As the Buffalo Bills plan to leave behind the old Pit and move into the new Highmark Stadium, the costs of building the new 62,000-seater come to light and ain’t cheap. The old Orchard Park, opened in 1973 is the fourth-oldest active stadium in the NFL, and is nearing the end of its life.
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So the construction of a new stadium is imperative, however, it will cost the club $1.7 billion. Even though $85o million is being paid by taxpayers as promised by NY Governor Kathy Hochul, Terry Pegula who owns the franchise is on the hook for nearly $900 million.
As per Kurt Badenhausen, Terry Pegula paid a record $1.4 billion for the team ten years ago and as per Sportico, the club valuation now stands at $4.13 billion. He might be looking to sell a non-controlling minority stake in the club to share the burden of running the club, which includes the stadium costs. The Bills have gained a modicum of success since their takeover, and the Bills mafia grows larger, with the club officially the only team actually based in New York. They want to see their team win after decades of failure.
The value of the Bills has tripled since Terry Pegula paid a then-NFL record $1.4B for the team in 2014. Combine that with the the club is on the hook for nearly $1B of the cost of their stadium and makes sense why might sell a stake in club.https://t.co/SzxV8fg8Dy pic.twitter.com/OYbyDnYsJk
— Kurt Badenhausen (@kbadenhausen) April 20, 2024
Given the rise in profits of the NFL, owning a team or even a part of it is a lucrative proposition in the long term, however, the sale won’t be easy because of the rising valuation of NFL teams.
Buffalo Bills Stake Sale Details
The Pegula family plans to sell the stake and as per Sportico, they have hired Allen & Company to explore the potential sale. Allen, a company ushered by Steve Greenberg, Terry Morris, and Mike Melnitzky, is the same company that helped TerryPegula buy the franchise in the first place from the estate of Ralph Wilson, Jr. It has been speculated that they are willing to part with 25% stake in the Buffalo Bills.
The sale will take some time because the NFL is the partnership of all 32 owners, and an entry of a new owner has to be approved by all the other owners. That’s why Brady’s stake in the Raiders hasn’t been approved as of yet. The Pegulas will hope to sell the stake before the new stadium opens for the 2026 season. The Bills much like the Chiefs discussed the option to move to a new location before Hochul decided to partially fund the stadium using the tax money and signed them into a 30-year lease.
