Another Stupid Study of Buffalo Sports
June 19th, 2009 at 9:53 pm by Paul Peck under News 4 Buffalo Sports
AP Photo
Here we go again. Another pro sports analysis telling us why we’re a bad sports city or why we’re going to lose our team. This one is focused on hockey, and comes from Business First, a Buffalo based publication. You’d think they know better. It says the Sabres are the 6th likeliest city to lose its NHL team. Huh? What? Really? Nashville. Atlanta. Florida. Phoenix. Phoenix? You’re really grouping us together with a bankrupt team. Ugh.
The study, as most of these do, puts us in trouble because Buffalo is a shrinking city with a small TV market. Yeah. Thanks for the breaking news. Did anybody at Business First bother to notice what goes on here during the season. People go to games, buy gear, watch the games on TV and live and die with every game. That’s what really matters. No where in this study does it mention that Buffalo gets the highest TV ratings of any U.S. city. It barely touches on the fact that the team plays to 99% capacity. It doesn’t mention that the NHL felt so strongly about the market that it kept the team alive during bankruptcy (which was brought on by bad ownership more than any team issues). This is an important hockey market for the NHL, despite all those reasons laid out by this ridiculous study.
The study cites as a negative the fact that another team in Toronto is nearby. When has that ever had anything to do with Buffalo?
Hey Business First. Get your head out of the economic spread sheets and go watch a game. It might make you think twice when you do this study next year.
Go back and read the article again, Paul.
It states it is a study of “markets that face the most imposing barriers to long-term financial success.” Nowhere does it say anything about “likeliest city to lose its NHL team.”
The categories are population, personal income, attendance, percent of capacity, franchise value, change in value, operating income, location, NBA competition, and NHL competition. If you look at it with some thought, you’ll see there are no surprises and while it is looked at in a number crunching aspect from a very statistical, data drive point of view, the teams are ranked on the number of “danger signs” among the categories.
Buffalo had 6 out of 10 — all 6 are valid. The 4 we don’t score in are attendance, percent of capacity, location and NBA competition. TV ratings were never measured (for what ever reason).
Also, it’s not clear if Buffalo Business First did this study or if it was done by Business First national. Buffalo Business First is part of the national Business First company. Maybe you should make a phone call to G. Scott Thomas and ask him??? Might make for a good story if you can squeeze it between T.O. house hunting stories.