Pegula said that she knows fans in Buffalo don't want higher ticket prices and they don't want PSLsgetty images
Bills co-Owner & President Kim Pegula sees the team "facing a difficult road toward a new stadium, because all entities involved will balk at contributing to a price tag likely to exceed the team's purchase price" of $1.4B, according to a front-page piece by Vic Carucci of the BUFFALO NEWS. Pegula said, "I don't even know if we can get there. I know fans in Buffalo don't want higher ticket prices, they don't want PSLs (personal seat licenses). The state doesn't want to give you any money, the city doesn't ... We don't have a billion-and-a-half dollars sitting around. We used it to buy the team." Pegula said that she and Pegula Sports & Entertainment COO Bruce Popko have "taken the lead on the Bills' long-term stadium planning" since former PS&E President Russ Brandon's May 1 resignation. Pegula said that her organization was "'still fact-finding." The Bills' current lease at New Era Field "expires in the summer" of '23, although the team "can opt out" in '20. The team has said that it "has no plans to opt out." Pegula: "If we don't start the work and get the information, we can't even get there to make a decision. I'm guessing it's going to take a couple of years." Pegula added, "We're having internal discussions and we're setting up a strategy and a timeline, taking into account all the things that need to go on" (BUFFALO NEWS, 5/24).
PUTTING THE TEAMS FIRST: Carucci in a front-page piece notes before Pegula assumed the role of Bills President, she and her husband, Bills co-Owner & CEO Terry Pegula "considered their options" in replacing Brandon. One option was to "hire someone" to replace Brandon, and another was for Kim Pegula to "carry the title on an interim basis until a full-time replacement was found." But the Pegulas decided their flagship sports properties, the Bills and Sabres, "had already experienced enough upheaval and they didn't want to create more by bringing in a new person to head their business operations." Kim Pegula: "I said, 'Honestly, I don't think we need anyone.' We've had a lot of turmoil. Between both hockey and football, with new GMs, new coaches, even presidents. We've changed a lot in the years (since) we bought the hockey team [in '11]. ... I just felt like we needed stability." Carucci notes the thought of "wearing an interim tag on her presidency was a nonstarter." She said that she "saw it as a bad look for the organization and felt it would indicate that her taking on the role was merely a knee-jerk response to Brandon's sudden departure." Kim Pegula said, "I don't want people to think that this is just something temporary, I'm just going to jump in and say I'm going to do it just for optics." Meanwhile, Kim Pegula said that her husband is "in the background" of the PS&E operation. However, she added that he is "still involved" and that communication within the PS&E's hierarchy is "far more efficient" (BUFFALO NEWS, 5/24).
