Kim S. Pegula was born on June 7, 1969, he is an American businesswoman and with her husband Terry Pegula, one of the principal owners of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League.
She is also the president of Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the holding company that manages the Bills as well as the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League; the Buffalo Bandits, and Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League; and the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.
The company also manages the LECOM Harborcenter and Black River Entertainment, an independent record label based in Nashville. By extension, she is the president of several teams under Pegula Sports and Entertainment, including the Bills and Sabres. Pegula, Shahid Khan, and Zygi Wilf are the only three NFL team owners who were not born in the United States.
Pegula was involved in her husband’s company, East Resources, from 1991 to its sale in 2010. Shortly afterwards the Pegulas purchased the Buffalo Sabres and its two affiliated teams, the Buffalo Bandits of the NLL and the Rochester Americans of the AHL.
She influenced the planning and construction of LECOM Harborcenter, a mixed-use development next to the Sabres’ arena and part of the revitalization of downtown Buffalo. After the death of longtime Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson, the football team was put up for sale.
The Pegulas competed with real-estate mogul (and future U.S. president) Donald Trump and also a consortium of rock singer Jon Bon Jovi and key people in Toronto-based Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for the team. The Pegulas won with an NFL record $1.4 billion all-cash bid.
On May 1, 2018, after the abrupt resignation of Brandon as president of Pegula Sports and Entertainment as well as the Bills and Sabres, Pegula was installed as president over all the Pegula Sports and Entertainment properties.
She became the first female team president in the history of both the NFL and NHL when she became president of the Bills and Sabres franchises. Pegula is also one of a handful of female NFL owners, including Sheila Ford Hamp (Detroit Lions), Virginia Halas McCaskey (Chicago Bears), Amy Adams Strunk (Tennessee Titans), Carol Davis (Las Vegas Raiders), Denise DeBartolo York (San Francisco 49ers), Gayle Benson (New Orleans Saints), Janice McNair (Houston Texans), Jody Allen (Seattle Seahawks) and Dee Haslam (Cleveland Browns).
