The Mighty O’Ba Sports Report: Pegula Sports Empire Is Moving Towards Sale

By Pat Freeman, The Mighty O’Ba

Pat Freeman, The Mighty O’Ba

The Buffalo professional sports landscape is about to change with the announcement of Pegula’s seeking buyers for their sports franchises. Most of you do not understand what is really going on, but the Pegula’s are about to downsize their operations. This is very understandable since the illness of Kim Pegula, who I believe was the driving force on the entertainment and sports side of the entertainment and sports side of their business.

The problem that remains for western New York is that the current stadium location and design makes our region still susceptible to relocation. The penalties of relocation are not as severe as many people would want to believe. There is a cost for a new owner coming in and leaving, but it is possible. The rumblings of a sale of the Pegula sports empire should have been prepared for by our elected officials because it is coming very quickly. The county still needs to produce a plan to upgrade the Keybank arena, which is in desperate need of renovation.

Thanks to Doug Whaley, who advised the Pegula’s to hire Sean McDermott, the football side of the operation has been successful other than winning a Super Bowl. The value of the franchise continues to go up so that the ownership could easily sell today with a substantial profit already obtained.

The other sports franchises are not big money makers like the NFL and have continued to struggle financially. This region needs to prepare for new ownership across the board, and needs to ready themselves to continue the fight to keep their professional franchises. One problem they have is they are building an inferior sports stadium that only offers limited revenue opportunities.