Fresh off their Stanley Cup Finals appearance, the
Sabres have been "busy" this offseason trying to "re-up the
first wave of suiteholders whose three-year lease terms
expired this summer," according to Rick Maloney of BUSINESS
FIRST OF BUFFALO. Thirty-one of the 80 luxury suites at
Marine Midland Arena were up for renewal at the end of last
season, and Sabres and Marine Midland Arena Senior VP Kerry
Atkinson says that 25 of those suites have already "been
leased under new terms." Atkinson, who notes that a few
suites "may not be booked" by the start of next season:
"We're sitting in the area of six full suites open and quite
a few people are looking at those." Meanwhile, suite prices
at the arena have increased, with the lowest-priced suites
now costing $67,938 for a five-year lease, up from around
$58,000 initially. The price is scheduled to rise by 8%
each year (BUSINESS FIRST OF BUFFALO, 8/23 issue).
RENEWED INTEREST: Sabres season-ticket renewals have
been at 95%, the highest for the team in 10 years, and now
total around 11,300. Sabres Exec VP/Administration Ron
Bertovich, on fan interest: "The focus has been on hockey
all summer long. People have been talking about the Sabres
all summer" (USA TODAY, 8/26).
