BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — On Friday the Pegulas, owners of the Buffalo Bills since 2014, have retained investment firm Allen & Company to help look into the sale of a non-controlling, minority interest in the Bills.
No other party is involved in the discussions and the Pegulas will still maintain majority control.
The news was first reported by the athletics’ Tim Graham, whose sources said the Pegulas are selling a 25% stake.
The Pegula family has owned the Bills since shortly after the death of original owner, Ralph Wilson.
Experts tell News 4 this won’t have an impact on Bills mafia.
“It’s one person and everyone who is a non-controlling owner has really no impact on the fans,” said host of the ‘Business of Sports’ podcast and former vice president of the Green Bay Packers, Andrew Brandt.
“This is something that’s happening in the boardroom that’s going be happening behind the curtain. Fans really shouldn’t have any sort of change in their gameday experience,” added staff writer for the Sports Business Journal, Chris Smith.
The Pegulas are looking to sell 25% of the team, but that number is fluid. That was first reported by the athletics’ Tim Graham.
The Bills in a statement said, “no investment would be possible without Terry Pegula and the Pegula family maintaining a controlling interest in the team,” and “their continued commitment to western New York, the new Highmark Stadium, and the fans remains unchanged.”
Brandt and Smith both say whoever buys in won’t have a big role in the team.
“I have a friend who was contacted by an investment group and was asked to join the investment group to buy the Washington commanders and he said to me, they want $200 million from me and all I really get out of this is good tickets. I said, ‘I think that’s right. I think that’s about the only benefit you really get until there’s an exit and your money will appreciate as the investment appreciates,’” said Brandt.
The Pegulas bought the Bills for $1.4 billion, an NFL record in 2014. Forbes’ latest estimate puts the Bills worth at $3.7 billion.
So what could a potential buyer for this minority interest look like?
“This idea, which may seem a little antiquated now, where you just have that one owner at the table and it’s just 32 owners and it’s this club and they refer to it as the membership. But now with these values so high, it’s hard to believe there’s going to be this level, this number of multi-billionaires able to buy these franchises,” continued Brandt.
“Sports ownership has always had a little bit of an ego component. I think that you have a lot of people who like the idea of being an owner. It’s sort of seen as this trophy asset. A small population of people would be willing to cut that kind of check. So, my guess is that this would likely be a collection of investors that come together,” concluded Smith.
Both the team and the Pegulas have no further comment on why they’re making this move.
Currently, the Pegulas are responsible for any additional costs for the $1.4 billion new stadium for the Bills, outside the $850 million in public funding.
Dillon Morello is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has been part of the News 4 team since September of 2023. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.