The ownership saga of the Buffalo Bills looks to be finally coming to an end as representatives of the team announced today that they have reached an agreement where Mary Wilson, the widow of former owner Ralph C. Wilson, will sell the team to Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula and family.
While the NFL rules forbid an owner from owning another franchise in a major North American professional sports league, the Pegulas will get around this by transferring ownership of one of the teams to a different family member.
The agreement of sale requires NFL approval, and will need to be submitted to the league’s owners. This will reportedly be done in the next NFL owners meeting scheduled for October 8th. It is expected to pass without too much difficulty.
“This is a very important day in the history of the Buffalo Bills franchise,” Bills controlling owner Mary Wilson said of the agreement. “[Late owner Ralph Wilson, Jr.] brought professional football to Buffalo in 1959 and it was his life’s passion. He loved his team and he cherished the fans and his legacy will remain for all-time. Ralph would have been pleased with the sale of the team to the Terry Pegula family, who has been so committed to Buffalo and the Western New York region.”
Terry Pegula, already the owner of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, also issued a statement: “It is gratifying to reassure these great fans that two franchises so important to our region are both here to stay.”
The news will be welcomed with strong support in western New York where fans of the Bills feared that the team could move if bought by another party, such as a group led by rocker Bon Jovi and MLSE shareholder Larry Tannenbaum. Instead Pegula appears to be someone committed to keeping the Bills in the region.
