The Pegulas’ decision to sell a non-controlling interest in the Buffalo Bills represents a notable shift in the team’s ownership structure. According to a report from the Sports Business Journal, the Pegulas are finalizing a deal to sell this minority stake to a group that includes a private equity firm, business executives, and former professional athletes. This move would allow the Pegulas to maintain full operational control of the franchise while injecting additional capital into the organization.
Non-controlling ownership sales have become a common trend in professional sports, offering teams financial flexibility without requiring majority owners to relinquish authority. For the Bills, this could mean additional resources for operations, facilities, or long-term investments, such as their ongoing stadium project in Orchard Park.
While the Pegulas have been instrumental in stabilizing the franchise since purchasing it in 2014, this partial sale signals their willingness to diversify ownership and potentially engage a broader network of influential partners. The impact of this move on the team’s future will largely depend on the new stakeholders’ level of involvement and vision for the franchise.
The reported deal would see the Pegulas maintain a significant majority stake, retaining approximately 79% ownership of the Buffalo Bills. Under this arrangement:
10% ownership would be sold to Arctos Partners, a private equity firm known for investments in sports franchises. Arctos has been involved in various professional teams across leagues, making them an experienced partner in sports ownership.
10.6% ownership would go to a group of investors that includes former NBA stars Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, who bring a combination of celebrity influence and sports acumen to the table.
This diversified ownership structure introduces both financial and strategic advantages. Arctos’ involvement could bring additional resources and expertise to the business side of the Bills, while Carter and McGrady’s participation may help expand the team’s branding and outreach, potentially engaging new audiences beyond traditional NFL markets.
The Pegulas’ decision to retain majority control ensures stability in the team’s operations and vision while leveraging their new partners’ assets to enhance the franchise’s financial and cultural growth. This move also reflects a growing trend in sports ownership, where minority stakes are sold to well-capitalized and high-profile groups to balance financial flexibility with operational continuity.
I chatted with Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal on Tuesday. Fischer broke the news with additional information about the investors involved in the deal.
“Over the last five or 10 years, you’ve heard a lot of stories about an owner wanting to sell part of their equity for one reason or another, but not being able to close these deals,” Fischer told me. “Everybody needs capital to do things, and it’s been tough to sell these stakes because, as I previously stated, the laws permitting private equity organizations to enter. It’s difficult to locate people willing to buy these.
Fischer feels that the Pegulas might benefit from selling a minority ownership in the Bills for a variety of reasons.
“There’s debt, you know, maybe they have long-term debt that they would like to extinguish and now instead of digging in their own pockets to pay off that debt they can use this cash they’ve raised in the equity sale to to extinguish debt,” Fischer told me. “Real estate projects, you know, a lot of NFL owners love to do a little restaurant or a mall next to their practice facility, you know, maybe they have plans for something like that down the road like the Patriots and the Cowboys have done.”
The sale of a non-controlling stake in the Bills was slated to be on the NFL Finance Committee’s agenda for Tuesday. If accepted, NFL owners would vote to formalize the agreement in December.
In 2014, the Pegulas purchased the Buffalo Bills for $1.4 billion. The Sports Business Journal recently valued the franchise at $5.35 billion.
