Terrence Pegula | |
|---|---|
 Pegula in 2015 | |
| Born | (1951-03-27)March 27, 1951 (age 74)[1] Carbondale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Pennsylvania State University (BS) |
| Occupation(s) | Petroleum engineer Professional sports team owner Real estate developer |
| Known for | Owner/president ofBuffalo Bills (NFL) Owner/president ofBuffalo Sabres (NHL) Owner ofRochester Americans (AHL) Owner ofBuffalo Bandits (NLL) Owner ofPegula Sports and Entertainment Owner of JKLM Energy Natural gas tycoon |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 5 (includingJessica) |
Terrence Michael Pegula (born March 27, 1951) is an Americanbillionaire businessman and petroleum engineer. He is the owner of theBuffalo Sabres of theNational Hockey League (NHL) and, with a consortium ofprivate equity firms and athletes, theBuffalo Bills of theNational Football League (NFL). He is also the president of both franchises. Amassing his fortune via investments infracking,[2] Pegula has interests in natural gas development, real estate, entertainment, and professional sports. His net worth is over US$7 billion.[2]
Pegula was born inCarbondale, Pennsylvania. His father worked in truck driving and coal mining.[3] His mother is fromMontreal, Quebec, Canada. He attended high school atScranton Preparatory School. From there, he attended college atPenn State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering. Beginning in 1985, he was based inAllegany, New York.[4]
After working for a time forGetty Oil and Felmont Oil Co., Pegula foundedEast Resources a natural gas drilling company, with $7,500 from family and friends in 1983. It profited heavily upon discovery of deep layers of natural gas in theMarcellus Formation and application of thehydraulic fracturing ("fracking") recovery process.[5] Pegula eventually sold the Pennsylvania, New York, and Rocky Mountain assets of the company toRoyal Dutch Shell for approximately $4.7 billion.[6] He sold the Ohio and West Virginia assets of the company toAmerican Energy Partners, LP for $1.75 billion in 2014.[7] Pegula also owns Greater Rocky Mountain Regional Oil & Gas in Colorado and Wyoming, and JKLM Energy in Pennsylvania.[6][8]
In February 2011, Pegula purchased Hockey Western New York LLC (the holding company that owns the Buffalo Sabres and theBuffalo Bandits of theNational Lacrosse League) from previous ownersTom 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 thenFirst Niagara Center and the building ofHarborcenter across the street. Pegula was quoted as saying, "Starting today, the Buffalo Sabres' reason for existence, will be to win aStanley Cup."[12]
However, in the decade that followed, the Buffalo Sabres posted a 281-354-94 record and held thelongest 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 ofRyan O'Reilly,Jack Eichel, andSam Reinhart, who would each go on to win a Stanley Cup with theSt. Louis Blues,Vegas Golden Knights, andFlorida Panthers, respectively.[14]
Included in the Sabres purchase was theirNational Lacrosse League (NLL) counterpart, theBuffalo Bandits, which have won seven NLL championships. The Bandits won the NLL championship in2023, giving Pegula his first championship under his ownership of the team.[15] The Bandits would repeat as NLL champions in2024, and would win a third consecutive league championship in2025 which was the 7th overall championship.
In May 2011, Pegula began negotiations on behalf of the Sabres to re-purchase theRochester 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 theRochester 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, theBlue Cross Arena.
On September 9, 2014, it was announced that Pegula had placed the winning binding bid to purchase theNational Football League (NFL)'sBuffalo Bills, a team that was placed up for sale after the death of the original owner and team founder,Ralph Wilson.[17][18] Pegula was a favorite among most local Bills fans and local politicians to buy the team due to his commitment to the Western New York area and local connections. He competed against future U.S. PresidentDonald Trump and musicianJon Bon Jovi, the latter of whom was backed by principals of theToronto-basedMaple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, for purchase of the team. It was reported that the Pegulas made a $1.4 billion bid, all in cash.[19][20][21] On September 17, 2014, the Pegulas were unanimously approved by the NFL's finance committee and were then scheduled to be presented at the NFL owners' meeting on October 8, 2014, for final owner approval; the Pegulas received unanimous approval from the league's owners on October 8 and closed the deal on October 10.
Pegula's first major order of business was to end theBills 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 introducedOne 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 a62,000 seat, $1.4 billion new stadium for the Bills inOrchard Park across the street from the current stadium. New York State will contribute $600 million in funding with Erie County contributing $250 million, the Pegulas contributing $350 million and the National football league via a G-4 loan $200 million. In addition the Pegulas signed the Bills to a 30-year iron clad lease.[25] The stadium would be owned by New York State, a change from the current stadium which is owned by Erie County.[2] New York committed to pay the maintenance and repair costs of the stadium.[26] It was set to be the largest taxpayer contribution ever for a National Football League facility.[2] The agreement was released four days before the New York state budget was due to be passed, making it hard for lawmakers to scrutinize the agreement. Critics of the agreement characterized it ascorporate welfare.[2]
On December 11, 2024, the NFL approved the sale of 20.6% of the Buffalo Bills franchise to a consortium ofprivate equity firms, the first time private equity firms had been approved to own a stake in an NFL franchise. 10% of the franchise will be held byArctos, while the remaining 10.6% will be divided among executives atAcrew Capital,Bank of America,Gridiron Capital,Meritech Capital, andAccel-KKR, along with professional athletesJozy Altidore,Vince Carter andTracy McGrady, all of whom once played for Toronto-based clubs during their careers.[27]
On December 21, 2017, it was announced that Pegula had acquired theBuffalo Beauts of the league then known as the National Women's Hockey League and now as thePremier 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.[28] Pegula divested the Beauts in 2019.
In 2018, Pegula reached an agreement to purchase the intellectual property of theRochester Knighthawks of theNational Lacrosse League in autumn 2019. Curt Styres orchestrated the sale as he planned on moving his staff and roster to anew Halifax NLL team set to debut in the winter of 2020.[29]
On June 23, 2025, it was announced that Pegula would divest ownership of the Knighthawks franchise.[30] It was later announced on August 5, 2025 that theSeneca Nation of New York had purchased the team.[31]
In 2012, he won a bid for the development rights to the Webster Block onBuffalo's waterfront.[32] The $170 millionhockey-themedLECOM Harborcenter building, which is anchored by the two rinks, a large parking garage, retail, restaurants and a hotel, mostly opened in November 2014 with the rinks, restaurants and parking garage fully completed and opened in August 2015 with the completion and opening of the hotel and retail. Pegula is also the operator ofKeyBank Center andBlue Cross Arena. In 2017, Pegula purchased 79 Perry Street, near KeyBank Center and teamed up withLabatt USA to redevelop the building into a mixed use facility including a small test brewery called the "Labatt Brew House" and restaurant called "The Draft Room" as well as Labatt's U.S. headquarters, Pegula Sports and Entertainment's headquarters, and residential space.
Pegula also owns a share ofBlack River Entertainment, an independentcountry music label. The label features such acts asKelsea Ballerini,Kellie Pickler andCraig Morgan as well as the related Black River Publishing and Sound Stage Studio all under the Black River label based inNashville, Tennessee.
Also under the Pegula umbrella isImpact Sports Performance, two high performance athletic training facilities which are based inBoca Raton, Florida andLECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo. Pegula owned716 Food and Sport, a two floor sports themed restaurant which serves as the main business tenant of LECOM Harborcenter until he sold it toSouthern Tier Brewing Company in 2021.
Through a partnership with Southern Tier Brewing Company, Pegula launched a "One Buffalo" brandedcraft beer that sells at all Pegula-owned properties and elsewhere in the region.[33] The One Buffalo brand has also been extended to a flavor ofPerry'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.[34]
In July 2022, Pegula established Bison Wealth, a back-office consulting service based inAtlanta, Georgia.[35]
According to Bloomberg, Pegula had a net worth over $7 billion as of July 2021.[36]
An alumnus ofPennsylvania State University (Penn State), Pegula donated $102 million for the construction of the on-campusPegula Ice Arena in 2010.[37] As a result, thePenn 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 intoNCAA Division I starting in the 2012–13 season.
This led to adomino effect across the men's college hockey landscape. Because sixBig Ten universities now had Division I men's hockey programs (the minimum number of teams required under Big Ten bylaws for official conference sponsorship, and also the minimum required for a conference to be an automatic postseason qualifier), it was announced that Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State would join Penn State in the Big Ten hockey conference starting in the 2013–2014 season.[38] As a result, theCCHA ceased operations, with most schools (save for the three that joined the Big Ten andNotre Dame) joining theWCHA.Miami University andWestern Michigan University, also previously in the CCHA, joined the upstartNational Collegiate Hockey Conference along with former WCHA membersSt. Cloud State,Minnesota-Duluth,Denver,Colorado College,Nebraska-Omaha, andNorth Dakota. Ex-CCHA member Notre Dame joinedHockey East, which then recruitedUConn from theAtlantic Hockey Association to begin play in Hockey East in 2014. After the dust settled, theECAC was the only Division I conference not affected by the major conference realignment.[39] Notre Dame subsequently left Hockey East in 2017 to join the Big Ten for hockey only.[40]
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 inCollege Hockey America, a league that sponsors only women's hockey.
The Pegulas donated $12 million toHoughton College inHoughton, New York, of which Kim Pegula is an alumna, to build the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex. The facility includes new baseball and softball stadiums and a 115,000 square-foot field house with an eight-lane 200-meter track, five tennis courts, weight room, cardiac fitness center, and locker rooms. The new facility is mainly targeted toward Houghton College intercollegiate athletics, which recently moved up to Division III Athletics and the Empire 8 Conference. It opened on October 4, 2014.[41]
He lives inBoca Raton, Florida, with his second wife,Kim Pegula (née Kerr),[42] who grew up inFairport, New York, and is a graduate ofHoughton College.[43] Kim was born inSeoul, South Korea, and at age 5, she wasadopted in 1974 by Ralph and Marilyn Kerr.[44] He has five children, two from a previous marriage to Anne Shirley (Michael and Laura), and three with Kim (Jessica, Kelly, and Matthew).[45]Jessica Pegula is a top 10 tennis player on theWomen's Tennis Association'sPro Circuit.[46] Pegula owns a large yacht, christenedTop Five.[47]
In 2024, Laura Pegula, his daughter and longtime employee in Pegula's petroleum businesses, assumed a minority stake in the ownership of the Bills, following Kim being declared legally incapacitated in March 2023 following a June 2022 stroke; under the terms of the declaration, Kim was declared a ward in the custody of her husband and her assets transferred to a trust managed by Terry and by Bob Long, a longtime business partner of Pegula's.[48]
Though Pegula has been identified as aRepublican, he does not speak publicly about his specific political views.[49] Pegula and his wife have made political donations to politicians of both parties, generally to incumbents.[50] In 2010, Pegula and his wife donated $305,000 to RepublicanTom Corbett's campaign during thePennsylvania governor's race; they were the largest contributors to the thenPennsylvania Attorney General.[51][52] In New York, Pegula and his wife donated $25,000 to New York GovernorAndrew Cuomo's campaign during the2014 elections and also donated $12,000 to Buffalo mayorByron Brown, $2,500 to U.S. senatorChuck Schumer, and $250 to state senatorTim Kennedy, allDemocrats.[8][53] Pegula expressed support for legalizingridesharing companies in upstate New York, where it had at the time remained illegal (as of 2017, New York State had only legalized it inNew York City) and announced intent to partner withUber to provide transportation to Pegula's sporting events.[54]
