Terry Pegula
Terrence Pegula | |
---|---|
Born | [1] Carbondale, Pennsylvania, U.S. | March 27, 1951
Alma mater | Pennsylvania State University (BS) |
Occupation(s) | Petroleum engineer Professional sports team owner Real estate developer |
Known for | Owner/president of Buffalo Bills (NFL) Owner/president of Buffalo Sabres (NHL) Owner of Rochester Americans (AHL) Owner of Buffalo Bandits (NLL) Owner of Rochester Knighthawks (NLL) Owner of Pegula Sports and Entertainment Owner of JKLM Energy Natural gas tycoon |
Spouses | |
Children | 5 (including Jessica) |
Terrence Michael Pegula (born March 27, 1951) is an American
Early life
Pegula was born in
Oil and gas development
After working for a time for
Professional sports
Buffalo Sabres
In February 2011, Pegula purchased Hockey Western New York LLC (the holding company that owns the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League) from previous owners Tom Golisano, Larry Quinn, and Dan DiPofi for $189 million.[9] Pegula's purchase made an immediate positive impact, with players,[10] fans and alumni[11] invigorated by his investment in the team, the then First Niagara Center and the building of Harborcenter across the street. Pegula was quoted as saying, "Starting today, the Buffalo Sabres' reason for existence, will be to win a Stanley Cup."[12]
However, in the decade that followed, the Buffalo Sabres posted a 281-354-94 record and held the longest active NHL post-season drought. [13] Pegula and his wife have been heavily criticized for meddling in the Sabres' hockey operations. Many fans and critics alike have attributed the team's firing of six head coaches and three general managers since 2013 to this, as well as other controversial moves such as the trades of Ryan O'Reilly and Jack Eichel.[14]
Buffalo Bandits
Included in the Sabres purchase was their National Lacrosse League (NLL) counterpart, the Buffalo Bandits, which have won five NLL championships. The Bandits won the NLL championship in 2023, giving Pegula his first championship under his ownership of the team.[15]
Rochester Americans
In May 2011, Pegula began negotiations on behalf of the Sabres to re-purchase the Rochester Americans, which had served as the Sabres' American Hockey League affiliate from 1979 to 2008 (and had been owned by the Sabres from 1979 to 1996); the deal was completed in late June 2011.[16] As part of the deal the Americans had to be split off from its NLL counterpart the Rochester Knighthawks since Pegula owned the Bandits due to ownership rules at the time. Along with the purchase of the Americans came upgrades to the team's arena, the Blue Cross Arena.
Buffalo Bills
On September 9, 2014, it was announced that Pegula had placed the winning binding bid to purchase the
Pegula's first major order of business was to end the Bills Toronto Series, which he did in an agreement reached on December 3, 2014.[22][23]
Upon the purchase of the Bills, Pegula and his wife Kim introduced One Buffalo, a marketing campaign which has since evolved into a brand used across all of their sports teams and associated products.[24]
On March 28, 2022, it was announced that a deal had been reached between New York State, Erie County and the Pegulas for a
Buffalo Beauts
On December 21, 2017, it was announced that Pegula had acquired the Buffalo Beauts of the league then known as the National Women's Hockey League and now as the Premier Hockey Federation. This made the Beauts the first NWHL team not owned by the league, the first professional women's hockey team in North America owned by the same person that owned the market's NHL team and got Pegula into women's hockey.[27] Pegula divested the Beauts in 2019.
Rochester Knighthawks
In 2018, Pegula reached an agreement to purchase the intellectual property of the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League in autumn 2019. Curt Styres orchestrated the sale as he planned on moving his staff and roster to a new Halifax NLL team set to debut in the winter of 2020.[28]
Investments
Real estate
In 2012, he won a bid for the development rights to the Webster Block on
Other investments
Pegula also owns a share of Black River Entertainment, an independent country music label. The label features such acts as Kelsea Ballerini, Kellie Pickler and Craig Morgan as well as the related Black River Publishing and Sound Stage Studio all under the Black River label based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Also under the Pegula umbrella is Impact Sports Performance, two high performance athletic training facilities which are based in Boca Raton, Florida and LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo. Pegula owned 716 Food and Sport, a two floor sports themed restaurant which serves as the main business tenant of LECOM Harborcenter until he sold it to Southern Tier Brewing Company in 2021.
Through a partnership with Southern Tier Brewing Company, Pegula launched a "One Buffalo" branded craft beer that sells at all Pegula-owned properties and elsewhere in the region.[30] The One Buffalo brand has also been extended to a flavor of Perry's Ice Cream (which already licensed Bills and Sabres themed flavors prior to Pegula's purchases of the teams) and premium cupcakes, both formulated by Pegula's wife, a pronounced fan of desserts.[31]
In July 2022, Pegula established Bison Wealth, a back-office consulting service based in
Wealth
According to Bloomberg, Pegula had a net worth over $7 billion as of July 2021.[33]
Philanthropy
Penn State hockey
An alumnus of Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), Pegula donated $102 million for the construction of the on-campus Pegula Ice Arena in 2010.[34] As a result, the Penn State Nittany Lions, which had fielded club teams in both men's and women's hockey for years, would be able to transition both teams into NCAA Division I starting in the 2012–13 season.
This led to a
Because Penn State's arrival gave the Big Ten only four varsity women's hockey programs, that conference was unable to add the sport, meaning that the women's hockey landscape did not undergo the radical changes that occurred in the men's game. The Penn State women's team settled in College Hockey America, a league that sponsors only women's hockey.
Houghton College
The Pegulas donated $12 million to
Personal life
He currently lives in
Political views
Though Pegula has been identified as a
References
- ^ Happy Birthday Terry Pegula! Die By The Blade
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- ^ "Kim Pegula reveals her greatest wish for Buffalo". November 6, 2019.
- ^ Pollock, Chuck (July 3, 2015). Pegula has kept fans excited. Olean Times Herald. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
- ^ "Pegula Made His Fortune by Tapping into the Fracking Frenzy". David Robinson. Buffalo News. September 9, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
- ^ a b "Deep in the Hills of Pennsylvania, Terry Pegula's Other World". Tom Precious. Buffalo News. September 24, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
- ^ Wawrow, John (August 5, 2014). Bills bidder Pegula closes $1.75 billion deal. Associated Press. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
- ^ a b "At Number 4 Pegulas are among the wealthiest in NFL". Tom Precious. Buffalo News. October 5, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
- ^ Sabres sold to Pegula Archived 2014-08-08 at the Wayback Machine. WGR. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
- ^ Vaughters, Al (2011-04-10). Playoff run gives boost to WNY area. WIVB-TV. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ^ Malowicki, Jessica (2011-02-24). Pegula era kicks off with surprise Archived 2013-01-11 at archive.today. WGRZ. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ [1]. ESPN. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ [2] WKBW Buffalo.
- ^ Ginise, Brian (22 June 2020). "Sabres: The Pegulas are the Problem in Buffalo". thehockeywriters.com. The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ^ "Buffalo Bandits Get Over The Hump, Win First NLL Cup Since 2008 And Fifth in Franchise History". NLL.com. National Lacrosse League. June 3, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
- ^ Wawrow, John (2011-05-17). AP Source: Sabres interested in AHL Rochester[permanent dead link]. Associated Press. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
- ^ Graham, Tim (September 9, 2014). "Bills confirm agreement reached with Pegulas to buy franchise". The Buffalo News. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
- ^ "Wilson trust reaches definitive agreement with Pegula family". Buffalo Bills. September 9, 2014. Archived from the original on September 10, 2014. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
- ^ "How Fracking Bought the Buffalo Bills". The Atlantic. September 9, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
- ^ "Buffalo Sabres Owners Reach 'Definitive Agreement' to Buy Buffalo Bills". The Wall Street Journal. September 9, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
- ^ TEGNA. "Pegula's Bills Bid to Be Vetted by NFL's Finance Committee". Archived from the original on 2014-09-16.
- ^ "Bills reach deal to terminate remaining Toronto games". December 3, 2014.
- ^ Patra, Kevin (December 3, 2014). "Buffalo Bills terminate Toronto series". National Football League. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
- ^ Guggenmos, Emily (October 12, 2014). Pegulas announce One Buffalo campaign. WIVB-TV. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
- ^ Reporters, Tim O'Shei and Jason Wolf News (28 March 2022). "Buffalo Bills, New York State, Erie County reach 'ironclad' 30-year deal to build $1.4 billion stadium". Buffalo News. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- ^ Reporter, Stephen T. Watson News Staff (28 March 2022). "Here is the cost breakdown for new Bills stadium". Buffalo News. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- ^ Staff, NWHL.zone (2017-12-21). "TERRY AND KIM PEGULA ACQUIRE BUFFALO BEAUTS". National Women's Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
- ^ WHAM. "Pegulas to take over Rochester Knighthawks as owner departs". WHAM. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- ^ (September 6, 2012). Buffalo, aka ‘Pegulaville,’ prepares for new downtown development thanks to Sabres owner[dead link]. Associated Press. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
- ^ Belcher, Mark (August 14, 2015). "Buffalo gets a beer named after the One Buffalo movement." WIVB-TV. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
- ^ Kim Pegula presents One Buffalo Cupcake. WGRZ-TV. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
- ^ Stupples, Benjamin (July 29, 2022). "Buffalo Bills Owner Backs Startup Targeting Wealth Advisory Boom". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
- ^ "Terry Pegula". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
- ^ "Penn State Makes it Official: Varsity Programs on the Way :: USCHO.com :: U.S. College Hockey Online". 17 September 2010.
- ^ "Big Ten Official Athletic Site". www.bigten.org. Archived from the original on 2013-05-27. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
- 2010–13 NCAA conference realignment#Men's ice hockey
- ^ "Notre Dame joins Big Ten conference for hockey: 3 things to know". CBSSports.com. 23 March 2016.
- ^ "Houghton College dedicates $23M Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex". 4 October 2014.
- ^ Buffalo News: "Sabres' owner-in-waiting comes across as Buffalo kind of guy" By Bucky Gleason March 24, 2011
- ^ Golisano's Goodbye & Pegula's Prospects. WBEN. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
- ^ Maiorana, Sal (September 9, 2014). "Bills: Wilson trust reaches agreement with Pegulas". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
- ^ King, Bill (December 8, 2014). Pegulas open up about vision for One Buffalo. Business First. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ Pegula reaches USTA quarterfinals. The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2011-05-27.
- ^ Prewitt, Alex. Jack Eichel leads Buffalo Sabres' resurgence. Sports Illustrated (December 31, 2018). Retrieved December 27, 2018.
- ^ Baker, Katie (October 14, 2015). The sun is rising in Buffalo. Grantland.com. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- ^ "Sabres Owner Made Fracking Pitch in 2011 Meeting". The Albany Times Union. February 8, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
- ^ "At No.4, Pegulas are among the wealthiest owners in NFL". The Buffalo News. October 4, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- ^ How Corbett fracked Pa.'s middle class. Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved 2013-11-06.
- ^ Campbell, Jon (September 12, 2014). Pegula's riches come from fracking, not allowed in NY Archived 2014-09-13 at archive.today. Gannett. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
- ^ UBER & THE HOME ARENAS OF THE BILLS, SABRES ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP IF ALBANY ALLOWS RIDESHARING UPSTATE. Press release. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
External links
- Pegula Sports and Entertainment – official web site
- Terrence M. Pegula – profile at the Buffalo Sabres' official website
- Terry Pegula – bio at the Buffalo Bills' official website
- Profile on Terry Pegula by The Buffalo News
- Profile on Kim Pegula by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle