Terry and Kim Pegula, the "free- but astute-spending" co-Owners of the Bills and Sabres, have made Buffalonians "in awe of what has been left in their ever-growing wake" since purchasing the teams, according to a front-page piece by Sal Maiorana of the ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE. The Pegulas bought the Sabres in '11, and the Canalside area of Buffalo now "bustles year-round with commotion." Overlooking "all that activity is the magnificent" $190M HarborCenter. Largely because of HarborCenter, Buffalo will host the '16 NHL Draft this weekend, "on the heels of having hosted the NHL scouting combine in May." The Sabres also have renewed their TV-rights deal with MSG Network. Meanwhile, the NCAA Tournament "is coming back" in '17, as are the World Junior Hockey Championships in '18, and "certainly more big-time events will follow." Pegula Sports & Entertainment, which was profiled by the Democrat & Chronicle, "was formed a few months before the Pegulas bought the Bills" in late '14. Kim Pegula said, "PSE allows us to be better businesspeople because we can put the effort and resources and time into all these businesses so they last long term, so they are the success that we want them to be." Maiorana notes if the Pegula name is attached to something, they "demand it be outstanding, and that was another reason why forming PSE was the right thing to do." Kim Pegula said, "At the end of the day it’s our name on everything, whether it’s on the building or behind the scenes." The Pegulas "are only part of the equation, but you get the sense their already sizable role will only increase in the years to come" (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 6/22).
DOING IT RIGHT: Kim Pegula said of the possibility of a new Bills stadium, "We’re in the fact-finding mode. We want to make sure we have all the information that is relative to our community, to our fan base. We’re not Atlanta, so it’s hard for us to say we’re going to build a stadium like Atlanta. We can’t. It’s not just a yes or no, it’s a lot more involved than that. We don’t talk about it now because we don’t have all the answers and we don’t want to get misconstrued" (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 6/22). Meanwhile, the DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE's Maiorana writes under the header, "Black River Entertainment Gives Pegulas' PSE Unique Mix" (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 6/22).
