Pegula Divests from Knight Hawks after pulling out of Rochester Lease

[Gregg]

11 minutes ago, May Day 10 said:

 

He would make a ton of money on a Sabres sale.  NHL properties are very valuable, north of $1 Billion now.  The Sabres are not tied to Buffalo for long at all, and easy to relocate to a larger market.  

 

I hope that's not the case. The Sabres have great fans, as Buffalo is a very good hockey market. Attendance may be down but who can blame the fans with the product they have put on the ice the past 15 years. As an Isles fan I went through the relocation rumors when the team was losing money playing at Nassau Coliseum. Thankfully then Gov Cuomo helped the Isles get through all of the challenges to get UBS built. Hoping the Sabres stay in Buffalo and eventually get a new arena as well.

[Bray Wyatt]

Is this the new "the Bills are moving to...." ?

[Ned Flanders]

10 hours ago, Mango said:

To no surprise to most Terry has started to pull out of Rochester. 

On the other hand, training camp at SJF looks now to be a long-term deal.

 

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/football/nfl/bills/2025/06/24/hard-knocks-to-bring-large-crew-to-bills-camp-at-st-john-fisher/84320903007/

[RiotAct]

2 hours ago, Gugny said:

Is there a board similar to TBD for the Sabres?

 

Id love to be part of that community if it exists. 

https://www.sabrespace.com/community/forum/1-the-aud-club/

[Bangarang]

3 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

I'd sell the Sabres if I were him. Laughing stock.

 

They are a laughing stock primarily because of him. Honestly, hiring McDermott might be the best thing he's ever done as an owner of any of his teams. 

[Big Turk]

10 hours ago, Doc said:

Not sure why the hate but that’s so wrong it’s laughable.  All of Pegula teams outside of the Sabres made the playoffs this past season. The Bandits even won the championship.  Maybe we have a different definition of “disaster.”

 

As for the Bills, they’ll be contenders for at least the next decade with Josh at the helm.  And that will be with or without McBeane. 

 

The Bandits have won the championship 3 straight years and have made the finals 5 years in a row.

 

They also shattered the NLL attendance record for the 2nd straight year.

[Goin Breakdown]

Build a new stadium and then move the team?!!?!!

 

maybe the fact that I think this all sounds so ridiculous will be the very reason it happens. Who knows.   

[Jauronimo]

10 hours ago, Doc said:

Not sure why the hate but that’s so wrong it’s laughable.  All of Pegula teams outside of the Sabres made the playoffs this past season. The Bandits even won the championship.  Maybe we have a different definition of “disaster.”

 

As for the Bills, they’ll be contenders for at least the next decade with Josh at the helm.  And that will be with or without McBeane. 

This is a hockey board.  A conference finals, playoffs, and a championship means nothing when ARE Sabres remain the laughing stock of North American professional sports.

[thenorthremembers]

I wish Pegula would sell the Sabres.   That way I wouldnt have to hear butt hurt Sabres' fans calling Pegula a bad owner despite his other sports teams doing well.   

[Mango]

4 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

I’m not reading too much into this decision.  The Bills are a cash cow for the Pegulas.  There’s no way they are giving that up, and the only thing I can see about the Sabres is Terry changes leadership in mgmt and coaching.

The BIlls aren't going anywhere, but the pre-McBeane Bills were as dysfunctional as the 14 years with the Sabres. My point about that was that I am not looking forward to that era of Pegula's ownership. I have little to no faith he is capable of rebuilding the Bills org if needed. 

[Matt_In_NH]

11 hours ago, Mango said:

 I said the Sabres are on their way out.

 

The reference about the Bills was about being a pro sports owner without McBeane managing the Bills.

 

Nearly every sports venture Pegula has been apart of sans McDermott and/or Beane has been a disaster. That includes the Bills.

 

 

Aren’t talking dollars or the teams wins and losses?

[Mango]

1 hour ago, Big Turk said:

 

The Bandits have won the championship 3 straight years and have made the finals 5 years in a row.

 

They also shattered the NLL attendance record for the 2nd straight year.

 

Do you think John Tavares has to have 17 hour meetings to review one single player? 

I honestly don't think Pegula has spent one hour over the course of the day pondering what to do with one single Bandits player.

[Slippery Rubber Mats]

4 minutes ago, Mango said:

 

Do you think John Tavares has to have 17 hour meetings to review one single player? 

I honestly don't think Pegula has spent one hour over the course of the day pondering what to do with one single Bandits player.

 

Good lol. Maybe you're drunk or maybe I'm drunk but wasn't your point that Pegula sucks at running teams? So now you WANT him to be involved with the team that just 3-peated champs? Bro you are all over the place.

[Mango]

3 minutes ago, Slippery Rubber Mats said:

 

Good lol. Maybe you're drunk or maybe I'm drunk but wasn't your point that Pegula sucks at running teams? So now you WANT him to be involved with the team that just 3-peated champs? Bro you are all over the place.

The point is that Pegula's most successful franchise is the one he is arguably the least involved in. He does sit in 17 hour meetings with the Bills. He does actively meddle with the Sabres. 

He doesn't show up to anything for the Bandits, and they have been largely free of any of the dysfunction he had with the pre-McBeane era Bills and his entire time with the Sabres. 

No, I don't want Terry involved in anything. I wish he ran every team like he does the Bandits. Just ignore it and let the professional sports people do their job without a peep. 

[Draconator]

1 hour ago, Bangarang said:

 

They are a laughing stock primarily because of him. Honestly, hiring McDermott might be the best thing he's ever done as an owner of any of his teams. 

John Tavares says hold my beer.

[buffblue]

4 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

I'd sell the Sabres if I were him. Laughing stock.

Unfortunately the Sabres ineptitude is almost entirely because of him. Terry really just stumbled into something good with Beane and McDermott. It's why I can't see either of them going anywhere unless the Bills crater, and the periodic discussions about hot seats and job security are amusing. Pegula knows he got lucky

[BarleyNY]

I think that Pegula realizes that there’s a limited number of dollars people in WNY have to spend on sports. If the Sabres were as good as the Bills, then a lot more people would be making decisions about where to spend their money between the two

 

It would take a lot of money up front and more in continuation to get the Sabres to a point where they’d be truly competitive. If you are strictly looking at maximizing profit, then why push with the Sabres now?

Edited 4 hours ago by BarleyNY

[May Day 10]

29 minutes ago, Mango said:

The BIlls aren't going anywhere, but the pre-McBeane Bills were as dysfunctional as the 14 years with the Sabres. My point about that was that I am not looking forward to that era of Pegula's ownership. I have little to no faith he is capable of rebuilding the Bills org if needed. 

 

People forget how the Bills were run just prior to McBeane.  Pegula was impressed with Russ Brandon in the purchasing process and they foolishly continued his influence on the franchise.  You had a dysfunctional period with Whaley/Brandon/Marrone that culminated with Marrone walking away voluntarily after an OK season to be an O-Line coach.  Then you had "dont let him leave the room" Rex Ryan, Brandon advising Ryan what kind of wine to bring the Pegulas and that circus.  

Then you had Ryan getting fired, Whaley not being "privy" to the coach being fired, then conducting an embarrassing and inhumane "operation human shield" using Anthony Lynn.  It was not going well at all.  

 

McDermott was a godsend.  He has the perfect personality for dealing with Terry Pegula.  He earns trust and is a good guy, is respectful, but also forceful and gets what he wants.  I also think that even without Allen, his floor is pretty high, and worst case, if we are in QB purgatory again, he can pull off the Mike Tomlin smoke and mirrors bit.

[Jauronimo]

21 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

 

They are a laughing stock primarily because of him. Honestly, hiring McDermott might be the best thing he's ever done as an owner of any of his teams. 

And Terry is on record saying he would not give McBeane as much power as he did if he had the decision again today.  Which is terrifying.  

[BullBuchanan]

12 hours ago, Mango said:

To no surprise to most Terry has started to pull out of Rochester. 

 

First he renegotiated his lease at Blue Cross Arena shortly after signing it. Pegula claimed it was purely business. Dissolving PSE after Kim fell ill. Saying it had nothing to do with moving on from either team 

 

Then he actually pulled out of operating the arena. Pegulas team said that the teams wer safe and he was just out of the arena management game.

 

Now his other NLL team is for sale.

 

Buckle up folks, because the Sabres are on their way out. And if Terry doesn't hand the Bills off before he can run them into the ground they're on their way as well.

 

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/lacrosse/2025/06/23/rochester-knighthawks-looking-for-new-owners-after-pegula-divest/84319445007/

 

 

The Sabres are in no way "on the way out". It's regularly one of the strongest markets in the country for viewership despite a lousy franchise. I don't see any scenario in which the league would permit a move.

 

New ownership? Sure, and it would be welcome.