Fifteen years ago, lifelong Buffalo Sabres fan Terry Pegula purchased the NHL franchise for $189 million. It's now worth $1.7 billion, a 799.5% increase in value.
That's based on the latest NHL valuations released Friday by Michael Ozanian of CNBC, who noted the league average across 32 teams is now $2.7 billion. The Sabres rank 31st, ahead of only the Columbus Blue Jackets ($1.65 billion).
Galatioto Sports Partners president Sal Galatioto explained to Ozanian why there's immense value in owning sports franchises:
"Like the other major sports leagues there is a strong demand to own hockey teams because their media content values are high and there is a scarcity of teams. Capitalism and technology are creating more wealth and the NHL, like the NFL, NBA and MLB, is an industry with a very long product life cycle, a hedge against risk in AI."Sports ownership expert Sal Galatioto
The Sabres' value jumped 20% from last year when it was estimated at $1.42 billion.
It was a memorable year for the Western New York hockey organization, which finally ended a 14-year postseason drought, the longest such streak in NHL history.
After a slow start, Buffalo went on a remarkable run to skyrocket up the Eastern Conference standings, ultimately finishing fourth in the league with 109 points (50-23-9 record).
The Sabres, led by head coach Lindy Ruff, then dispatched the Boston Bruins in the opening round of the playoffs before coming up short in Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens, falling one win short of an appearance in the conference finals.
This season hasn't been as kind to the Blue and Gold so far. They sit 11th in the East with an 8-7-4 record, and their overall level of play has dropped off considerably. They certainly don't look like the high-flying offensive powerhouse that took the NHL by storm in 2025-26.
Buffalo is going to hope for a repeat of last season's rise, though that'll be far easier said than done given the immense strength of the Atlantic Division.
Terry Pegula's bet on Buffalo sports has paid off handsomely
Pegula was a little-known billionaire businessman from the natural gas industry when he purchased the Sabres in 2011. The Pennsylvania native added the NFL's Buffalo Bills to his portfolio in 2014.
As you'd expect, that's another investment that's aged well. He acquired the Bills with a winning bid of $1.4 billion in an auction by the family of former owner Ralph Wilson. The NFL team's value was estimated at $8.13 billion by Sportico in August.
For those keeping score, that's $9.83 billion in current value from about $1.6 billion in acquisition costs. Not too shabby.
Pegula and his family also own the NLL's Buffalo Bandits, who won three straight championships in the indoor box lacrosse league from 2023 through 2025, and the AHL's Rochester Americans, the Sabres' top farm club.
Although there was some concern about Pegula potentially imposing some financial restrictions on the Sabres front office in the period between COVID and the postseason drought ending, those have mostly faded away as the team moved closer to the salary cap this season.
Questions do linger about whether that'll remain the case with the NHL's cap projected to skyrocket in the coming years, though.
For now, Pegula is hoping either the Bills, who are sitting atop the AFC standings with a 7-1 record, or the Sabres can make a serious push toward a title this season.
Buffalo is still waiting for its first major sports championship.
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