Pegula Divests from Knight Hawks after pulling out of Rochester Lease

[corta765]

Nighthawks sale has been happening for a while. He bought the team to keep it going until a new owner could be found. The goal was never to keep it long term.

Sabres I think at some point he gets a minority owner with cash, but it is his baby for better or normally worse.

Bills/Bandits are cash cows they aren't going anywhere.

[Mr. WEO]

He need to pullout of the Sabres.  Been screwing their fans since day 1

[Process]

Wait he owns two teams in the same league? Kind of wild that's allowed. 

[White Linen]

Just now, Process said:

Wait he owns two teams in the same league? Kind of wild that's allowed. 

 

This is allowed, so long as both teams are in three different cities.

[Mango]

44 minutes ago, Draconator said:

John Tavares says hold my beer.

 

Does Terry Pegula have 17 hour meetings about one single player on the Bandits roster? I don't think Terry spends 17 hours a year talking to Tavares, let alone in a single sit down about a single player, like he does the Bills and Sabres. 

[PromoTheRobot]

13 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/

 

 

 

Cool story, bro.

[Mango]

30 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

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.

 

That was my take when Golisano was shopping the team. But that was also when the Sabres were averaging 99%+ attendance without a standing room only section. 

Now the Sabres are regularly bottom 3-5 in the league in attendance and the Buffalo region is still a top 5 market. Pegula isn't giving any money to the league in terms of revenue sharing. He is a loss. If anything I think those two things together is proof of concept that the league doesn't need a team in Buffalo to get viewership. 

[Lost]

1 hour 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. 

 

Pegula only owned the Bills for 3 years prior to bringing in McDermott and Beane and the team was around .500 those seasons which was better than the 3 seasons prior to Pegula taking ownership.   I would hardly call that dysfunctional.   Not saying Pegula belongs in the the upper echelon of team owners but he did something not many others would have done and that is secure the team's location in Orchard Park for the foreseeable future.   He also spends money when he needs to.   That's good enough for me.  

[Mango]

3 minutes ago, Lost said:

 

Pegula only owned the Bills for 3 years prior to bringing in McDermott and Beane and the team was around .500 those seasons which was better than the 3 seasons prior to Pegula taking ownership.   I would hardly call that dysfunctional.   Not saying Pegula belongs in the the upper echelon of team owners but he did something not many others would have done and that is secure the team's location in Orchard Park for the foreseeable future.   He also spends money when he needs to.   That's good enough for me.  

 

Marrone walked, Russ "Don't let Rex leave without a contract" Brandon, and then Doug "nobody told me we fired the HC" Whaley. That is very dysfunctional and mirrors the Sabres. 

[Big Turk]

2 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

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.

 

No, that is the NY Jets and Cleveland Browns of the NFL.  

[Jauronimo]

1 minute ago, Big Turk said:

 

No, that is the NY Jets and Cleveland Browns of the NFL.  

Sabres are tied with the Jets for longest active playoff drought. Sabres playoff drought is the longest in NHL history.  The Browns have been to the post season twice in the past 5 years.

[Doc]

3 minutes ago, Mango said:

Marrone walked, Russ "Don't let Rex leave without a contract" Brandon, and then Doug "nobody told me we fired the HC" Whaley. That is very dysfunctional and mirrors the Sabres. 

He inherited all those people. It took him a minute to realize that he needed to let them all go.
 

And characterizing Marrone as “walking” is disingenuous. He tried a power-play and Terry wasn’t having it so he told him “there’s the door.”  if you really thought he was worth keeping he would’ve given into his demands.
 

And yeah, Rex was a mistake. But a short-lived one. Is Kraft suddenly a crappy owner because he hired Mayo for a season?

[Big Turk]

16 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

Sabres are tied with the Jets for longest active playoff drought. Sabres playoff drought is the longest in NHL history.  The Browns have been to the post season twice in the past 5 years.

 

The NFL is, by far, the biggest sports league on the planet, so by default any team that is essentially tied with futility with an NHL team is automatically far more futile, especially considering the much more even playing field of the NFL and how much parity there is.

 

Also, I don't care how many times the Browns made the playoffs, they are among the most inept teams in the NFL and are equally a laughingstock for their QB situation they have mired themselves in.

[Jauronimo]

3 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

The NFL is, by far, the biggest sports league on the planet, so by default any team that is essentially tied with futility with an NHL team is automatically far more futile, especially considering the much more even playing field of the NFL and how much parity there is.

 

Also, I don't care how many times the Browns made the playoffs, they are among the most inept teams in the NFL and are equally a laughingstock for their QB situation they have mired themselves in.

50% of the NHL makes the playoffs every year. 

[Big Turk]

6 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

50% of the NHL makes the playoffs every year. 

 

NHL teams don't have their entire payroll covered by the TV Contract Revenue. Far more of a "Have and Have Not" situation in the NHL.

Edited 5 hours ago by Big Turk

[Low Positive]

33 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

No, that is the NY Jets and Cleveland Browns of the NFL.  

I think it's hard for people not in WNY to understand how little attention the NHL gets in the U.S. in non-traditional hockey markets. I live in Cincinnati. We have an NHL team an hour and a half away in Columbus, and they might as well not exist. The Cavs get a lot more attention here, and Cleveland is three hours away.

[PromoTheRobot]

13 hours ago, Doc said:

How do you get that the Bills are “on their way out” from the sale of the Nighthawks?  With Kim‘s health issues and Terry getting up in age, I can see him wanting to divest from the smaller potatoes. I can also see him selling the Sabres, which should make a lot of Sabres fans happy. But the Bills are doing great (and so are the other non-Sabres teams), and will be for the foreseeable future.

 

The problem with selling the Sabres is finding an new owner that a) wants to spend a billion dollars on the team and b) then keep them in Buffalo. With Canadians not crossing the border, that really hurts Sabres attendance even beyond their underperformance the last decade plus. A sale of the Sabres means 99% likely the team moves.

[Big Turk]

Just now, PromoTheRobot said:

 

The problem with selling the Sabres is finding an new owner that a) wants to spend a billion dollars on the team and b) then keep them in Buffalo. With Canadians not crossing the border, that really hurts Sabres attendance even beyond their underperformance the last decade plus. A sale of the Sabres means 99% likely the team moves.

 

I am willing to bet coverage of the NFL Draft had higher ratings than any NHL game this year, and likely far higher ratings.

[Mango]

28 minutes ago, Doc said:

He inherited all those people. It took him a minute to realize that he needed to let them all go.
 

And characterizing Marrone as “walking” is disingenuous. He tried a power-play and Terry wasn’t having it so he told him “there’s the door.”  if you really thought he was worth keeping he would’ve given into his demands.
 

And yeah, Rex was a mistake. But a short-lived one. Is Kraft suddenly a crappy owner because he hired Mayo for a season?

 

Hiring a HC against your GM's wishes then firing a HC without consulting your GM is bad ownership. This is a 14 year pattern with Pegula and the Sabres. 

5 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

NHL teams don't have their entire payroll covered by the TV Contract Revenue. Far more of a "Have and Have Not" situation in the NHL.

 That is a really bad excuse for the Pegula run Sabres. 

[PromoTheRobot]

1 minute ago, Big Turk said:

 

I am willing to bet coverage of the NFL Draft had higher ratings than any NHL game this year, and likely far higher ratings.

 

True, but the Sabres are still worth a billion+ according to Forbes. The next round of expansion may come with a $2 billion fee.

2 minutes ago, Mango said:

 

Hiring a HC against your GM's wishes then firing a HC without consulting your GM is bad ownership. This is a 14 year pattern with Pegula and the Sabres. 

 

He hit the jackpot with McDermott, didn't he?