Sabres Tickets

[Derrico]

So Mini-Paks go on sale in two days and I have not yet recieved an email detailing where to buy them. Any existing Mini-Pak holders get their email yet on purchasing a new package?

[theesir]

I received a letter with the schedule last week. It told me to expect an email with my passcode and time for purchasing tickets online yesterday. I got the email at 6:30pm or so.

My purchase time is Wednesday at 1pm

[Derrico]

Great, thanks! I just recieved my email and start buying tomorrow at noon. I just thought I would have recieved the email sooner and I never got a letter.

[OverPowerYou]

What about individual game tickets?

[Derrico]

What about individual game tickets?

 

They go on sale September 14th.

[theesir]

I have a hell of a hard time believing that there are nothing but 300 level seats available for ANY of the games I am looking for!

[theesir]

Well, after 4 years I am a "former" mini-pack holder. I get the option to purchase on day 1, hour 3 and there is nothing but 300 level seats at least 15 rows up available.

I have sat in the 200 level by the harbor club for every game (7-10 per year) for 4 years and don't really want to move up to the nosebleeds.

The biggest benefit to being a Mini-pack holder was early access to seats early and the possibility of playoff tickets (I know, really) before general public sale. But, if all I can get now are upper level 300's I'm better off jumping on stubhub a day or so before the games I want to attend and getting my tickets there, probably for less than full price.

 

It was nice while it lasted.

 

I'm strangely bummed, like I'm not part of a club anymore.

[Derrico]

Well, after 4 years I am a "former" mini-pack holder. I get the option to purchase on day 1, hour 3 and there is nothing but 300 level seats at least 15 rows up available.

I have sat in the 200 level by the harbor club for every game (7-10 per year) for 4 years and don't really want to move up to the nosebleeds.

The biggest benefit to being a Mini-pack holder was early access to seats early and the possibility of playoff tickets (I know, really) before general public sale. But, if all I can get now are upper level 300's I'm better off jumping on stubhub a day or so before the games I want to attend and getting my tickets there, probably for less than full price.

 

It was nice while it lasted.

 

I'm strangely bummed, like I'm not part of a club anymore.

 

I completely agree!! I was coming on here to complain as well. Good luck to anyone buying tickets when they go on sale to the general public. There is nothing left already but 300 level tickets for most games and even then it's about half way up in the corner if you want more than 2 together. Very disapointing. I get the fact that they have a wait list for season tickets but it's too bad they added another 2,000 or whatever it was because now you can't get tix unless ur sitting way way up and in the corner! Not a single ticket available for the Montreal game in March in the lower bowl. Way to piss off ur fan base.

[...]

Same thing here. I am a former mini-pack holder. Nothing there for me, and I had a noon starting time. By 10:30am, even the good pre-season game tickets were gone. For years, my family and I got 200 level pre-season tickets - all gone.

 

Seems you have to be among the "elite" locally to see your local team. The Sabres continue to disenfranchise me.

[spndnchz]

Same thing here. I am a former mini-pack holder. Nothing there for me, and I had a noon starting time. By 10:30am, even the good pre-season game tickets were gone. For years, my family and I got 200 level pre-season tickets - all gone.

 

Seems you have to be among the "elite" locally to see your local team. The Sabres continue to disenfranchise me.

 

Not "elite". The line starts with the longest tenured mini-pack holders.

 

Guys. Don't make the mistake of not buying games. You'll be put to the end of the line.

[theesir]

Not "elite". The line starts with the longest tenured mini-pack holders.

 

Guys. Don't make the mistake of not buying games. You'll be put to the end of the line.

I would have loved to, I only wanted tickets to 5 games this year rather than my normal 7-10, I picked 12 dates and none had seats available in the lower bowl with 2 seats together. Upper corner 300 level is it. This was 3 hours after onsale start. The other 2 who posted in this thread got a one hour jump on me and found the same results. (that's pretty close to front of the line). I then started checking ALL games and NONE had lower bowl seats. Where is the benefit in me staying a MP holder? I'm not really interested in getting first crack at nosebleeds.

I hate that I will lose my place in line, but the benefit has disappeared.

Very disappointing to say the least.

[Sabre Dance]

This is some of the suffering Darcy referred to.... Just wait until the team is 3-17 and you can pick up Club level seats for chump change on StubHub...

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

This is some of the suffering Darcy referred to.... Just wait until the team is 3-17 and you can pick up Club level seats for chump change on StubHub...

That is actually one thing about the Webster Block I actually like...the sports bar. You can go downtown, try to pick up tickets on the cheap on the street at the last second, and if you don't get your price, go watch a period or 2 at the bar. I didn't buy any tickets last year but they still sent me a letter with priority. I agree...why pay $45 to get in the door when come February you can probably scalp a 200 level seat for the same price?

[...]

 

 

Not "elite". The line starts with the longest tenured mini-pack holders.

 

Guys. Don't make the mistake of not buying games. You'll be put to the end of the line.

 

 

Yes, elite, as in, you can spend the time and money on a season ticket package. Sorry, but that's not me.

 

Just two or three seasons ago you could buy a whole row in the 200s for $25 each even after being an hour and half late to the ticket-buying party. WTF is happening now?

 

And I don't like to sit in the upper 300s. My kids don't like it, and especially my wife doesn't like it. And Sabre Tooth barely goes up there. I complained about it to T Black once, and it was fixed for the rest of that season, but it went back to the same ol' last season.

 

I'd rather spend the coin on a single game for the seats I want. What the hell...I hate driving down there in the winter anyway.

 

I used to defend the Sabres against the Chet and Muffy stigma...but it's clear, now, there's no fighting it. The raucous, crazy, blue-collar folk are simply priced out of Sabres games; they made it not even worth trying between tickets and the front office/roster garbage.

[spndnchz]

 

 

 

Yes, elite, as in, you can spend the time and money on a season ticket package. Sorry, but that's not me.

 

Just two or three seasons ago you could buy a whole row in the 200s for $25 each even after being an hour and half late to the ticket-buying party. WTF is happening now?

 

And I don't like to sit in the upper 300s. My kids don't like it, and especially my wife doesn't like it. And Sabre Tooth barely goes up there. I complained about it to T Black once, and it was fixed for the rest of that season, but it went back to the same ol' last season.

 

I'd rather spend the coin on a single game for the seats I want. What the hell...I hate driving down there in the winter anyway.

 

I used to defend the Sabres against the Chet and Muffy stigma...but it's clear, now, there's no fighting it. The raucous, crazy, blue-collar folk are simply priced out of Sabres games; they made it not even worth trying between tickets and the front office/roster garbage.

 

There are ways around this. I'd offer to help if you want.

[...]

There are ways around this. I'd offer to help if you want.

 

Presuming you're serious, then, no, absolutely not. Thanks, but, no.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

There are ways around this. I'd offer to help if you want.

Whenever I hear this line...it usually ends up costing me $200 Canadian.......

[Andrew Amerk]

I have been a mini pack holder for 4 years. This is ridiculous.

 

The first 3 years, I got tickets down low and up high for 15-20 games.

 

Last year, it somehow became difficult to get good tix. I was squeezed to 10 games, only 3 down low.

 

This year, I log in, and NOTHING available down low??? What gives???

 

Guess I won't be buying any tickets. Whatever. Thanks Sabres.

[tom webster]

I understand the frustration but isn't the lack of availability a good thing? Given the tone of this board over the last year, I expected a good amount of tickets available.

And how can you blame the team? Last year they had games that they had difficulty selling so they made some adjustments and apparently solved their problem .

[shrader]

I understand the frustration but isn't the lack of availability a good thing? Given the tone of this board over the last year, I expected a good amount of tickets available.

And how can you blame the team? Last year they had games that they had difficulty selling so they made some adjustments and apparently solved their problem .

 

Any blame falls squarely on the system at this point. I think we all know exactly where all these tickets are, in the hands of the brokers. It's not a hockey thing or a Buffalo thing. This stuff happens everywhere now. The leagues are so deeply in bed with these companies at this point.

[Stoner]

What? Having an actual home ice advantage, in service of the reason for existence of the franchise, isn't a priority for these guys? Shocked.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

What? Having an actual home ice advantage, in service of the reason for existence of the franchise, isn't a priority for these guys? Shocked.

And there you have it. While I can't blame them for playing hot potato with every last ticket and getting them sold, if the goal truly is to win a Cup, continuing to embrace a sterile environment in the arena instead of promoting lower priced churn of tens of thousands of energized fans is not really Hockey Heaven in my opinion. It's DiPoffi/Gibby Heaven.

 

One of the cooler things I did as a kid was get $25 tickets to the World Series. Back in the olden days of newspapers, the Blue Jays used to regularly advertise in the Buffalo News and sell tickets through a form. Come a few weeks before the pennant, they had a form for World Series tickets and promised a few hundred tickets to Buffalo fans, first come, first served. You just had to go get a money order, select what section, clip the paper, and send it in. I went to the Corner Store that day, got a money order for $50, sent it in....and Boom!, a few weeks later I am sitting in the outfield for Game 1 of the World Series. They were true to their word and really showed what fan appreciation was about.

[Andrew Amerk]

I understand the frustration but isn't the lack of availability a good thing? Given the tone of this board over the last year, I expected a good amount of tickets available.

And how can you blame the team? Last year they had games that they had difficulty selling so they made some adjustments and apparently solved their problem .

 

So instead of trying to find out why they were having difficulty selling some games (AHL lineup, poor atmosphere, lack of star power), and working to correct and creating a buzz, THIS is the answer?

 

Also, correct me if I am wrong here...but, doesn't the team stand to gain more revenue via merch sales by having the largest number of actual Sabres fans in attendance? Do people spend more on food/drinks/etc when they are in a fun environment?

[shrader]

One of the cooler things I did as a kid was get $25 tickets to the World Series. Back in the olden days of newspapers, the Blue Jays used to regularly advertise in the Buffalo News and sell tickets through a form. Come a few weeks before the pennant, they had a form for World Series tickets and promised a few hundred tickets to Buffalo fans, first come, first served. You just had to go get a money order, select what section, clip the paper, and send it in. I went to the Corner Store that day, got a money order for $50, sent it in....and Boom!, a few weeks later I am sitting in the outfield for Game 1 of the World Series. They were true to their word and really showed what fan appreciation was about.

 

So something that happened 20 years ago that no team today would do anymore is somehow an example of how inept Sabres management/sales is? The world has changed, get over it.

[theesir]

Any blame falls squarely on the system at this point. I think we all know exactly where all these tickets are, in the hands of the brokers. It's not a hockey thing or a Buffalo thing. This stuff happens everywhere now. The leagues are so deeply in bed with these companies at this point.

 

This is dead on the truth. There are 980-1000 tickets available, and in the exact same seats for EVERY GAME this season on Stub Hub right now. The in game experience has been terrible the past few years due to huge numbers of non-Sabre fans at the games (the quality of the team doesn't help either). There is no worse feeling than being at those sterile Home games and being overwhelmed by visiting fans.