Who's who on the Bills' lease negotiation team

The Pegulas have formed a tight group that is privy to the lease negotiations, opting to leave most of their executives free to focus on running the day-to-day operations of their football team and other entities. That includes hockey's Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans, lacrosse's Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Knighthawks, Lecom Harborcenter and a music label and studio in Nashville.

So while Bills General Manager Brandon Beane, for example, may not be in the room for lease talks, a communications executive from Texas named Jim Wilkinson – who was a staffer in President George W. Bush's administration – is briefed and crafting strategy.

The negotiations, which the Pegulas want to end with a commitment for a new stadium in Orchard Park, involve Erie County and New York State. The latter had a much-publicized change at the top last month when Andrew Cuomo resigned and Kathy Hochul became governor of New York.

The top of the PSE team starts with the Pegulas. Here is a look at its key members:

Terry Pegula

Pegula Sports and Entertainment, Buffalo Bills and Sabres owner

The billionaire owner of Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres.

Pegula, 70, is worth $5.4 billion, Forbes magazine estimates. He made his fortune in the natural gas and fracking industry, selling pieces of the company he founded, East Resources, to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion and American Energy Partners for $1.75 billion. He maintains oil and gas holdings in Colorado, Wyoming and Pennsylvania.

In 2011, Pegula purchased the Sabres for $189 million and subsequently built Harborcenter, adjacent to the team’s arena in downtown Buffalo.

In 2014, he bought the Bills for $1.4 billion after the death of original owner and team founder Ralph Wilson.

Pegula graduated from Penn State University with a degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering. He donated $102 million to build the on-campus Pegula Ice Arena in 2010.

Pegula is a member of the NFL’s health and safety committee.

Kim Pegula

Pegula Sports and Entertainment co-owner, president and CEO; Buffalo Bills and Sabres co-owner and president

Pegula, 52, oversees day-to-day business operations of the Bills and Sabres and is the first female president of both an NFL and NHL team. She is credited with coining the term, “One Buffalo.”

Pegula was born in Seoul, South Korea, abandoned at 5 years old and adopted by a New York couple in 1974. She was raised in Fairport, a suburb of Rochester, and attended Houghton College.

Pegula serves on the NFL’s Super Bowl and major events advisory committee, business ventures committee and NFL Foundation committee. She is also a member of the NFL’s workplace diversity committee, the NHL’s executive inclusion council and serves on the board of directors of the Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum.

Ron Raccuia

PSE executive vice president; ADPRO Sports president

Raccuia graduated from Canisius College in 1990 with a degree in political science and over the last two decades helped turn ADPRO Sports into one of the nation’s largest providers of branded athletic equipment and merchandise, according to the company.

It represents brands including Nike, Under Armour, Adidas and New Era.

The Pegulas bought a majority interest in the company in 2017. It is managed by PSE and maintains an 88,000-square-foot facility in Cheektowaga.

Until 2017, Raccuia also served as an NFL player agent whose clients included former Buffalo Bills Fred Jackson, Brian Moorman and Terrence McGee.

He is a board member at the nonprofit Buffalo Niagara Partnership Inc., which provides growth strategies and services to area businesses.

Raccuia played quarterback and wide receiver at Canisius High School. He was also a first-team All-Catholic and All-Western New York second baseman for the Canisius baseball team, serving as captain his senior season.

Jim Wilkinson

PSE spokesman; TrailRunner International CEO and chairman

Wilkinson founded TrailRunner International, global strategy and communications advisory firm, in 2016 after serving in high-profile leadership and advisory roles for major international corporations and the U.S. government.

He was senior vice president and head of international corporate affairs for Alibaba Group, executive vice president of communications for PepsiCo and managing partner for international business and financial strategy for Brunswick Group.

Before entering the private workforce, Wilkinson worked in the White House during the George W. Bush administration. He was chief of staff for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry M. Paulson, a senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the director of strategic communications for General Tommy R. Franks at U.S. Central Command and deputy assistant and deputy director of communications for President Bush.

Wilkinson previously worked in the U.S. Congress for House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) and the National Republican Congressional Committee. He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves.

Wilkinson earned a bachelor’s degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, where he taught international communications. He is also a graduate of the Yale University School of Management Global Executive Leadership Program.

He serves as a national board member for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and on the board of trustees for the Women’s Sports Foundation.

In 2011, Wilkinson was portrayed in the HBO film “Too Big to Fail” by actor Topher Grace. He is based in the Dallas area.

Kelly Wallace

TrailRunner International managing director

Wallace is a former print and television journalist who works with clients on matters of corporate reputation, media affairs, crisis management and influencer engagement. She is based in New York City.

Wallace was a network television news correspondent covering the White House, the Middle East and political campaigns for CNN, national news for CBS and the State Department for Fox News. She was part of CNN’s team coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the South Asian tsunami disaster, which won the network Peabody and DuPont awards.

In 2008, she became executive director of digital video and chief correspondent for iVillage, a content and community platform for women, and in 2012 she received a Gracie Award as outstanding digital correspondent. Before joining TrailRunner in 2019, she was a digital correspondent and editor-at-large for CNN, her third stint with the network.

Wallace earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Scott Zolke

Partner, Loeb & Loeb, LLP

Zolke assists clients in media, entertainment, sports and intellectual property law and has negotiated complex media rights and corporate agreements for professional and college sports teams. He is based in Los Angeles.

Zolke has negotiated venue, sponsorship and naming rights agreements for NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball franchises. He has represented buyers and sellers of pro sports teams. And he has served as a partner in the development, financing and construction of stadiums and arenas, working with owners, investors and local municipalities to achieve business objectives.

Zolke played college football at Georgia Tech and later became the school’s associate director of athletics and counsel.

He is a graduate of Georgia Tech and the University of Miami School of Law.

News reporter Tim O'Shei contributed to this report.