Pegula Sports and Entertainment announced furloughs and layoffs for employees

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The owners’ vast sports empire took a hit on Monday.

Owners Kim and Terry Pegula have fired multiple executives of the Buffalo Sabres in a move that was reportedly in the works prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report from John Vogl at The Athletic, Buffalo Bills employees will continue operating at the same level.

The firings include three top-level executives with the Sabres and KeyBank center; vice president of tickets and services John Sinclair, vice president of communications Chris Bandura; and vice prsident of live events Jennifer Van Rysdam. In all, 21 people were fired on Monday across multiple departments at PSE in what is being described as a cost-cutting measure. (Vogl’s colleague Tim Graham reported in early March there were rumblings of cost cuts coming to the Sabres.) The moves would have come this summer, according to Vogl, but the pandemic moved up the timeline.

In addition to the firings, 104 employees of the Sabres and PSE were furloughed or received a temporary pay cut due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Again, these moves were across multiple departments at PSE, KeyBank Center, Harborcenter, and the Sabres but apparently not with the Buffalo Bills.

Last month, the Pegulas said they would lay off all their hospitality workers in the PSE organization in response to the coronavirus-related shutdowns and not compensate stadium workers until games were canceled, not just postponed. The NHL is still officially postponed and it’s been a month since an event was held at KeyBank.

Following the backlash from not paying those workers, the Pegulas pledged $1.2 million to the response to COVID-19 in the Western New York area, joining with players, broadcasters, and team employees from across the Bills, Sabres, and rest of their vast empire.

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The owners of the Buffalo Bills reduced staff in some of their other businesses Tuesday, but they haven’t touched the football operation yet. According to John Vogl of TheAthletic.com, Pegula Sports and Entertainment fired 21 employees, including three senior executives from the Buffalo Sabres hockey team which the Pegulas also own. That group included the [more]

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Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images

Pegula Sports and Entertainment announced furlough and layoffs for employees which included changes in the management staff

Yesterday Pegula Sports and Entertainment announced they’ll be implementing layoffs and furloughs for employees during the COVID-19 crisis. A total of 21 people were laid off, 104 furloughed, and top executives would be getting temporary pay cuts.

Pegula Sports & Entertainment announced changes to staffing, including temporary executive salary reductions, 21 layoffs, and 104 furloughs to some of its 3,000 employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. #Sabres #Bills #Bandits #Amerks pic.twitter.com/rBzTyZJO0B

— Greg Vorse TV (@GregVorse) April 14, 2020

A handful of longtime Buffalo Sabres executives were among the 21 people let go. Chris Bandura (VP of Communications), John Sinclair (VP of Tickets and Service), and Jennifer Van Rysdam (VP of Live Events) are three executives that lost their jobs according to John Vogl of The Athletic.

The story linked above from The Athletic goes into more detail on the changes in the management staff. One interesting thing to note from Tim Graham of The Athletic, is that these 21 layoffs may not be tied to the COVID-19 crisis. Reportedly these executive changes were in the works prior to the NHL season coming to a halt.

I see a lot of reporting that Sabres/Pegula Sports and Entertainment firings are due to the pandemic. That's false (furloughs, true).

As written in The Satchel when games still were being played, cutbacks across departments already were in the works.https://t.co/ON0v6VJ5XB

— Tim Graham (@ByTimGraham) April 14, 2020

Sabres general manager, Jason Botterill is among those that will see a temporary reduction in salary according multiple reports.

We’ll see if this is it for PSE or if they will make more cutbacks if the COVID-19 crisis starts to impact the NFL season. At this point, the Buffalo Bills are one of PSE entities that has not been impacted.

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