Embarrassing News For Buffalo Sabres Owner Terry Pegula

A new survey does not show Pegula in the best light.

They say perception is reality. While you may not like it, and it may not even be true, if people think it, then it becomes what they believe. For NHL fans, not just Sabres fans, Terry Pegula is not considered a good owner.

The Athletic published a survey of NHL fans ranking owners. They claim nearly 4,000 people responded to the survey about NHL owners, taking their willingness to spend, stability of the organization, treatment of the fan base, and the vision of the franchise into account when deciding. Not surprisingly, teams like Vegas, Flordia, and Colorado are all in the top 10 of the rankings. See the full list with a subscription by clicking here.

One might expect that Sabres Owner Terry Pegular probably doesn't rank very high. How low of a ranking did he receive?

Where Does Buffalo Sabres Owner Terry Pegula Rank With Other NHL Owners?

Pegualr was ranked 32nd, dead last, of all NHL owners. In fact, the only ranking not read last he received was in owner confidence year to year, which wasn't good (27th). Fans do not believe Pegula is willing to spend: an ironic statement, seeing he bought the team with the promise of never being shy to spend on anything involving the team.

Fans also do not believe he treats them well. While ticket prices aren't bad and are generally among the cheapest in the league, the arena has not received many upgrades since he purchased the team. The new scoreboard is very cool and was installed just this season, but many fans feel seating, experiences, and food costs (among other things) are poor. They also often feel the team lacks being in touch with fans beyond losing. They have botched alumni nights, like when they spelled some of their legends' names wrong.

Terry has not made himself available for questions from the media for some time. Many fans believe he is not present or engaged with the Sabres and focuses on his other franchise, the Buffalo Bills. Is that true? It's hard to know. Fourteen years of no playoff appearances and a poor on-ice product will make everything else seem and feel worse than it may or may not be. Winning cures a lot of problems.

See The Athletic's Full report, including a breakdown of each area fan ranked Pegula, CLICK HERE.