Owner Terry Pegula is taking on the role of president of the Buffalo Bills while top executive Ron Raccuia is leaving the team.
The Bills announced the front office restructuring on Wednesday afternoon, describing Raccuia's departure as "parting ways."
Raccuia served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Bills, essentially running the team's business side since co-owner Kim Pegula suffered cardiac arrest in June 2022.
"We would like to thank Ron for his many years hard work and dedication with the Bills and PSE," Terry Pegula said in a statement published on the team's website. "We wish he and his family the best of luck in his future endeavors."
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Raccuia did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The moves signal that Kim Pegula, who suffered significant brain damage, isn’t likely to return to the job for the foreseeable future. Beyond that it's unclear what Terry Pegula's new role means other than this: Pegula is the boss, and he can be as hands on – or not – as he pleases, and that has been the case since he bought the team.
The team also said Pegula will work with a management committee that includes John Roth as executive vice president/chief operating officer, Kathryn D'Angelo as general counsel and senior vice president of business administration and Josh Dziurlikowski as senior vice president of finance and business administration. D'Angelo and Dziurlikowski were already members of the Bills' executive team.
Roth, who joined the Buffalo Sabres in January after 24 years at Fidelity Investments, will continue his role as chief operating officer of the hockey team and Pegula Sports and Entertainment.
Pegula said the business side of the organization has been undergoing an evaluation for the past several months.
“After taking time over the past several months to evaluate the business side of our operation, we wanted to revamp and improve our structure,” Pegula said in the story published on the team website. “We have a tremendous amount of confidence in this management committee we have constructed. I have had a high level of trust and strong working relationships with John, Kathryn and Josh over the years and expect them each to successfully continue to lead our business operations in the years to come.”
Also, the Bills announced the hiring of Penny Semaia as vice president of stadium relations. He joins the Bills after working as senior associate athletic director/student life at the University of Pittsburgh.
Semaia, according to the team, will work with vice president of stadium development John Polka and vice president of creative/stadium design Frank Cravotta during construction of the new stadium.
