OT: Sabres on MSG?

[ImIdaho]

Just curious if there was any word about that. I was looking at the games that will be shown later this week and I noticed that MSG [Fios - Ch.579] will be showing the Sabres. It's not just a one thing deal as they will be showing them against the Senators, Penguins, and Blue Jackets.

I'm all for it. Any hockey is good hockey. Better the Sabres then having two channels show the same thing: Ch. 578 + Ch. 579.

Click to read more...

 

[NYRFAN218]

Just curious if there was any word about that. I was looking at the games that will be shown later this week and I noticed that MSG [Fios - Ch.579] will be showing the Sabres. It's not just a one thing deal as they will be showing them against the Senators, Penguins, and Blue Jackets.

I'm all for it. Any hockey is good hockey. Better the Sabres then having two channels show the same thing: Ch. 578 + Ch. 579.

Sabres are only shown in Buffalo and parts of upstate New York, not in the NYC area. Don't know where the cut off in upstate NY is for their games.

 

[ImIdaho]

Sabres are only shown in Buffalo and parts of upstate New York, not in the NYC area. Don't know where the cut off in upstate NY is for their games.

In the Channel Guide, I'm seeing Sabres Pregame, NHL Hockey (Meaning the game), and Sabres Postgame.

 

[KreidertheGlider]

I live in rochester and msg often plays islanders, devils, and sabres games over the rangers. The rangers still have the most airtime but I always expect to miss at least a dozen games because of this.

 

[ZacUSNYR]

God the Sabres feeds are awful

 

[Made Dan]

I saw a pre-season game on the channel guide but it was blacked out.

 

[profchaos2001]

used to be based in schenectady (near albany) for 4 years. buffalo always played over the rangers

 

[silverfish]

The MSG network is really the most confusing thing ever. Things may have changed for this season, but when I was living in Buffalo (08-12) the Rangers would regularly be on the television guide, but blacked out when the time came. I suspect this is the same issue, just happening in reverse now.

On the other hand, I would certainly love to be able to watch as much hockey as possible.

And for what it's worth, I don't see the Sabres on my channel guide (Long Island - Cablevision)

 

[Muh]

I went to school in Buffalo, never expected to get Rangers. First Ranger game up there I saw it was listed for MSG, was excited. Watched pregame, and was ready to enjoy the Rangers season from Buffalo....blacked out at puck drop, son of a *****.

 

[eco's bones]

The Sabres used to have their own TV channel--Empire which was part of the John Rigas empire. He owned the Sabres at the time. He and at least some of his family members are now in federal prison for a variety of crimes. After the 97 season when the Rangers started missing the playoffs with regularity you could watch their Empire channel and it was regular business of them (not just for Rangers games but throughout any given season) to run the Rangers down even if we weren't a direct rival in the same division. More or less the spiel was the Rangers were an example of everything wrong about hockey--spending lots of $ for a bunch of has been mercenaries on retirement contracts. Leading the league in payroll but can't make the playoffs. Ha--****ing-ha ha. The Sabres on the other hand were doing all the right things that a franchise should do--building their team from the ground up blah, blah, blah. It's not that there wasn't a lot of truth in that critique but it's ironic at least to me that after the entire Rigas apparatus collapsed and half that family ****ed off to prison that they should come hat in hand to the NHL and the Rangers about TV rights and thereafter should have some of their games forced upon Rangers fans who just happen to live upstate just because their television channel no longer exists. They have a super rich owner now with deep pockets. He should invest in a new one.

Which is to say I don't particularly care that some of our games are preempted for some of theirs. Pretty much **** them. Which is also to say where I grew up here in the Southern Tier--Elmira, Corning, Binghamton, Ithaca--the much greater % of hockey fans here are Rangers fans--not Sabres fans. There are probably more Islanders and Bruins fans than there are Sabres fans as well and it's not hard to figure out--the Rangers have been broadcasting here pretty much since the 60's whether it was WOR or MSG. Sabres--maybe the late 80's-early 90's. So it's bizarre to me when even now there are more Rangers fans around here that we get to watch the Sabres sometimes instead--on the Rangers broadcast channel.

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

Can;t get NYR from Buffalo. Sucks. BUF in NYC area is probably the same deal.

 

[Crease]

I guess this is a good place to provide the breakdown:

Under current NHL rules, a team may not broadcast more than 50-60 games outside of their designated market area (DMA). They are allowed to fully serve their DMA.

For the Rangers, Devils and Islanders, this is the NYC Tri-State area (including the Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and The Bronx, northern and central New Jersey and Fairfield County, Connecticut). For the Sabres, this is everything north of Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess counties.

In addition to the NHL restriction, MSG Network agreed with the Sabres not to air a single Rangers, Islanders, or Devils game west of Syracuse. On the other side of the coin, MSG Network does not air a single Sabres game in the Tri-State area. So bottom line, if you're north of Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess counties and east of Syracuse, you'll get all Sabres games and some Rangers games. If you're west of Syracuse, you're SOL.

 

[eco's bones]

I guess this is a good place to provide the breakdown:

Under current NHL rules, a team may not broadcast more than 50-60 games outside of their designated market area (DMA). They are allowed to fully serve their DMA.

For the Rangers, Devils and Islanders, this is the NYC Tri-State area (including the Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and The Bronx, northern and central New Jersey and Fairfield County, Connecticut). For the Sabres, this is everything north of Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess counties.

In addition to the NHL restriction, MSG Network agreed with the Sabres not to air a single Rangers, Islanders, or Devils game west of Syracuse. On the other side of the coin, MSG Network does not air a single Sabres game in the Tri-State area. So bottom line, if you're north of Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess counties and east of Syracuse, you'll get all Sabres games and some Rangers games. If you're west of Syracuse, you're SOL.

I'm southwest of Syracuse. About two thirds Rangers about one third Sabres.

 

[Crease]

I'm southwest of Syracuse. About two thirds Rangers about one third Sabres.

Looks like the drop-dead line is closer to Rochester than Syracuse. Guess my info is stale.

 

[eco's bones]

Looks like the drop-dead line is closer to Rochester than Syracuse. Guess my info is stale.

Probably everything west and northwest of Syracuse.

 

[rkhum]

I guess this is a good place to provide the breakdown:

Under current NHL rules, a team may not broadcast more than 50-60 games outside of their designated market area (DMA). They are allowed to fully serve their DMA.

For the Rangers, Devils and Islanders, this is the NYC Tri-State area (including the Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and The Bronx, northern and central New Jersey and Fairfield County, Connecticut). For the Sabres, this is everything north of Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess counties.

In addition to the NHL restriction, MSG Network agreed with the Sabres not to air a single Rangers, Islanders, or Devils game west of Syracuse. On the other side of the coin, MSG Network does not air a single Sabres game in the Tri-State area. So bottom line, if you're north of Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess counties and east of Syracuse, you'll get all Sabres games and some Rangers games. If you're west of Syracuse, you're SOL.

This is BS, socialistic, social engineering.

Those of you in the Albany, Central NY, and Adirondaks/North County, how many Ranger games do you get AND is this Sabre nonsense actually brainwashing people to be more Sabre orientated?

 

[Chainshot]

As a hockey fan, I miss the days of being able to have the option of Ranger games on MSG, Sabres games on Empire or other WNY stations, the Canadiens on SRC, and the Leafs on CHCH.

 

[Crease]

This is BS, socialistic, social engineering.

...it's business.

In order to convince the Sabres to sign a 10-year deal with them, MSG agreed to give them significant exposure outside of Western New York.

 

[Tawnos]

Those of you in the Albany, Central NY, and Adirondaks/North County, how many Ranger games do you get

My brother lives in Albany. He gets every Rangers game except for the ones that are on at the same time as Sabres games.

 

[eco's bones]

This is BS, socialistic, social engineering.

Those of you in the Albany, Central NY, and Adirondaks/North County, how many Ranger games do you get AND is this Sabre nonsense actually brainwashing people to be more Sabre orientated?

I don't see where it's socialistic at all. The options aren't there. This is about marketing--granting fiefdoms--making sure the smaller franchises have as large a base as possible to draw from. The Sabres market competes with the Rangers to the east, Toronto to the north and Pittsburgh to the south. They draw from western NY and a bit from South Ontario. Empire's collapse left them without a television distribution network. This puts them at a disadvantage as an NHL entity. Can't speak for all teams but I would think most all of them (if not all) have the capability of showing their teams every game to those living in their immediate areas.

Again--Sabres new owner has deep pockets. It would be better IMO if they would stop capetbagging on the MSG network and start up their own. I don't know what Dolan or the NHL get out of this but I imagine something. The NHL doesn't seem to get that there are areas of upstate New York in which the Sabres really don't have much of a foothold and probably they don't give a **** and neither really does Dolan.

 

[HF_Rangers]

Living in the Erie, PA area for years we haven't even had Sabres games on Time Warner as they refuse to carry MSG (they did have Empire as it was previously serviced by Adelphia). We're forced to deal with the Penguins broadcasts for our only source of hockey on basic cable. Only way Sabres fans (and there are a good amount) in our area to get games is satellite. Blue Jackets are listed on the FS Ohio schedule on the guide and they are blacked out. It's a bummer since that could be up to 14 Rangers games I could see, but I have to settle for NHL Game Center.

 

[NYRSchrute217]

Somewhat related question: does anyone who lives in Syracuse or Albany have Game Center Live from nhl.com and do the Rangers get blacked out on it?