TBN: Sabres to alter ticket pricing model, increase prices

[sufferer]

It costs upwards of $40 to get properly buzzed at a game. Fix it.

 

[SackTastic]

I haven't been paying attention to the intricacies of league finances, but is this still tied to revenue sharing?

It could very well be.

It used to be, not anymore.

In the last CBA, ticket prices had to be at a certain percentage of a number to get the revenue sharing payments, so plenty of teams like the Sabres increased just enough to stay at that line. There was also a bunch of teams (cough Panthers) who just pocked that money.

In the new CBA, they split revenue sharing up into 2 parts; Player Compensation Redistribution, and Industry Growth Fund.

The bulk of sharing is in the Player Compensation Redistribution system. In a nutshell:
- The league sets a Targeted Team Payroll number, somewhere between the cap lower limit, and cap midpoint.
- Each team takes their specific revenues and cuts in half.
- If a team's number is LESS than the target, they are eligible for payments to get them to that target, and it's expected they'll spend that on player salaries.

Since the Sabres are spending to the cap, they can't be below the target, so they wont get anything from this pool.

The ticket price bit moved into the Industry Growth Fund. If a team has gate receipts less than 75% of the league wide average per-game number, they can get payments from the Growth Fund, but then have to submit a business plan on how they're going to increase that number. The funding from the Growth Fund looks like it comes primarily from the league, not the players share.

 

[Sabre Dance]

I've yet to see a price comparison of going to a Sabres game vs The rest of the NHL. Reading through comments Sabres games must be much more expensive. It's not.

 

[Buffaloed]

How much are tickets for the best event of the year, locker cleanout day?

 

[sabresfan65]

It costs upwards of $40 to get properly buzzed at a game. Fix it.

That will get you 2 beers in Vegas! Talking 80 to 100 to get buzzed! Of course the team has been playing better so not as much need to get buzzed.

 

[Chainshot]

Clearly they want to simulate the experience of attending games in their "home" rink in Sunrise, Florida... that being a mostly empty lower bowl.

 

[SackTastic]

Clearly they want to simulate the experience of attending games in their "home" rink in Sunrise, Florida... that being a mostly empty lower bowl.

Or the first 6 minutes of every period in Toronto!

 

[Chainshot]

What exactly do they give the fans?

Gray hair and indigestion.

 

[JThorne]

"We REALLY don't want you to support us. Try it, we dare you."

 

[Buffaloed]

Here is the unedited version of Kevyn Adams statement:
"In the wake of falling attendance due to piss poor performance on the ice the Sabres have elected to raise ticket prices to compensate for lost revenue. This price increase was derived using a secret algorithm developed by the NHL to suppress the urge by fans bearing pitchforks and torches to storm Key Bank Arena"

 

[GameMisconduct]

It used to be, not anymore.

In the last CBA, ticket prices had to be at a certain percentage of a number to get the revenue sharing payments, so plenty of teams like the Sabres increased just enough to stay at that line. There was also a bunch of teams (cough Panthers) who just pocked that money.

In the new CBA, they split revenue sharing up into 2 parts; Player Compensation Redistribution, and Industry Growth Fund.

The bulk of sharing is in the Player Compensation Redistribution system. In a nutshell:
- The league sets a Targeted Team Payroll number, somewhere between the cap lower limit, and cap midpoint.
- Each team takes their specific revenues and cuts in half.
- If a team's number is LESS than the target, they are eligible for payments to get them to that target, and it's expected they'll spend that on player salaries.

Since the Sabres are spending to the cap, they can't be below the target, so they wont get anything from this pool.

The ticket price bit moved into the Industry Growth Fund. If a team has gate receipts less than 75% of the league wide average per-game number, they can get payments from the Growth Fund, but then have to submit a business plan on how they're going to increase that number. The funding from the Growth Fund looks like it comes primarily from the league, not the players share.

Thanks so much for laying that all out. It was very informative and it's really interesting to see how that process evolved.

 

[sabremike]

 

[toomuchsauce]

I am honestly wondering if this Kevvyn Addyms appearance today was a literal troll job, given that there were reports about the organization being mad about people being critical of them on the internets. "Oh, you guys want analytics? Well, here ya go!" Extremely petty, childish "stop hitting yourself" shit.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

Well if the average went up 2.5%, and seats further from the ice reduced price...brace yourself

I’m up 8%. The best part is Sabre bucks get reduced from 2.5% to 2%.

someone needs to tell me again how Golisano was the cheap guy and Pegula would just dig another well when he needed. He’s just drilling into my wallet

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

He did say that. Except right now oil and gas prices are in the tank, so production of all that stuff is way down. And let's be honest ; he shouldn't have to do that anyways.

I'm by no means defending the increase. But a 2.5% increase is honestly not much, and they're still running a business. They clearly could be running it better, and I spoke with my wallet this season and dropped my seats until the product and experience improves.

If 2.5% is much for anyone personally, I respect that. If it's strictly financial though , maybe you want to re-evaluate if having STs makes sense for you.

It’s 8% for me

 

[SackTastic]

It’s 8% for me

Oof, that's rough. That certainly would have me thinking twice...

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

I wonder what the median income of STH is?

 

[FormerSabresFan]

I can't believe anyone would consider throwing thousands of dollars away to watch this tire fire team with the most clueless GM in the league.

Maybe ownership is forced to get a clue if enough STH holders drop their tickets.

I'm not spending a dime on this team until they start showing they care about improving the on-ice product.

It's been 2 years and we haven't filled 2c yet...they're probably losing Larry to free agency too.

Who would hand over thousands of hard earned dollars to that kind of incompetence?

If you really need to attend games or your kids like to go there will be plenty of $6 tickets on stubhub next year...

 

[buffalowing88]

I honestly don't even like our arena. I'm glad the Pegula's dropped money into the surrounding area and the Harbor Center as a whole, but I've been to a dozen other arenas in the past year or two that had better sitelines and didn't feel so cramped. I'm not going to pay more for a shitty seat crammed in just so they can make an extra buck.

 

[valet]

2.5%, barely keeping up with inflation. If I stick around Buffalo any longer I think I might get season tickets before they're harder to obtain.

 

[oldgoalie]

Clearly they want to simulate the experience of attending games in their "home" rink in Sunrise, Florida... that being a mostly empty lower bowl.

Drove by it the other day for the first time.

 

[Buffaloed]

I honestly don't even like our arena. I'm glad the Pegula's dropped money into the surrounding area and the Harbor Center as a whole, but I've been to a dozen other arenas in the past year or two that had better sitelines and didn't feel so cramped. I'm not going to pay more for a shitty seat crammed in just so they can make an extra buck.

The NHL was going to force the team to relocate if they didn't update the arena. They were facing a deadline to get it done and the Knox's were going broke. It was built as cheaply as possible and even then they had to borrow from Jeremy Jacobs to close the deal. Larry Quinn is credited with putting together the financing and getting the arena built.

 

[Howie Hodge]

Exactly what I was calculating..... after being committed for 15 years and going through the last decade of crap. I’m so pissed right now.

15 years??? I was only committed for 3 months before the medication kicked in! I'm much happier now....

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

I can't believe anyone would consider throwing thousands of dollars away to watch this tire fire team with the most clueless GM in the league.

Maybe ownership is forced to get a clue if enough STH holders drop their tickets.

I'm not spending a dime on this team until they start showing they care about improving the on-ice product.

It's been 2 years and we haven't filled 2c yet...they're probably losing Larry to free agency too.

Who would hand over thousands of hard earned dollars to that kind of incompetence?

If you really need to attend games or your kids like to go there will be plenty of $6 tickets on stubhub next year...

At some point, this team will end up in Hamilton, Texas or Quebec City under this ownership.

 

[buffalowing88]

The NHL was going to force the team to relocate if they didn't update the arena. They were facing a deadline to get it done and the Knox's were going broke. It was built as cheaply as possible and even then they had to borrow from Jeremy Jacobs to close the deal. Larry Quinn is credited with putting together the financing and getting the arena built.

Wow! I didn't know that was something that happened. I was like 8 when that happened so I guess I'll give myself some slack but that really makes a lot of sense. I legitimately cannot say enough about how tight seating is and how bad some of the sitelines are but it makes sense if this was all thrown up in a haste. Incredible, but sadly, totally believable.