With reports now confirming that Terry Pegula not only bid on the Buffalo Bills, but may have come out of the blocks with a top bid of $1.3 billion, I still believe the Bills are his to lose. My sources tell me that the Sabres owner and almost more importantly his wife Kim, have had a razor focus on buying the team for the past three months. The bids received at the Tuesday 5pm deadline confirm that.
More and more reports out of the First Niagara Center indicate that Kim Pegula is emerging as the power behind the throne, so to speak, within Pegula’s many enterprises. The creation of Pegula Sports and Entertainment and leasing of office space on the 31st floor of the One Seneca tower indicates that the organization is growing quickly and Kim Pegula is overseeing the growth.
After the passing of Ralph Wilson there were stories that indicated Pegula was concentrating on fixing the Sabres and was not in the hunt for Buffalo’s football team. Then in May I started hearing more and more that Kim Pegula was serious about making a bid to buy the Bills and the dominoes have all fallen in place since.
When Terry Pegula purchased the Sabres from Tom Golisano for a reported $189 million some felt he overpaid. Why ? because Golisano purchased the Sabres from Adelphia Communications on “paper” for around $92 million. However, Adelphia was going through a bankruptcy and much of the purchase was in dent relief and the cash amount never reached the reported purchase price. So Golisano more than doubles his money on the purchase when he sold to Pegula. That purchase by Pegula however demonstrated that money was not an obstacle when he or Kim are serious about something.
Having the high bid after round one means little except to show you’re serious about the purchase. My best guess is that the Pegula’s will eventually outbid the Toronto group and being a local owner with a desire to not only keep the team here but build a new stadium as well, will make approval by the NFL a formality.
Filed under: Koshinski's Korner
Tagged with: Adelphia Communications, Bills, Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Kim Pegula, Terry Pegula, Tom Golisano
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