Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula transferred a “small percentage” of the team to his daughter, Laura Pegula, last year following Kim Pegula’s health issues.
According to The Athletic’s Tim Graham, a judge named Terry the plenary guardian for his wife in March 2023. Kim remains in recovery after suffering cardiac arrest in June 2022.
Shortly after, Terry shifted a small share of Bills ownership to Laura, his daughter from a previous marriage. Graham wrote that the move helped “satisfy a league policy that aids in succession planning.”
“Each May, teams are required to file an updated succession plan that must be approved according to established league guidelines,” Graham explained. “An NFL source who has been involved in succession planning says to be compliant teams are required to designate a successor with a controlling interest, an effort to make any transition smoother and curtail potential family infighting.”
Laura represented the Bills during commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual state of the league address earlier this year. She also stood alongside Terry as they introduced Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff last week.
Terry and Kim Pegula formerly each owned a 50 percent share of the Bills. The original succession plan involved Kim passing the team to their shared children.
Their daughter, tennis star Jessica Pegula, wrote in a Players’ Tribune essay last year that Kim “always wanted me to be involved” with the organization.
A source close to the Pegula family told Graham that Kim “is not coming back” to the Bills or Sabres.