The Buffalo Bills are set to open a new stadium for the 2026 season. The four-time reigning AFC East champions might also have a new minority owner when the new Highmark Stadium is christened.
“The Pegula family has retained Allen & Company to explore the potential sale of a non-controlling, minority interest in the Bills,” the club told Sportico in a statement on Friday. “These discussions only involve the Bills and no other team. No investment would be possible without Terry Pegula and the Pegula family maintaining a controlling interest in the team.”
The Pegulas also own the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, and a transaction involving the Bills or Sabres has been speculated about among investment bankers since the Pegulas separated the clubs last year by dissolving Pegula Sports and Entertainment.
The Athletic was the first to report the Bills hired Allen & Co. and said the “working figure” for a stake sale is 25%.
Allen, led by Steve Greenberg, Terry Morris and Mike Melnitzky, represented Pegula when he bought the Bills from the estate of Ralph Wilson, Jr. in 2014. Pegula and his wife, Kim, paid a then NFL-record $1.4 billion for the franchise, beating out competing bids from Donald Trump and Jon Bon Jovi.
NFL price tags have soared since then with a trio of sales: Carolina Panthers ($2.28 billion in 2018), Denver Broncos ($4.65 billion in 2022) and Washington Commanders ($6.05 billion in 2023).
In August, Sportico valued the Bills at $4.13 billion, up 38% over the previous year. It ranked 29th among NFL clubs.
Pegula made his first fortune when he sold most of the assets of his oil and gas firm, East Resources, to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion in 2010. Pegula’s net worth is $6.8 billion, per Forbes. The Pegulas own 100% of the Bills, and the banking hire comes as multiple owners are looking to cash in on the rising values through LP sales and diversify their asset holdings in cases where much of their net worth is tied to NFL teams.
The NFL is the last major U.S. sports league to exclude private equity firms from buying stakes in teams, but the league has moved toward approving institutional investments, with a possible green light as soon as next month.
The Bills are in the middle of building a new stadium across the street from their existing home. The state’s contribution is capped at $600 million, and Erie County is kicking in $250 million. The Bills are on the hook for the balance, including any cost overruns. The original $1.4 billion sticker price has ballooned to at least $1.7 billion.
“[The Pegulas] continued commitment to Western New York, the new Highmark Stadium, our fans, and the other teams in their portfolio remains unchanged,” the Bills’ statement said. “Neither the team nor the Pegula family are able to comment further at this point.”
