought that owning (running) a hockey team was going to be more fun than it is. If they were winning it'd be a different tune.

The Pegula's have done a lot of investing in Buffalo particularly around the arena. They are still very popular re: Bills, just the Sabres are a mess. Even in Buffalo the Sabres a rather distant second to the Bills.

Who was complaining about the hockey team during the AFC Championship game? Just the 2 dozen people that post here.

 

[EichHart]

I think he just thought that owning (running) a hockey team was going to be more fun than it is. If they were winning it'd be a different tune.

The Pegula's have done a lot of investing in Buffalo particularly around the arena. They are still very popular re: Bills, just the Sabres are a mess. Even in Buffalo the Sabres a rather distant second to the Bills.

Who was complaining about the hockey team during the AFC Championship game? Just the 2 dozen people that post here.

He came in guns blazing with all those monster signings. He tried it a second time in free agency. He had a blank check those first 4-5 years and when that didn't work they decided to go the tank route. All 3 attempts failed and I think he didn't learn much. He keeps hiring first time coaches/GMS.

 

[ZemgusWho]

I for one, have never understood the small and constantly vocal group of Buffalonians who want to run the Pegulas out of town.

There are no white knights in the wings. There are no billionaire plan B. If you like the Buffalo Sabres or Buffalo Bills, this is all there is.

I'm not saying you have to be constantly deferential and treat them like royalty. But as a Buffalo sports fan who lives far outside of New York State three things have become clear.

• A. The sexism around Kim is ugly and pervasive in Pegula/Buffalo sports ownership commentary.
  
• B. The sports media in Buffalo is the least professional of any even vaguely major league city. To say its blogger level is unfair to bloggers who have professionalized in the last 15 years.
  
• C. There's a group of Buffalo sports fans (group A) and journalists (group B) who are the most committed to running their ownership group out of town (and unlike other cities where the ownership group is suspect) they seem to be the least aware that no one is coming to save their teams or jobs.

In short, you do you. But it breaks my heart how toxic the sports culture around the teams I love has become.