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The Buffalo Bills have a lot of fans in the Greater Toronto Area, but with a big splash Wednesday they’ve made it clear they’re looking for a lot more.
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Bills majority owner Terry Pegula talked to reporters at the NFL ownership meetings in Irving, Texas Wednesday about the announcement that a number of minority investors have joined the ownership group. That includes basketball hall-of-famers Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, the former Toronto Raptors superstars and ex-Toronto FC striker Jozy Altidore.
“I just wanted to have some partners to help us grow,” Pegula told reporters, per Tim Graham ofThe Athletic.“ The three pro athletes are all icons in Toronto. That’s our market. We’re going to grow into that market. They know that. I’ve asked them about that, and they’re willing to help.”
The Bills previously played home games in Toronto from 2008 to 2012, but high prices and mediocre teams made the project less than ideal. The late Ralph Wilson and Ted Rogers were behind that idea.
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Postmedia reported in 2020 that the Bills had approximately 8,000 season tickets sold in Canada.
The non-controlling, minority interests, a first for the Bills, were approved Wednesday by NFL team owners.
Pegula and wife Kim bought the Bills for $1.4 billion U.S. from Wilson’s estate in 2014. The Pegulas will retain 79 per cent control of the team, a person with knowledge of the sale told The Associated Press.
According to The Associated Press, the other new partners include: Private investment firm Arctos, Rob Palumbo, co-managing partner of Accel-KKR; Sue McCollum, CEO and owner of beverage distribution companies Eagle Brand Sales and Double Eagle Distributing; Theresia Gouw, co-founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Acrew Capital; Rob Ward, co-founder, general partner of venture capital firm Meritech Capital; Mike Joo, COO, Global Corporate and Investment Banking and Head of North America Corporate and Investment Banking at Bank of America; Tom Burger, co-founder and managing partner of the investment firm Gridiron Capital.
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