News Article: Sabres looking (as an option) to move half of Amerks home games to Buffalo

[joshjull]

It's posturing, and the tried and true negotiating through the media.

They're not going to pull the Amerks out of Rochester.

To be fair I think this came out due to a request for info by the D + C. It wasn't something the Sabres released to the press.

 

[sabrefan27]

You would probably get 10,000 in Buffalo, don't you think? I live in Niagara Falls and I would definitely go to some games. You would have quite a few Canadians that you can now draw from.

Like I said before, I like what the leafs done. Can get a ticket to the Marlies if you can't afford the leafs and get to see AHL hockey in Toronto.

I am not trying to upset the Rochester fans and it is nice for them to have the Amerks but I think it would be better for Buffalo. I would love to see Buffalo have a AHL and CHL team too.


I don't want them to move but I think it is a bigger plus if they are playing at First Niagara.

No buffalo is not going to average 10,000 for an AHL team. Not even close. They would average less than what Rochester averages.

You just don't seem to get it. Are you so incapable of driving an hour to see the Amerks? You think it's good for the organization to pull a 60 year old team out of its city to move it an hour down the road? It's such an absurd idea to support that I am in disbelief you even typed what you did. Incredible.

 

[Jacob582]

I think it would be better for Buffalo.

But it wouldn't be better for Buffalo Sabres.

 

[Jacob582]

My take is this:

Buffalo wants SMG out. They (the Sabres) want to be the operator and perhaps even the owner of the arena.

I do believe that they are losing money on the Amerks. By getting out SMG out and becoming the operator all of the money comes back to them and while they may still lose money on the Amerks, they believe that the overall operation will be profitable.

As owner of the arena or as operator of the arena in a long term lease/partnership with the city of Rochester, my guess is that the Sabres would be willing to put money into the facility to upgrade what they consider to be key areas.

The lease would have to be very favorable to the Sabres in order to accomplish this. I thought the Sabres wanted to be the operator some time ago but the city went with SMG.

I believe the Sabres want to keep the Amerks in Rochester .... So I think the threat is real enough to compel the city to take it seriously and favor the Sabres in upcoming talks for an arena operator.

I agree. This was just a negotiating tactic.

 

[Jacob582]

Avoid another curse

I want to say one thing about Rochester. If you in Buffalo move Amerk games, after all the fans have gone through, you've gotten no good players, and then you've given them nothing to play with.

The hockey gods will get you in the end, believe me. You better not move Amerk games to Buffalo! As far as I'm concerned!

 

[Myllz]

I want to say one thing about Rochester. If you in Buffalo move Amerk games, after all the fans have gone through, you've gotten no good players, and then you've given them nothing to play with.

The hockey gods will get you in the end, believe me. You better not move Amerk games to Buffalo! As far as I'm concerned!

Thanks, Don.

 

[Jim Bob]

This would be silly. Part of the having the farm team in Rochester is that it reinforces the Sabres as a Regional franchise.

Is playing to a 6000 people in Buffalo more profitable than playing to 6000 people in Rochester?

I doubt that the Baby Sabres would average 6k a game in Buffalo.

 

[Jim Bob]

You would probably get 10,000 in Buffalo, don't you think? I live in Niagara Falls and I would definitely go to some games. You would have quite a few Canadians that you can now draw from.

Like I said before, I like what the leafs done. Can get a ticket to the Marlies if you can't afford the leafs and get to see AHL hockey in Toronto.

I am not trying to upset the Rochester fans and it is nice for them to have the Amerks but I think it would be better for Buffalo. I would love to see Buffalo have a AHL and CHL team too.


I don't want them to move but I think it is a bigger plus if they are playing at First Niagara.

http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph.php?tmi=8496

So, the Baby Sabres will average about 2x what the Marlies have?

I find that really hard to believe.

 

[Jacob582]

Thanks, Don.

That's Mr. Cherry to you.

 

[Disengage]

Here's a couple points I have against moving the Amerks to Buffalo full time:

• It would be a PR disaster in Rochester to move the team away. Stop at the thruway rest stop between Buffalo and Rochester after a game and you will see quite a few Sabres fans on their way back to Rochester. I'd like to think most of them would turn their backs on the Sabres if they took their local team away.
• Arena availability: With the AHL playing most of it's games on weekends and the NLL playing solely on weekends, it will be extremely tough to schedule the Sabres, Buffmerks, and Bandits. You're looking at Saturday or Sunday matinees which traditionally don't draw well.
• The notion of 10k fans every night: The Sabres literally gave away every ticket to the Amerks game in Buffalo last October to STHers. The building was empty. You could buy lower level tickets for $2 off StubHub. Contrary to the reported attendance, it was probably closer to 4000 actual attendance.
• Other teams moving their affiliates: Rochester to Buffalo is a 90 minute drive. This isn't like Worcester/San Jose or St. John's/Winnipeg. It's an hour and a half drive in traffic at worst. And if you really want to see those prospects so badly, you can drive over to see them. It doesn't seem to bother Tim Murray. I believe I saw him at about 10 games throughout the season.

 

[Ghills23]

I was a game day operations intern for the Amerks for one semester in college. It was the last season of Rochesters affiliation with Florida. I was shocked at the amount of true die hard Amerks fans. It was weird to see Panthers jerseys all around the arena. The love for the team was evident and the STH were very close to all of the ticket sales account executives who doubled as the game day operations crew. I had never been to an Amerks game before my internship and I remember how different it felt than a Sabres game. There's just a minor league atmosphere thats different. Kendall McCardell tackled a guy once and it resembled a linebacker sacking a QB more than it did a hockey play and a fellow intern of mine said "That's minor league hockey for you."

With that said the Amerks drew pretty well here when they played during the last lockout. Our development camp scrimmages get around 10,000. If the Amerks played 10 games here there's no doubt they would average more the 6,000 based on cheaper entertainment.

I don't think they will move based on the history Rochester has and I believe KimPegula wouldn't want to do that to her city. This is just a negotiating tactic to get better facilities for the players and the fans in Rochester and as a Sabres fan I don't blame them for that. They want to develop the players the best they can and improved facilities would theoretically help immensely.

 

[EichHart]

Here's a couple points I have against moving the Amerks to Buffalo full time:

• It would be a PR disaster in Rochester to move the team away. Stop at the thruway rest stop between Buffalo and Rochester after a game and you will see quite a few Sabres fans on their way back to Rochester. I'd like to think most of them would turn their backs on the Sabres if they took their local team away.
• Arena availability: With the AHL playing most of it's games on weekends and the NLL playing solely on weekends, it will be extremely tough to schedule the Sabres, Buffmerks, and Bandits. You're looking at Saturday or Sunday matinees which traditionally don't draw well.
• The notion of 10k fans every night: The Sabres literally gave away every ticket to the Amerks game in Buffalo last October to STHers. The building was empty. You could buy lower level tickets for $2 off StubHub. Contrary to the reported attendance, it was probably closer to 4000 actual attendance.
• Other teams moving their affiliates: Rochester to Buffalo is a 90 minute drive. This isn't like Worcester/San Jose or St. John's/Winnipeg. It's an hour and a half drive in traffic at worst. And if you really want to see those prospects so badly, you can drive over to see them. It doesn't seem to bother Tim Murray. I believe I saw him at about 10 games throughout the season.

90 min drive? It's like 62 miles. It's an hour drive.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

90 min drive? It's like 62 miles. It's an hour drive.

The amerks were my first love when it comes to hockey. I have been going to their games since i was a little boy. It doesn't matter if it's 1 hour or an hour and a half. Sending them to another city would be a real slap in the face to those fans who have been faithful to the Rochester Americans. This better just be negotiating tactic for arena upgrades

 

[Disengage]

90 min drive? It's like 62 miles. It's an hour drive.

Really? That's the one thing out of that post you're going to argue?

 

[DeadGhost]

I am a Sabres fan because of the Amerks.

As a long time STH in Rochester, going to 36 games during an awful season can get tiresome. Wouldn't mind a shortened home schedule if the price was right. The current half season ticket package really doesn't have that much value, imo.

The arena needs improvements. If those include better food options and a better in game experience I'm in.

 

[Myllz]

What kind of improvements actually need to be made at the arena? It's been a good 5+ years since I've been there, but it never seemed terrible or anything when I was there.

 

[Disengage]

What kind of improvements actually need to be made at the arena? It's been a good 5+ years since I've been there, but it never seemed terrible or anything when I was there.

The roof leaks like a sieve when the snow starts to melt. The concourses are cramped. Concessions aren't very good. Acoustics aren't conducive to have concerts there. There's no true "premium" seating.

 

[Jim Bob]

The roof leaks like a sieve when the snow starts to melt. The concourses are cramped. Concessions aren't very good. Acoustics aren't conducive to have concerts there. There's no true "premium" seating.

Good luck doing a lot of that stuff in the structure that exists today.

Getting all that done would be more realistic in a new building. And Rochester isn't bankrolling a new arena.

 

[Myllz]

Good luck doing a lot of that stuff in the structure that exists today.

Getting all that done would be more realistic in a new building. And Rochester isn't bankrolling a new arena.

Yeah, basically. The concessions is a fairly easy fix, but the rest of that stuff seems tough to improve on.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[sabrefan27]

Good luck doing a lot of that stuff in the structure that exists today.

Getting all that done would be more realistic in a new building. And Rochester isn't bankrolling a new arena.

Yeah you're not widening the concourses. The arena is fine to me. It needs some cosmetic upgrades but it's really not in that bad of shape relative to the league.

If the Sabres are looking for world class facilities they'll have to bankroll it themselves.

 

[Dex]

This would be silly. Part of the having the farm team in Rochester is that it reinforces the Sabres as a Regional franchise.

Is playing to a 6000 people in Buffalo more profitable than playing to 6000 people in Rochester?

I agree with your statement about Rochester and support the Amerks staying there. But I do believe that the having the Amerks in Buffalo is better financially than having them play in Rochester.

1. No lease payment to SMG
2. Revenue coming in from all of the advertising
3. Revenue from parking
4. Revenue from concessions
5. Shared resources such as training facilities

Some of those savings would be offset by the cost of operating the arena in Buffalo but you also get - more business at 716, Sabres store, Tim Hortons

On top of that you have the convenience of the the hockey department being able to see your own players in your own arena whenever you want and being able to call up a guy by walking over to the next dressing room and tap him on the shoulder.

So, I believe that to get the Sabres to stay in Rochester, they need to be the operator of the arena

 

[UnleashRasmus]

Because I live in Rochester, I hope this doesn't happen. I love having the ability to see the younger players come in. So I would not like to have to drive to Buffalo to have to see the "Rochester Americans", play.

 

[Beerz]

What kind of improvements actually need to be made at the arena? It's been a good 5+ years since I've been there, but it never seemed terrible or anything when I was there.

New locker room and fireplace

 

[sabrefan27]

I'm all for strong arming the city into arena improvements. I welcome that. But threatening to move games is a road they shouldn't have went down