The Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres have fired the top two members of their front offices following allegations of an inappropriate personal relationship between the pair.
The Buffalo Bills during training came camp (2021) | SCREENSHOT: TheUrinatingTree/YouTube
John Roth – Chief Operating Officer of both franchises – and Kathryn D’Angelo – Bills’ General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Business Administration, were both dismissed by the respective franchises on Wednesday, according to Tim Graham of The Athletic. Roth was just hired in January of 2023. Meanwhile, D’Angelo was promoted to general counsel of the Bills in April. She originally joined the Bills’ legal team in 2016.
Josh Dziurlikowski, SVP of finance and business administration, will reportedly now take over as both teams’ interim COO. Jim Overdorf, senior advisor to the general manager and football operations, will take over as general counsel until the external search is finished.
Tim Graham was told by multiple sources that the firing stemmed from an “unethical” romantic relationship between Roth and D’Angelo, due to their respective positions within the two organizations.
SOURCE: ByTimGraham/Twitter
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Both teams are owned by Terry Pegula and his family. And for a while, they operated in a combined organization labeled as ‘ONE BUFFALO’, which looked to create synergy between the two teams and their front offices. It was designed to help focus on continuing the strong relationship the two longtime franchises have had in the city, including focusing on charity work and community outreach.
Apparently, there was a lot more of a connection at the very top than was expected, with two of the biggest names in the overall scheme of things taking things beyond the boardroom.
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It’s been a tumultuous year for the Bills, especially. Not only did they experience the scary cardiac arrest that occurred to Damar Hamlin last season during a Monday Night Football game against Cincinnati, but the owner’s wife – Kim Pegula – also suffered similar health issues as well. On top of all that? Terry Pegula himself has been forced to answer allegations that he made racist comments about his own players. The claims are made in a lawsuit filed by Jim Trotter, a journalist who formerly worked for NFL Media.
All of this all follows the dissolution of the ‘ONE BUFFALO’ (and with it, the Pegula Sports Entertainment umbrella both clubs fell under) concept a little over a month ago. Clearly, the NFL and NHL franchises need to restock their front office with fresh faces, lose the baggage, and maintain a little better order going forward – as this latest controversy is just one more bizarre occurrence that gets in the way of their main goal: Winning.
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