Sabres fans dismayed by cable dispute

CLARENCE, N.Y. (WIVB) - Buffalo Sabres fans who have Time Warner Cable were left in the dark Tuesday night and couldn't watch the match-up between the Sabres and the Edmonton Oilers.

It was the first of many games that won't be seen on Time Warner Cable. MSG pulled their channel from cable system after a new contract could not be reached on transmission fees. The dispute is leaving Sabres' fans caught in the middle.

Nicole Farrell said, "It kind of stinks, we have to go places to watch the games and especially being a college students we don't have the money to go to restaurants and food bars to watch the games, so now we'll be in the dark."

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MSG hosted a Sabres party Tuesday night at Tully's Sports Bar in Clarence. MSG management is giving the impression the dispute won't be settled anytime soon.

MSG Executive Vice President Dan Ronayne said, "Unfortunately at the moment, there are no meaningful discussions going on. We have been negotiating with Time Warner for two years now and they've rejected every single proposal we made and unfortunately we're not talking at the moment."

Sabres fans are very loyal to the team and many tell News 4 they're going to switch cable providers.

Christine Cannon said, "We had Verizon, but we wanted to see the games in HD so two months ago we switched to Time Warner and now we're going to switch back to Verizon. At least we'll get to see the games."

"I'm frustrated, too. I'm talking to my parents because I still live at home and what we can do to switch because I watch every Sabres game and I don't want to be left out," said Mike Hill.

Many home games are sold out and some say they can't afford the tickets.

Lars Lewis said, "Not everyone has the opportunity to go to the games and I feel that we should be able to watch the games."