How much does Buffalo's location matter?

[PatrikBerglund]

As a non-American, I have never even been in Buffalo, but I have read about it. How much of a handicap does Buffalo have as an area/city/location, when it comes to attracting high-end UFA:s?

If a player has no ties to the immediate area, that is.

I'm thinking about next season and what possibilities we have to get a valuble UFA to sign with Buffalo.

I know that places like Tampa, Florida, Vegas etc. probably has an easier road when it comes to these signings.

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[Gabrielor]

Buffalo has a silly stigma, shared by most rust belt states.

People who live here mostly love it, including myself.

Really, the reputation of tragic sports failures and inept franchises hurts us 10000% more than our location.

 

[jc17]

Typically buffalo doesn't have a strong reputation with young guys that want a crazy night-life, and the city isnt super high on anyone's list.

That said, many people who have played in buffalo speak highly of it, especially those with families.

Taxes are a little high which isn't great but idk how much players value that


My concern is that many players that spoke highly of the city played when the team was good. I think testimonials from recent players might not be as good because the team stinks

 

[Chainshot]

As a non-American, I have never even been in Buffalo, but I have read about it. How much of a handicap does Buffalo have as an area/city/location, when it comes to attracting high-end UFA:s?

If a player has no ties to the immediate area, that is.

I'm thinking about next season and what possibilities we have to get a valuble UFA to sign with Buffalo.

I know that places like Tampa, Florida, Vegas etc. probably has an eadier road when it comes to these signings.

The small size, rustbelt former industrial/rundown nature of parts of the town (especially places the players see as they drive from the airport to downtown when visiting) don't sell well to someone in their late '20's looking for metro experiences. For family guys, people looking for cost-of-living benefits (cheap housing and relatively good suburban schools) or proximity to home (Toronto is a short drive, so all of the southern Ontario guys can be close to home). It isn't getting people to sign based on looks, plus years of overly defensive locals in regards to the weather hasn't helped. I still think if Buffalo embraced the snow, went all out to play it up, it would take and flip that on its head. But we never have and likely won't start now.

Family men stay. Players settle in WNY after they leave the team, or return once they retire. It's trying to find a way to appeal to that sort of thing when guys are looking to sow their oats and have fun in a place that neither is the rep for the town.

 

[MayDayMayDay]

Some things I know.

1. People from Buffalo are immensely proud of being from Buffalo. I moved from Buffalo to Illinois when I was ten. For 22 years now, I have always called Buffalo my hometown.

2. There is a very real but very misinformed socially constructed ideology that disparages our town, ripe with some negative connotations that I don't care to repeat. I can see how people who buy into that ideology can be discouraged from coming to the area, be it professional athletes or other. Again, those people are misinformed. I hope to one day own a summer home off the lake there.

3. Buffalo and the surrounding areas produce some very high quality hockey talent. And as evidenced by those who occupy this board, we are a very engaged, highly knowledgeable, rabidly passionate, and fiercely loyal (even maybe to a fault) fan base that even when positioned as neutrals, loves the game.

What it boils down to: the Sabres haven't been competitive in a little while. But when that changes (and it will), there will be plenty of talent yearning to come home and do just what Jonny PJ's did, but do it for us.

 

[Yatzhee]

Typically buffalo doesn't have a strong reputation with young guys that want a crazy night-life, and the city isnt super high on anyone's list.

That said, many people who have played in buffalo speak highly of it, especially those with families.

Taxes are a little high which isn't great but idk how much players value that


My concern is that many players that spoke highly of the city played when the team was good. I think testimonials from recent players might not be as good because the team stinks

Pretty much this.

 

[MrMaster]

So how's the nightlife in Buffalo?
Can Star-Players get laid on a daily basis? I think that's very important for free-agent candidates

 

[PatrikBerglund]

I think there might be a beneficial to have a generational talent on the team too. I'd guess that some players would be more attracted to us through that, although, perhaps only 5%.

Byt sadly, Housley probably cancels those 5% and add another - 50%

 

[Djp]

As a non-American, I have never even been in Buffalo, but I have read about it. How much of a handicap does Buffalo have as an area/city/location, when it comes to attracting high-end UFA:s?

If a player has no ties to the immediate area, that is.

I'm thinking about next season and what possibilities we have to get a valuble UFA to sign with Buffalo.

I know that places like Tampa, Florida, Vegas etc. probably has an easier road when it comes to these signings.

I was born and raised in buffalo. Graduated from SUNY-Buffalo. I have lived elsewhere since then but still travel back frequently with family and friends there.

In the past few years in rust belt cities like Cleveland and Pittsburgh gave bern reborn. Buffalo is now going through something similar with big development in the city of buffalo.

Fir a long tine buffalo downtown was all business where prop,e come in to work then leave at night. Downtown had nothing. Many who work live in suburbs and buffalo was a high minority’s, high immigrant city.

My dad career was as a high school teacher in a non magnet school. All the really smart students in his area went to a magnet do he was left with African amerucans. Later in his career it became more Hispanic where many kids spoke Spanish between classes.

The city and metro area became racially divided.

When my dad grew up north buffalo was Italian, east buffalo was polish, south buffalo was Irish. Next to Chicago, buffalo had the highest polish population. In the 60sfamikies moved out to the suburbs.

Buffalo didn’t have a big industry like being high tech or something else.

In my area there wasn’t jobs which is why I moved out.

The perspective of buffalo is a sniwbrlt inside the artic circle and is a small town.

When peop,e move to buffalo what they find out.....

1 muliethinucity in the area so there is food variety
2 outside of the city there is a stretch no agriculture market so yiu can get fresh grown foods.
3 it doesn’t get super hot and humid so you can grow stuff easily on your own
4 good education system
5 real estate prices are much cheaper. Yiu can buy a home fir $200,000 that woukd cist 3-5 tunes more in larger cities. It’s better for raising families.

6. With Canadians they realize they can buy things cheaper on the USA side

7. The city is close enough to large metro areas that it’s easy travel to go and see stuff that buffalo might not have.

8. Peop,e in the area tend to be more friendlier than what people experience living elsewhere.

9. There are tons of options fir those interested in hunting, fishing, boating, camping, etc.


You don’t have the issue of attracting players who were from southern Ontario.

 

[Djp]

I think there might be a beneficial to have a generational talent on the team too. I'd guess that some players would be more attracted to us through that, although, perhaps only 5%.

Byt sadly, Housley probably cancels those 5% and add another - 50%

An example in buffalo is the bills glory years in early 90s. Was it today with current free agent rules pkayers woukd want to come here. Free agency wasn’t like it is today.

So if buffalo broke thru to playoffs pkayers woukd want to come.

Players woukd rake less to win a cup.

 

[sabrebuild]

So how's the nightlife in Buffalo?
Can Star-Players get laid on a daily basis? I think that's very important for free-agent candidates

The city isn’t as big as many in the league obviously, but it does have close to 100,000 college students. Judging by Derek Roy’s nightlife, going out is not difficult.

 

[OkimLom]

Only location that matters in sports is where you are in the standings.

Buffalo has enough to do for anybody, if one is taking their job seriously. If the players are worried about the night life scene during the season more than making sure they are following team rules, then I don’t want them.

 

[Asymmetric Solution]

As a guy who grew up in Buffalo, California, Alabama, Florida and spent the last 15 years in the Army living all over the country and world (currently in Alaska), I still call Buffalo home and have Sabres and Bills as my pro teams.

My family still lives in Buffalo and honestly while the city isn’t the greatest (but not bad), the surrounding area makes Buffalo a very attractive location especially to raise a family.

Taxes do suck and so do many of the insane laws implemented Democrats who’ve run the state for the last few decades. Anyway, I plan to return once I retire, as long as I can bring my guns . It’s a very nice area with tons of stuff to do in a short drive.

Florida and California have perks, but it’s not as if they’re owners of all the pros with Buffalo holding the cons. If Buffalo got their state laws and taxes together it could be one of the more attractive places to live that I’ve ever been.

 

[PatrikBerglund]

How does the demographics look in Buffalo these days?

Is it like Chicago and Washington?

 

[MayDayMayDay]

How does the demographics look in Buffalo these days?

Is it like Chicago and Washington?

There are actually a ton of similarities in social geography between Buffalo and Chicago. Buffalo is kind of a mini Chicago in many regards - many diverse neighborhoods with varying degrees of affluency, and it stretches out to the suburbs where I live.

That said, the socioeconomics are much different. Gentrification in Chicago has gotten bad, leading to a huge rise in homelessness from people priced out of the market with no alternatives or means. City leadership is an oligarchy of the wealthy and privileged, and the city is a case study in how the modern economy isn't working for everybody.

 

[sabrebuild]

As a guy who grew up in Buffalo, California, Alabama, Florida and spent the last 15 years in the Army living all over the country and world (currently in Alaska), I still call Buffalo home and have Sabres and Bills as my pro teams.

My family still lives in Buffalo and honestly while the city isn’t the greatest (but not bad), the surrounding area makes Buffalo a very attractive location especially to raise a family.

Taxes do suck and so do many of the insane laws implemented Democrats who’ve run the state for the last few decades. Anyway, I plan to return once I retire, as long as I can bring my guns . It’s a very nice area with tons of stuff to do in a short drive.

Florida and California have perks, but it’s not as if they’re owners of all the pros with Buffalo holding the cons. If Buffalo got their state laws and taxes together it could be one of the more attractive places to live that I’ve ever been.

Not that you were particularly specific, but the state senate has been republican controlled for decades until about two years ago.

 

[PatrikBerglund]

There are actually a ton of similarities in social geography between Buffalo and Chicago. Buffalo is kind of a mini Chicago in many regards - many diverse neighborhoods with varying degrees of affluency, and it stretches out to the suburbs where I live.

That said, the socioeconomics are much different. Gentrification in Chicago has gotten bad, leading to a huge rise in homelessness from people priced out of the market with no alternatives or means. City leadership is an oligarchy of the wealthy and privileged, and the city is a case study in how the modern economy isn't working for everybody.

Thanks for that info.

With all the similarities between thsese two cities, are the crime levels the same too?

 

[GellMann]

Location wasn't a hindrance through the first 41 seasons of the franchise's history, when only 3 teams had a better winning percentage over their lifetimes.

Our biggest problem is with the people in charge of building the team building bad teams, and lots of them.

 

[Ace]

In hockey not much at all.

In football very much.

 

[Der Jaeger]

As someone who has lived in South Korea, Louisville, Germany, Columbus (Georgia), Washington DC, Savannah, Austin, and Columbia (SC), I’d love to go home to Buffalo.

More bad rap than reality.

 

[Jim Bob]

Buffalo has had a bad reputation, but it is getting better when it comes to the non-hockey aspects of Buffalo as a place to live and play hockey.

Right now, the lack of team success is the #1 reason why the Sabres have a hard time recruiting players.

Just look at Skinner waiving his NTC to come to Buffalo this year because it was so close to home. There is just one example of Buffalo's location being positive when attracting a player.

If the Sabres ever sort out the GM/Head Coach combination and start winning, I believe the location will be a positive when trying to recruit players from western NY & western Ontario.

 

[Paxon]

It definitely varies a lot from player to player. For a guy from Ontario, the close-to-home location might be a positive. Or a guy from Ontario might rather be somewhere that has nice weather year-round. Some guys want the big city life. Some guys love the small-town kind of family environment many find in the area. Buffalo has a problem with reputation, organizationally as well as the city. When players can see past that, I don't think the overall disadvantage is too bad. The appeal of SoCal and Florida or big cities like NY will always be strong, but that's something most teams have to deal with.

 

[TehDoak]

As someone who has never lived in Buffalo (I have family there and grew up in Central NYS). I also would probably never live in Buffalo, for some of the same reasons listed below.

It absolutely has an impact.

-Weather is an issue. If you talk about Buffalo, people talk about the snow.
-It's a small market. Its more affordable, yes, but often times players in their peak (25-27) typically want to live in Bigger cities.
-State Taxes are an issue.

That being said, typically for most players, two things matter:

-$$$$
-Winning

Unless we are contenders with oodles of cap space, we simply aren't going to get the top tier UFAs. We can overpay for mid tier (which we have, Ehrhoff, Leino, Okposo), which typically is a bad idea.

 

[Endless Ike]

Almost none. Winning solves everything.

 

[Sabre Dance]

Almost none. Winning solves everything.

Not everything, but Buffalo wouldn't be a joke whenever they try to get a top player or coach if they were a winning franchise.