The Sabres' current status at the box office shows that “optimism is finally flowing but there's still plenty of work to do,” according to Mike Harrington of the BUFFALO NEWS. Season tickets “will be sold through December on a pro-rated basis,” but the early estimate on the growth of the base is “currently around 20%, which the club says is in the top 10 in the NHL in sales over last season.” The Sabres “have a lot more available inventory than most teams in the league.” The team revealed its season ticket count last year of “about 6,500 during the week of the home opener in October,” but a 20% jump would put that number “around 8,000 now, six weeks before the season begins.” The season-ticket base was “in the 16,000 range” for the 2017-18 season, but the combination of the playoff drought and the Covid-19 pandemic “cratered it last season to the lowest in franchise history,” when the Sabres finished 31st in overall attendance at 9,997 per game. The team has “added staff to its ticketing and sales team” for the general public and owners of premium seating such as club level and suites. Flexibility is the “key word the team is using for its sales pitches.” Sabres VP/Ticket Sales & Service Frank Batres-Landaeta said that half-season plans of 22 games have “generated a huge response.” The team also is “offering a trio of quarter-season plans of 11 games that feature weekends” ( BUFFALO NEWS, 9/4 ) .
