Podcast (Audio) Hamilton: People Are Interested In Buying The Sabres

[Der Jaeger]

I heard that Larry Quinn is the putting together the deal and Chris Jacobs is involved. Jean Knox is also part of the group and Beth Hoskins has offered to auction off Morgan horses for the cause.

Not what I heard. Bon Jovi and Trump are buying the Sabres. Yuge deal coming, keep the faith!

 

[Buffaloed]

Not what I heard. Bon Jovi and Trump are buying the Sabres. Yuge deal coming, keep the faith!

There's so much smoke, there must be a fire!

BTW Jason Karmanos is capable of putting together an ownership group. He graduated from Harvard with honors, was an investment banker, and rubbed elbows with the filthy rich all his life.

 

[BuffaloGooner]

This Sabres Sale saga is giving off major anybody can be a source on Twitter energy

 

[Buffaloed]

This Sabres Sale saga is giving off major anybody can be a source on Twitter energy

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

If you don't care or feel unbothered by the idea of the Sabres moving then you aren't a true fan and should go away..... The Sabres belong to Buffalo and should stay here; not depart to some other city regardless. Same goes for the Bills regardless if the St. Catherine's region is growing etc.. etc.. Market there for sure but we shouldn't move stuff there.

I don’t know any Sabres fans who still live in Buffalo as far as family and friends - I probably wouldn’t even notice if they moved.

 

[sabremike]

There's so much smoke, there must be a fire!

BTW Jason Karmanos is capable of putting together an ownership group. He graduated from Harvard with honors, was an investment banker, and rubbed elbows with the filthy rich all his life.

He is also the son of Satan.

 

[thewookie1]

I don’t know any Sabres fans who still live in Buffalo as far as family and friends - I probably wouldn’t even notice if they moved.

Well good for you..... I live in Buffalo and I certainly would

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Well good for you..... I live in Buffalo and I certainly would

That's understandable. I'm so used to hating the team who plays in the city I live that I forget it's a huge benefit to live in the city you're a fan of.

Are we talking about moving to Hamilton or further than that?

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

The organization wants players who want to be here.

But admittedly, w/o much hard data to go on, seemingly the owners have exempted themselves from that pre-requisite......?

 

[Sabre the Win]

Yep. Adams would never have been remotely considered for any other NHL front office job. He got the job because he'd been personally faithful to the Pegulas for a long time and Botterill wasn't going along with their firing purge or something. If you think that's cool and normal and not a sign of a dysfunctional organization, IDK, yikes.

I have no complaint about Adams job so far as GM.

 

[Sabre the Win]

A lot of buzz about Douglas Jemal buying the Sabres now

Looked up who he is on Google.. got a good chuckle from Wiki

Douglas Jemal (born November 30, 1942)[1] is a real estate developer, convicted felon, landlord, and the founder of Douglas Development.[2]

On January 20, 2021, Jemal received a pardon for his 2008 wire fraud conviction from President Donald Trump.[10]

When I first read the 'real estate developer, convicted felon' etc I read landlord as slumlord and had to do a double take

 

[Fjordy]

Perhaps Pegulas realized that they were powerless and could not handle it. I have concerns that they just don't want to pay Skinner, Tuch, Dahlin, Thompson and the rest anymore, that they want to stay near the cap floor until they sell the team.

 

[Sabre Dance]

Word is public funding for the stadium will be around $1 billion. I wonder where the Pegulas could possibly get the $400-$500 million they need to cover the private funding part of the deal?

 

[Jim Bob]

It’s never going to be a clean cut of duties. And I’d say Karmanos probably had a huge influence on these deals.

I just don't see Karmanos having a GM-level role with the Sabres.

Using the EF wording, the seat of power with the Sabres is with Adams. Karmanos has input into the decision making process. But, Adams is the guy making the final call on things.

 

[Jim Bob]

How does a convicted felon worth $150 million purchase a team that would cost at least twice as much as that?

It is on brand with the AGH coming back next season...

 

[Jim Bob]

Jemal: A salty but savvy operator - Investigative Post

Before becoming Western New York’s most aggressive and most talked-about developer, Jemal spent years selling electronics and rehabbing buildings in downtrodden neighborhoods in Washington. His journey to Buffalo included his unsuccessful bid to buy the Orioles and a criminal conviction that ultimately led to a pardon from President Donald Trump.

I wonder if he would be more involved with say buying HarborCenter from PSE than buying the Sabres.

 

[Fjordy]

Jemal: A salty but savvy operator - Investigative Post



I wonder if he would be more involved with say buying HarborCenter from PSE than buying the Sabres.

To be honest, it looks doubtful, the same Joseph Tsai is more credible and he already has an NBA franchise and other teams in other sports.

 

[Jim Bob]

To be honest, it looks doubtful, the same Joseph Tsai is more credible and he already has an NBA franchise and other teams in other sports.

I wonder if the NLL would have an issue if Tsai went from owning 2 teams (San Diego & Las Vegas expansion team) to four as I would expect the Bandits and Knighthawks to be a part of a sale.

 

[Fjordy]

I wonder if the NLL would have an issue if Tsai went from owning 2 teams (San Diego & Las Vegas expansion team) to four as I would expect the Bandits and Knighthawks to be a part of a sale.

To be honest, I have no idea, I'm not very good at it.

 

[BuffaloGooner]

Word is public funding for the stadium will be around $1 billion. I wonder where the Pegulas could possibly get the $400-$500 million they need to cover the private funding part of the deal?

You guys act like the Pegulas, a family with a B next to their illions, are house poor.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

The Sabres are a bad hockey franchise to own other than for ego purposes. You might make money on capital appreciation (as NHL franchises remain scarce) but get killed on the operating side. The fan base is strong but only at a certain price point based on the quality of the team. The metro area has 1.2 million people, making it one of the smallest markets in the NHL Median household income is US$60 K on top of that. The TV numbers show it is a rabid fan base and good for those loyal fans but the fan base is not deep and the money is not there for US$100 tickets to sit at a game.

What continues to give the market some strength is you have 450,000 people in the Niagara region on the other side of the border. You have close to another 1 million once you start counting Hamilton-Burlington and household incomes closer to $100 K with a clear rising trajectory as people get priced out of the city of Toronto and move.

I realize nobody will like this in Buffalo, and I'm not even sure it can be sold to the NHL and players, but a regional franchise (Niagara Sabres anyone) would secure a better long-term future for the Sabres. I think they should split games between both sides of the border.

Is it doable in the NHL constitution? Unclear. But the facts on the ground don't look great for the Sabres in Buffalo long-term if you ask me. You can talk Bills all you want but that's a totally different experience of committing to eight games and mostly on Sundays.

 

[Jim Bob]

You guys act like the Pegulas, a family with a B next to their illions, are house poor.

The Pegulas won't be getting the loan(s). The team which has no issues with revenue generation will have no problem finding banks that will give them financing for the stadium. The NFL has done this stuff once or twice before...

 

[Jim Bob]

The Sabres are a bad hockey franchise to own other than for ego purposes. You might make money on capital appreciation (as NHL franchises remain scarce) but get killed on the operating side. The fan base is strong but only at a certain price point based on the quality of the team. The metro area has 1.2 million people, making it one of the smallest markets in the NHL Median household income is US$60 K on top of that. The TV numbers show it is a rabid fan base and good for those loyal fans but the fan base is not deep and the money is not there for US$100 tickets to sit at a game.

What continues to give the market some strength is you have 450,000 people in the Niagara region on the other side of the border. You have close to another 1 million once you start counting Hamilton-Burlington and household incomes closer to $100 K with a clear rising trajectory as people get priced out of the city of Toronto and move.

I realize nobody will like this in Buffalo, and I'm not even sure it can be sold to the NHL and players, but a regional franchise (Niagara Sabres anyone) would secure a better long-term future for the Sabres. I think they should split games between both sides of the border.

Is it doable in the NHL constitution? Unclear. But the facts on the ground don't look great for the Sabres in Buffalo long-term if you ask me. You can talk Bills all you want but that's a totally different experience of committing to eight games and mostly on Sundays.

A horrible team playing in one of the worst arenas in the NHL from a fan experience POV is having a hard time selling tickets?

No way!

Fix the team and fix the arena and you fix the attendance issues.

 

[cybresabre]

I realize nobody will like this in Buffalo, and I'm not even sure it can be sold to the NHL and players, but a regional franchise (Niagara Sabres anyone) would secure a better long-term future for the Sabres. I think they should split games between both sides of the border.

Build an arena over the river. Fence off the seats 65/35 on the Canadian side, but keep the red line the border. Easy come n' go for fans on both sides. Stir up the nationalism on the jumbotron "cheer-o-meter" gag. The Pegulas won't have to rely on Kyle Okposo to destroy kids in "name Disney princesses" contests when most of the fans will have to also complete a skills-testing math question to collect their prize. Is there a downside?

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

Build an arena over the river. Fence off the seats 65/35 on the Canadian side, but keep the red line the border. Easy come n' go for fans on both sides. Stir up the nationalism on the jumbotron "cheer-o-meter" gag. The Pegulas won't have to rely on Kyle Okposo to destroy kids in "name Disney princesses" contests when most of the fans will have to also complete a skills-testing math question to collect their prize. Is there a downside?

LOL. Love it