Confirmed with Link: Ted Black "mutually parts ways" with Sabres, Brandon now President of Sabres/Bills

[WNY to NoVA]

was black in charge of sly and peters being on the radio everyday?

if so..aid****ingos

 

[rtfirefly]

You're describing Capitalism at its finest. Why you're trying to paint it as a bad thing is baffling.

Actually, I made no value judgement (where did I use the word "bad?) Though you did when you described the process as Capitalism at its "finest". (The sarcasm misses the point.) You needn't have misrepresented my observation as some sort of anti-capitalist screed. I spent some time in the Soviet Union (when it existed) and saw first hand the dehumanizing power of a socialist system. One of the most telling characteristics of that system was the manner in which it regarded the will of its constituency as irrelevant to its actions. A very tiny self-empowered minority had the power to impose its decisions upon its citizens in every facet of their lives. In that sense, it can be argued that professional sports is, in its realm, a kind of economic dictatorship. A person can choose to follow sports or not. But that person is not offered the option of opting out of paying for them. The most theoretically positive aspect of a free market system is its ability to reflect the interests of the people who choose to participate in any particular marketplace (the marketplace of entertainment, sports, movies, music, fashion, media, etc.) I think that capitalism at its "finest" would offer people the opportunity to partake of freely chosen marketplaces without demanding the forced subsidization of them by those who have no interest in a particular category of product (i.e. the grandmother compelled to pay for ESPN, or the already obscenely overburdened taxpayer paying hundreds of millions of dollars to refurbish a stadium used by 1% of the population for 100 hours per year.

 

[Dex]

That little shelf above the urinals in the men's rooms was a stroke of frickin' genius.

I'm taking credit for that one. Or at least I like to think that.

I saw a Giants game in San Francisco and sat in their 200 level - where I first saw the shelves. When the Sabres announced they were going to put up a suggestion box on their website - I waited for it to open and then pounced. Later that day or the next - Black was on the air talking about the suggestion box and joked about getting a request to add a shelf over the urinals to rest your beer. The rest is history.

 

[Dex]

was black in charge of sly and peters being on the radio everyday?

if so..aid****ingos

On the plus side - compare and contrast the Bills John Murphy show with the Sabres Hockey Hotline. The quality difference between the two shows is more than readily evident.

On the other hand, Brandon says he knows very little about hockey. Perhaps he might think this is how hockey shows should be.

I don't want to see anyone lose their job, but it should take all but 5 minutes to realize that this show is the equivalent of Garth and Wayne broadcasting from their parents' basement.

Looking into my crustal ball, I see ticket sales in Kevin Sylvester's future.....

For Andrew Peters - it's used cars.

 

[tsujimoto74]

I'm taking credit for that one. Or at least I like to think that.

I saw a Giants game in San Francisco and sat in their 200 level - where I first saw the shelves. When the Sabres announced they were going to put up a suggestion box on their website - I waited for it to open and then pounced. Later that day or the next - Black was on the air talking about the suggestion box and joked about getting a request to add a shelf over the urinals to rest your beer. The rest is history.

You, sir, are a scholar and a gentleman.

 

[zbubble]

In some cases, it means resorting to a form of legalized extortion. If a little old lady wants to watch the Hallmark Channel, she pays an additional six dollars a month on her cable bill for ESPN

Not on Time Warner in Buffalo. ESPN is already included on a lower tier than Hallmark. If a little old lady wants Hallmark, she's paying for 130 additional channels at $10 a month to get in that tier, with none of them being ESPN.

 

[rtfirefly]

Not on Time Warner in Buffalo. ESPN is already included on a lower tier than Hallmark. If a little old lady wants Hallmark, she's paying for 130 additional channels at $10 a month to get in that tier, with none of them being ESPN.

I stand corrected. I should have said if she wanted the History Channel or Lifetime or Oxygen or the Food Network (or any number of others) she has to pay for ESPN—by far the single most expensive station—to get the channel of her choice.

 

[zbubble]

I stand corrected. I should have said if she wanted the History Channel or Lifetime or Oxygen or the Food Network (or any number of others) she has to pay for ESPN—by far the single most expensive station—to get the channel of her choice.

Its 1 tier up from basic cable and goes both ways. if someone wants just ESPN, they're also paying for all the channels they dont want like Lifetime and Oxygen and Food Network and 65 other channels that aren't ESPN.

I get the idea, we'd all like to be able to pay for only the channels we watch, but ESPN and/or sports tv is not the reason why they don't offer a la carte programming and pricing.

 

[rtfirefly]

Its 1 tier up from basic cable and goes both ways. if someone wants just ESPN, they're also paying for all the channels they dont want like Lifetime and Oxygen and Food Network and 65 other channels that aren't ESPN.

I get the idea, we'd all like to be able to pay for only the channels we watch, but ESPN and/or sports tv is not the reason why they don't offer a la carte programming and pricing.

The median cost-per-subscriber that networks charge cable providers is 14 cents per month.
ESPN charges more than six dollars.

People who don't watch ESPN are nevertheless forced to pay for the exponentially most expensive single channel. The cable companies, of necessity, need to create a coercive economic model to cover that cost. There may be people whose obsession with sports negates their interest in the aggregation of all other human endeavors combined, and thus they may object to paying for channels that address the subjects that cover the more complete range of human thinking. But there are far more people who have to pay for ESPN though they don't want it, than people who watch only ESPN but are forced to subsidize those who want to watch CNN or Bravo or the National Geographic Channel.

 

[Beerz]

The median cost-per-subscriber that networks charge cable providers is 14 cents per month.
ESPN charges more than six dollars.

People who don't watch ESPN are nevertheless forced to pay for the exponentially most expensive single channel. The cable companies, of necessity, need to create a coercive economic model to cover that cost. There may be people whose obsession with sports negates their interest in the aggregation of all other human endeavors combined, and thus they may object to paying for channels that address the subjects that cover the more complete range of human thinking. But there are far more people who have to pay for ESPN though they don't want it, than people who watch only ESPN but are forced to subsidize those who want to watch CNN or Bravo or the National Geographic Channel.

Will all soon be a distant past.

Cable Companies are going to have to change and start going A la carte or face extinction ...

 

[RoofIt5hole]

It seems to me, with Black gone, and Brandon in, this would mean more power for GMTM.

 

[jBuds]

I'm taking credit for that one. Or at least I like to think that.

I saw a Giants game in San Francisco and sat in their 200 level - where I first saw the shelves. When the Sabres announced they were going to put up a suggestion box on their website - I waited for it to open and then pounced. Later that day or the next - Black was on the air talking about the suggestion box and joked about getting a request to add a shelf over the urinals to rest your beer. The rest is history.

Hashtag mymaannnnnnnnn. Thank you

 

[jBuds]

It seems to me, with Black gone, and Brandon in, this would mean more power for GMTM.

How so? I don't think it changes Murray ...

 

[wunderpanda]

It seems to me, with Black gone, and Brandon in, this would mean more power for GMTM.

I don't think it mean more actual power, but it does firmly place Murray as the 'boss' of the Sabres. More perceived authority without additional duty or responsibilities. Brandon absorbs the tasks into a larger corporate sports umbrella, actually shrinking the overall Sabres compartment of Pegula sports. Doubt Murray has to worry about the day to day things, ticket sales, marketing, Disney on Ice, visits with cancer kids, he's just the roster guy building a fantasy team for Pegula.

 

[punkr0x]

I don't think it mean more actual power, but it does firmly place Murray as the 'boss' of the Sabres. More perceived authority without additional duty or responsibilities. Brandon absorbs the tasks into a larger corporate sports umbrella, actually shrinking the overall Sabres compartment of Pegula sports. Doubt Murray has to worry about the day to day things, ticket sales, marketing, Disney on Ice, visits with cancer kids, he's just the roster guy building a fantasy team for Pegula.

I think it's a vote of confidence for Murray as well. We don't feel you need a hockey guy looking over your shoulder, and now that you're in place we can bring in a guy we trust more on the business end, who won't care about the roster decisions.

 

[vcv]

Murray already reported to Terry Pegula and already had full control over hockey decisions (with Pegula obviously having veto power since he's the owner). That has not changed. Ted Black was strictly business.

 

[phosphene*]

Murray already reported to Terry Pegula and already had full control over hockey decisions (with Pegula obviously having veto power since he's the owner). That has not changed. Ted Black was strictly business.

Yep. The only reason this topic gets brought up was because Brandon was GM at one point so people felt paranoid about him sticking his hands in personnel decisions once be became president. It's a nonissue.

 

[Jim Bob]

Yep. The only reason this topic gets brought up was because Brandon was GM at one point so people felt paranoid about him sticking his hands in personnel decisions once be became president. It's a nonissue.

And if you heard Brandon talk about that, it was obvious that being a GM wasn't something he sought out and just something he did to fill a role during the Wilson years.

I am much more interested to see how Brandon delegates as he takes on more PSE & Sabres duties. He did seem to hint at the Amerks being a piece of the business stuff that he will be responsible for, as well.

But, given that Brandon knows more about football and baseball than hockey, I am not at all worried about Brandon telling Murray what to do on the hockey side of things.

 

[Matt Ress]

Will all soon be a distant past.

Cable Companies are going to have to change and start going A la carte or face extinction ...

All it takes is one company offering that sort of menu, much like cell phone companies, there are plenty now that offer flat rates for limitless use. Consumers would eat that up as well. The only thing holding it back, I would imagine, is large networks not making their programming available to a company like that. Otherwise, you would think, a failing dish network of sorts would take that chance.

 

[Onslow]

Anyone concerned about the possibility that Brandon could be spreading himself too thin by running two organizations? I'm sure there are plenty of underlings and middle management to help him, but still - the thought had occurred to me.

 

[brian_griffin]

Anyone concerned about the possibility that Brandon could be spreading himself too thin by running two organizations? I'm sure there are plenty of underlings and middle management to help him, but still - the thought had occurred to me.

Not really concerned. Several reasons:

1. Big opportunity for overlap / synergy between the two sports franchises in their functional organizations and division of labor/skills. It's not like the complexity doubles because their business are completely different and not complementary.

Several parallel functions I'm sure:
Operations: Logistics (transportation, leases, scheduling, etc.)
Customer facing: Ticet sales, fan promotions, broadcasting, etc.
Marketing- similar
Legal- probably merges / doubles. Just because, lawyers.
Purchasing/Finance/Accounting- very similar.
HR- (non-athlete) very similar
Hockey operations - different
Football operations - different

2. These are still comparatively small, comparatively simple organizations, with a lot of functional overlap.

3. Language, physical location, all the same.

4. IT systems may have some differences, but the footprint is small, so likely solvable.

 

[Onslow]

Not really concerned. Several reasons:

1. Big opportunity for overlap / synergy between the two sports franchises in their functional organizations and division of labor/skills. It's not like the complexity doubles because their business are completely different and not complementary.

Several parallel functions I'm sure:
Operations: Logistics (transportation, leases, scheduling, etc.)
Customer facing: Ticet sales, fan promotions, broadcasting, etc.
Marketing- similar
Legal- probably merges / doubles. Just because, lawyers.
Purchasing/Finance/Accounting- very similar.
HR- (non-athlete) very similar
Hockey operations - different
Football operations - different

2. These are still comparatively small, comparatively simple organizations, with a lot of functional overlap.

3. Language, physical location, all the same.

4. IT systems may have some differences, but the footprint is small, so likely solvable.

Good points, thanks

 

[Ralonzo]

From the terdburger, to sending out ticket increases on can appreciation day

Some people no appreciation for cans at all

 

[Shmuffalo]

I like him mentioning Erie in terms of regionalization. If they somehow start getting games again on TV, that would be absolutely awesome. I miss visiting home, and seeing games on Empire.

 

[threeVo]

No one is better at selling "hope" than this guy. Great pick from a business and profitability standpoint. Terry knows Russ can make the Sabres bring in the cash. The hype train is just getting built