Terry and Kim Pegula's purchase of NWHL's Beauts a landmark win for women's hockey

Mike Murphy

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Terry and Kim Pegula's purchase of NWHL's Beauts a landmark win for women's hockey image

It was just a few months ago that the NWHL made headlines with a groundbreaking partnership between the Metropolitan Riveters and the New Jersey Devils. But the league celebrated an even bigger victory Thursday: Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the parent company that owns the NHL's Sabres and NFL's Bills, purchased the 2017 Isobel Cup champion Buffalo Beauts.

As a result, more people than ever before will soon be talking about professional women's hockey and the NWHL.

Terry and Kim Pegula's interest in women's sports is hardly a new development. Since taking over the Sabres in 2010, the Pegulas have invested in the development of junior hockey throughout the Buffalo area. They have also hosted the College Hockey America Tournament at the HarborCenter since 2016. The CHA is a conference unique to NCAA Division I women's hockey.

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"We want to contribute to the growth of women's hockey," Kim Pegula said in a statement. "HarborCenter has allowed us to make a positive impact on the game at the amateur, high school and collegiate levels, and we believe this is the perfect time to expand our reach to include women's professional hockey through the NWHL. This sport provides outstanding opportunities, and we are committed to helping extend those opportunities to females of all ages."

Almost every hockey and football fan in Western New York knows who the Pegulas are. In addition to the Bills and Sabres, they also own the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. They are billionaires.

As you can imagine, the Pelugas owning an NWHL team is a big deal. And it's clear Kim Pegula played a big role in making it happen.

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"Kim definitely helped bring this to the finish line," NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan told Sporting News. "She's going to be an amazing mentor, role model and resource for us as we continue to grow not only in Buffalo, but as a league. Her commitment to the community is evident. But also with what she's done in the NFL for women with initiatives and causes, I think this is an opportunity for her to tap into the hockey world."

For the Beauts, new ownership means an immeasurable increase in exposure and marketing in addition to financial support and security. In other words: it's priceless. It's hard to speculate how the Beauts players and staff will benefit from PSE running operations, but we do know that Buffalo will have the same salary cap as the NWHL's other three teams. 

Above all else, PSE buying the Beauts means increased stability for the league moving forward. It puts less financial pressure on the NWHL and its investors. That means more flexibility for what comes next. And it sounds like that is already what the league's commissioner is focused on.

"This means we can focus on the next deal, whether that's expansion or broadcasting related," Rylan explained. "Selling our media rights has been high on our list since Day 1. There's so much value in this sport and it has so many elements that make it great for broadcasting."

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PSE buying the Beauts is just the most recent domino falling in the right direction for professional women's hockey.

It's hard to quantify momentum, but we all know it when we see it. This is momentum.

In the grand scheme of things, the timing simply couldn't be better. The 2018 Olympics are less than two months away. With no NHL players on the ice at Pyeongchang, all eyes will be on the women's hockey tournament. When the medals are handed out, many of them will be placed over the heads of women who have played and/or will soon return to playing in the NWHL and CWHL. And as a result, more hockey fans than ever before will be interested in professional women's hockey.

"It's growing on all levels," Rylan said. "From the grass roots level all the way to the pros you're seeing the highlights in the successes that we've had here. But the truth is we've been told 'no' a hundred times before we've heard one 'yes.' A lot of it's being persistent and having some grit."

The supporters of women's hockey knows how much value exists in this great game," Rylan continued. "This is about bringing those values to the forefront and finding pioneers to align ourselves with to bring the league and the game to the next level."

The Beauts' new ownership, spearheaded by Kim Pegula, is more than just a victory for Buffalo and the NWHL. It's a victory for women's hockey and professional women's sports. The big question now is: What comes next?

Mike Murphy