EMILY SMITH
Special to The Leader
The sports industry used to be made up of predominantly males and very few females. Over the past 20, women have been making their mark on the industry, paving a path for future generations.
In the city of Buffalo, we are grateful enough to have three professional sports teams owned by a woman. The Buffalo Bills, Sabres and Bandits are three very diverse sports that are owned and operated by Terry and Kim Pegula, along with providing a lot of other incredible investments into the community.
The culture being built in Buffalo is very unique. A lot of coaches and players have daughters and are breaking barriers for them by hiring women coaches, trainers and player personnel that they can look up to. Even though such actions seem like small steps, these are huge strides for women and Kim Pegula is the major force for these barriers being broken.
Kim was adopted from South Korea in 1974. She grew up in Rochester, N.Y. She graduated from Houghton College, then got married to Terry in 1993. Together they have three children: Jessica, Kelly and Matthew. Kim also has two step-children: Laura and Michael. Kim has taken on the role of president and CEO of Pegula Sports and Entertainment. She now gets to see her vision from a different perspective and can be more hands-on. Kim wears many different hats and has a lot of different responsibilities depending on the day.
Buffalo Bills game days in the Pegula household are fun, but also nerve-wracking. In order to take the game-day nerves away, you can usually find Kim in the kitchen baking for coaches and staff. By 10:45 a.m., everyone is in Orchard Park, ready to get the day started. During the time before the game, Kim is either in her office working or being followed by some type of production team and mic’d up. She meets with friends and fans pre-game and then enjoys the game from her suite.
Her work ethic is inspirational, and she is always working hard to grow her teams and her company to be more successful.
Along with Kim, there are some other NFL owners that have helped pave the way for women in sports. Virginia Halas McCaskey is the owner of the Chicago Bears, Martha Firestone Ford is the owner of the Detroit Lions, Gayle Benson is the owner of the New Orleans Saints and Amy Adams Strunk is the owner of the Tennessee Titans. These women are inspirational; they have all contributed to breaking down stereotypes of women in sports and have assumed leadership roles. They have created a path for women to be successful in the industry and also be respected by their male colleagues.