BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres parted with vice president of ticket sales and service Frank Batres-Landaeta this week.
“We appreciate Frank’s dedication to the organization and wish him the best,” the team said in a statement to The Athletic.
Batres-Landaeta, who joined the Sabres in 2021 after stints with the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils, declined to comment.
He’s the second ticketing staffer to be let go this year; Zach Johnston, who was previously the director of ticket sales and service, is also no longer with the team. The Sabres posted two job openings to fill Johnston’s role with two roles. The moves come as part of an internal evaluation of the process and structure of the Sabres’ ticket sales operation that has been spearheaded by chief commercial officer Jake Vernon.
Vernon is the newest member of the Sabres’ leadership on the business side. Pete Guelli was hired as the chief operating officer of the Sabres and Bills in March 2024. A year later, in April 2025, Guelli hired Vernon as the Sabres’ chief commercial officer. In the announcement of Vernon’s hiring, the team said he would oversee ticketing and sponsorship operations.
Vernon spent 12 seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx and set multiple franchise records for ticket sales during his time there. The Sabres have struggled with attendance in recent seasons largely due to the team’s league-record 14-year playoff drought.
This season, the Sabres have roughly 9,000 season tickets. That number is right around the same as what they had last season. Coming out of the pandemic, the Sabres had roughly 6,500 season tickets. They got that number over 9,000 for the 2022-23 season and pushed it to around 11,000 for 2023-24 after coming up one point short of the playoffs. But it has been back below 10,000 after taking a step back in the standings for two straight seasons. The team once had a waitlist for season tickets and capped them at 16,000.
The Sabres sold out their home opener after including a ticket to the home opener for free for any fan who bought a 10-game pack of tickets. The team has had two home games since. The Sabres announced attendance as 16,462 for a Monday afternoon game against the Colorado Avalanche and 13,993 for a Wednesday game against the Ottawa Senators. Their average capacity of 86 percent is the lowest in the NHL this season. Their average attendance of 16,508 is the seventh lowest in the league.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was in attendance for the Sabres’ home opener, a 4-0 loss to the New York Rangers, and expressed confidence in Sabres owner Terry Pegula when asked about the team’s struggles in regards to attendance.
“This is a great hockey market and it’s just a question of performance,” Bettman said. “I know they are working very hard at it, and I know it’s vitally important to Terry and he’s committed to getting it right. By the way, I remember when he first bought the Bills, initially there was a lot of criticism and it took three or four years for that team to get good. This is taking a little bit longer, but the commitment should never be doubted. He’s a terrific owner.”
As Bettman noted, the on-ice performance has been a major factor in attendance as well. The Sabres are 1-3 to start the season. Fans have grown impatient with the latest rebuild under current general manager Kevyn Adams, who is in his sixth season on the job. Fans were chanting for him to be fired during the third period of the second home game of the season. But the arena was noticeably loud during an 8-4 win over the Senators two days later.
“Team performance is something that I leave to the teams,” Bettman said on opening night. “No team enjoys having to go through a rebuilding process and a drought. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Terry Pegula is dedicated to hockey, committed to hockey, committed to Buffalo. I assure you he’s not any happier than any fan is about the fact that he’d like to see the team perform better than it has. I know he’s committed to doing that.”
If the team’s performance improves, those working in the Sabres’ ticketing office will have a much easier job.