Archives for September 2014

‘I mean, you can’t make this stuff up. The sale is not yet official. The NFL owners still have to rubber-stamp it, and you never know with those people.’

‘In fact, it’s difficult to comprehend how the transaction makes financial sense for the Pegulas and their new NFL partners. There are much bigger markets with far more corporate dollars, starting with Los Angeles and Toronto, that would have generated more money in a revenue-sharing league.’

‘Here’s a refresher on Pegula’s history in the limelight in Buffalo.’

‘”What you’ll find, when you’re around the Pegulas, is everything is 100 percent first class,” said longtime player Rob Ray, head of the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association, discussing the Sabres owner a few weeks ago when he was a Bills contender. “It’s awesome.”‘

‘”It’s a relief,” said Miller, a season-ticket holder from Allegany. “For the rest of my life I don’t have to worry about where the Bills are going to be.”‘

‘Ticket prices on the online ticket exchange spiked from a low of nearly $140 to sit in the 26th row of the upper deck to nearly $865 for a seat in the first few rows of the lower sidelines.’

‘”Now that I’m a fan instead of a player, I pull for the Bills, obviously, all the time, but more for the city than for the players themselves,” he said. “I mean, players come and go, but that city has supported the Buffalo Bills for over 50 years, and in my opinion, it’s the best franchise in the whole NFL. They haven’t made the playoffs in 14 years, and they still pack that stadium. I’m just thrilled that he got it. I’m so happy that he got it.”‘

‘Pegula rode the fracking frenzy to transform himself from a successful businessman who had built his own drilling company from scratch into a fabulously successful businessman who was able to sell a majority of his company’s assets in 2010 for $4.7 billion. Pegula’s share of the proceeds: a $3.3 billion fortune that made him one of the richest men in America.’

‘Sold substantial assets of East Resources, the company he founded in 1983, to Royal Dutch Shell in 2010 for $4.7 billion.’

‘But Pegula’s pending purchase of the team likely gives a leg up to potential stadium sites downtown, near the First Niagara Center, where Pegula’s Buffalo Sabres play, and close to the HarborCenter hotel and hockey complex that now is under construction, sources said.’

‘A new downtown stadium near First Niagara Center would allow Pegula to build on the sports-related hub that already is growing at the foot of Main Street and help him leverage the $172 million he is spending to build the HarborCenter complex, which will feature two ice rinks and a 205-room Marriott hotel, as well as a 13,000-square-foot sports-themed restaurant and retail space.’

‘Here are the locations that have been most often mentioned over the past few months…’.

‘His next court date is Nov. 18.’