Is Kim qualified?

[Canadian Bills Fan]

How would this be any different from not having a "President" at all?

 

I'm sure they are going to take their time finding the best possible replacement and in the time being, Kim will fill in

[MAJBobby]

4 minutes ago, CountDorkula said:

I never said she wasn't qualified. 

Russ answered to her, yes. But Russ was still doing day to day tasks that she will now take on, leaving less time for her to do what she was doing. 

 

So if a person under you is fired, and you don't fill the role, you take on more work, it's that simple.

 

I get it. But again the question was is she qualified?

 

So the fact Russ reported to her and that cutting unnecessary levels of management can streamline businesses and communications. So instead of the working group (her team) reporting to Russ who then reports to Kim. They now report directly to Kim. 

 

Ok then to answer the OPs question Yep she is qualified

 

3 minutes ago, Canadian Bills Fan said:

How would this be any different from not having a "President" at all?

 

I'm sure they are going to take their time finding the best possible replacement and in the time being, Kim will fill in

 

It wouldnt be. Kim took a title big deal. I doubt they replace Russ

[LabattBlue]

A couple of givens...

 

- If Kim and Terry are meddling on the sports side of the business(either Sabres or Bills), we will probably never know.  We may hear rumors, but who knows.  When I say meddling, I'm talking about dictating to the GM's of each team who to draft, who to trade, who to acquire, etc...  I've seen Terry and Kim hanging around the Sabres rookie camp & training camp, but I wouldn't consider things like that, meddling.

 

- Without the hiring of football/hockey executive(s) above the GM, the future hirings of the GM & HC will still fall on the Pegula's, and IMO, this is not a good thing.

 

Edited May 3, 2018 by LabattBlue

[DrDawkinstein]

Is there an easier job in Buffalo than "overseeing" marketing, advertising, and ticket sales for the two professional sports teams in Buffalo? They're the biggest attraction in town, people live and die by the teams, and basically sell themselves.

 

If the Front Offices can manage to put winning teams together (Bills halfway there already), then there is literally nothing to do. The tickets sell themselves, as does the advertising.

 

I've never once seen an ad for the Bills and thought "I almost forgot about that team, I should buy tickets, thank god they reminded me".

 

Almost any of us are qualified to do this job.

[oldmanfan]

1 minute ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Is there an easier job in Buffalo than "overseeing" marketing, advertising, and ticket sales for the two professional sports teams in Buffalo? They're the biggest attraction in town, people live and die by the teams, and basically sell themselves.

 

If the Front Offices can manage to put winning teams together (Bills halfway there already), then there is literally nothing to do. The tickets sell themselves, as does the advertising.

 

I've never once seen an ad for the Bills and thought "I almost forgot about that team, I should buy tickets, thank god they reminded me".

 

Almost any of us are qualified to do this job.

It's more than that.  For example working with state and county legislators on a potential new stadium.  Working with organizations to market and then bring in major amateur hockey tournaments.  And the like.

 

Not saying Kim P can't do that.  But Russ' job was a helluva lot more than just marketing and ticket sales for the two teams.

[Kirby Jackson]

23 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Thanks, Kirby.  Good info in general, but I have a specific question if you have info on how the Bills are and were structured. 

 

It was always my understanding that Jim Overdorf, who used to be charged with negotiating all the player contracts, reported through Chuck Lamattina to Russ Brandon.  This was a problem sometimes as it created a perception of divided accountability for some contracts which didn't seem to protect the Bills interests very well.

 

1) Has this changed?  Is Beane now taking a larger role in handling the cap, and is someone  reporting to Beane now handling player contracts?

2) How do other teams handle this?  It's not intrinsically unreasonable to have the Executive VP of Finance overseeing player contracts and the cap, but it does divide accountability.

I’m not sure what the reporting structure is/was on contracts. It is different in a lot of places. As I understand it though, Overdorf is functionally the capologist. He lays the framework of the deals and Beane negotiates within that framework based on how highly they value a particular player.

 

If I understand it correctly (and I may not) they identify comparable players as a starting point. They use their contracts (especially if signed recently) to establish a market. The agent will tell you why his client deserves more than “x” player and the team will tell the agent why he deserves less. They eventually come close on the value and then Overdorf begins working the deal so that it is most advantageous to the cap short and long-term. If the agent is good with that structure and those terms you have a deal. Otherwise it is more negotiation.

[DrDawkinstein]

2 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

It's more than that.  For example working with state and county legislators on a potential new stadium.  Working with organizations to market and then bring in major amateur hockey tournaments.  And the like.

 

Not saying Kim P can't do that.  But Russ' job was a helluva lot more than just marketing and ticket sales for the two teams.

 

As co-owner she would have been part of those meetings already. And Russ isnt doing all the dirty work and grinding to get those tournaments here. He just glad-hands when it's time to sign the deal.

[REDRUM]

I live in Toronto and am a lifelong Bills fan and was ecstatic the Pegulas swept in and saved the team keeping them in buffalo. Kim or RB I'll take Kim 10/10 and for anyone of you hating on pegulas you can FO and go cheer for the Patriots. I'm Canadian and feel blessed they are here

[PromoTheRobot]

Aren't we always the people saying that management should stay out of the way of the hockey and football experts? Well Beane and McDermott run the Bills and Botterill and Housley run the Sabres. Do they really need another experience layer on top? I don't think so. 

24 minutes ago, REDRUM said:

I live in Toronto and am a lifelong Bills fan and was ecstatic the Pegulas swept in and saved the team keeping them in buffalo. Kim or RB I'll take Kim 10/10 and for anyone of you hating on pegulas you can FO and go cheer for the Patriots. I'm Canadian and feel blessed they are here

 

With Russ gone some people have a villain vacuum they need to fill now.

44 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Is there an easier job in Buffalo than "overseeing" marketing, advertising, and ticket sales for the two professional sports teams in Buffalo? They're the biggest attraction in town, people live and die by the teams, and basically sell themselves.

 

If the Front Offices can manage to put winning teams together (Bills halfway there already), then there is literally nothing to do. The tickets sell themselves, as does the advertising.

 

I've never once seen an ad for the Bills and thought "I almost forgot about that team, I should buy tickets, thank god they reminded me".

 

Almost any of us are qualified to do this job.

Pribably the only easier jobs are writing or talking about Buffalo sports teams on radio and in the papers.

Edited May 3, 2018 by PromoTheRobot

[SmokinES3]

Absolutely not.

[SoTier]

3 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

She will be responsible for none of that in her new role. If you were to draw an org chart it would be the owner at the top and then 2 lines, one to the GM and one the president. (Some teams have 3 lines with the coach reporting directly to the owner but we will us 2 for the sake of this conversation). Everything that falls underneath the GM would be football operations. There is a web down from there that is the pro and college sides.

 

The web underneath the president will be your CFO, CAO, CIO, CMO, CRO, COO, etc... it is your c-level executives. Their reports are comprised of VPs then directors then managers then coordinators, etc... There is no intersection or correlation between the president and the team performance. That has zero to do with their job. Kim’s role will be to oversee the business of the Buffalo Bills and Sabres. She will be in charge of ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, marketing, PR, stadium operations, IT, community relations, etc...That was the job that Russ Brandon held. 

 

So to get an answer you need to pretend that it is a different industry. Let’s pretend that the Buffalo Bills were the Buffalo Airport. Do you believe that Kim Pegula is capable of being the president there? If your answer is “yes” than you are fine with her in this role. If your answer is “no” you probably aren’t. She is running a business though not a roster.

 

If your description of the Bills organization is correct -- and I have no reason to doubt it since you seem to have some knowledge of the Bills organization on a much more significant scale than most of us -- then there's even less reason for fans to be worried about how "qualified" Kim is to hire coaches or make trades or whatever it is that has gotten so many to carry on for so long and so loudly -- unless their real issue with having her as President is that having a woman as Bills president somehow offends their prejudices against women. 

[LabattBlue]

Would be interesting to take a screen shot of the top of the org for both the Bills and the Sabres, and check again in a year and see how much change has occurred.

[oldmanfan]

2 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

As co-owner she would have been part of those meetings already. And Russ isnt doing all the dirty work and grinding to get those tournaments here. He just glad-hands when it's time to sign the deal.

I suspect Russ did more than just glad hand.  Executives primary responsibility is to hire good people and give them guidance and to set more big picture goals. 

[Rochesterfan]

19 hours ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

I really don't much about her business skills and am not trying to say she can't do it but is Kim qualified to be president?

 

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

It depends - does she have the business knowledge that Russ or some of the other people in the building have - No, but if she is a good leader - that translates across jobs.

 

If she listens and asks good questions and trusts the people in their job to be doing the right thing - then yes she is qualified.  She also has a certain trust with the fans and can probably get better information and feedback than Russ ever could to help build gameday experiences.

 

One of the proven techniques in business and the military is to take a leader from one department or branch and put him/her over a different group to see if they have proper leadership skills and can translate to other areas.  Good leaders lead - overpromoted people fall apart because they are out of their element and do not have instincts on who to trust.

 

I do not know where she will land, but I will not say she is unqualified because she has not done it - she is inexperienced at this point.

[MAJBobby]

14 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

I suspect Russ did more than just glad hand.  Executives primary responsibility is to hire good people and give them guidance and to set more big picture goals. 

 

Of course he did alot more. Hence the internal investigation and subsequent firing 

[BearNorth]

Having worked for 20 years in a large corporation, Kim will hire whoever she needs to deal with the administrivia, and be focused on the important stuff that she and Terry paid $1.4BB for. 

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2018 by BearNorth

[Kirby Jackson]

32 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

If your description of the Bills organization is correct -- and I have no reason to doubt it since you seem to have some knowledge of the Bills organization on a much more significant scale than most of us -- then there's even less reason for fans to be worried about how "qualified" Kim is to hire coaches or make trades or whatever it is that has gotten so many to carry on for so long and so loudly -- unless their real issue with having her as President is that having a woman as Bills president somehow offends their prejudices against women. 

Yeah, I think that my issue with it is that there are more qualified people. I 100% get it though. The Pegula’s got burned by Russ and it left a black eye on the organization. They pulled the reins in by putting her in that role. If she trusts and defers to that senior leadership team she won’t have any issues. The problem will arise if she’s at odds with someone more experienced and wiser and she wins out because of her position of power. I don’t foresee it happening often (or maybe ever). 

[Bookie Man]

I just found out that Kim graduated from the same high school as I did. Thought that was pretty crazy. So in my eyes yes, a fellow Lion is always qualified!!

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

19 hours ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

I really don't much about her business skills and am not trying to say she can't do it but is Kim qualified to be president?

 

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

Terry thinks so

[HappyDays]

14 hours ago, HappyDays said:

Can anyone tell me what in particular Kim Pegula has the capability to screw up as president? What is the worst case scenario for the Bills that people are up in arms about?

 

It's been a little while and no one has been able to answer this. That confirms what I thought, which is that the people who don't like this move aren't actually worried about anything she will do as president. They are worried about something else entirely.