Sabres Owners Terry and Kim Pegula have acquired the NWHL Buffalo Beauts, marking the first time an NHL team has bought a pro women’s hockey team. The club, which was an NWHL charter member in '15, play its games at the HarborCenter, which is also owned by Pegula Sports & Entertainment. Other properties owned by PS&E include the Bills, AHL Rochester Americans and NLL Buffalo Bandits. HarborCenter also hosted the NWHL’s inaugural All-Star weekend in last year. “We want to contribute to the growth of women’s hockey,” Kim Pegula said in a statement. “HarborCenter has allowed us to make a positive impact on the game at the amateur, high school and collegiate levels, and we believe this is the perfect time to expand our reach to include women’s professional hockey through the NWHL. This sport provides outstanding opportunities, and we are committed to helping extend those opportunities to females of all ages.” NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan said the acquisition is a landmark moment for the league in terms of growth. “This is an enormous step for us; we want our teams to be in the hands of who do it best, and the Pegulas are at the top of the industry,” she said. “The health of the league as a whole increased because of this deal, and it gives us a great platform and microphone to bring awareness to the women’s game.”
GOING FORWARD: The NWHL operates as a single-entity league, akin to MLS, and the league has owned and operated each of its four teams in previous seasons. PS&E will completely control the team going forward, as well as run all hockey operations. Earlier this year, the Devils, through parent company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, formed a strategic alliance and took a partial ownership stake in the Metropolitan Riveters, who moved to the Devils’ practice facility in Newark. Rylan declined to comment on the financial terms of the deal. She negotiated the deal alongside NWHL CFO Steve Skillen and the league’s board directly with PS&E and the Pegulas. Rylan said while the league wants its teams in the hands of the right ownership groups, there is no "playbook" with regard to finding buyers for the league’s other two teams -- the Boston Pride and Connecticut Whale -- or expansion, which she said the league is currently investigating.
