The Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres have jointly announced they have hired Pete Guelli as Chief Operating Officer of both organizations. In his role as COO, Guelli will oversee the business operations of both the Bills and the Sabres.
Josh Dziurlikowski, who was serving as the interim COO of the Bills, was named senior vice president of finance and business operations of the Bills, and Rob Minter, the interim COO of the Sabres, was named senior vice president of business operations of the Sabres.
“I’d first like to thank Josh and Rob for their outstanding work and leadership as interim COO’s,” said Terry Pegula. “It was a challenging transition and period for each of them and we are fortunate to be able to retain them in other leadership roles within each organization.”
“It was hard not to be impressed with the experience and overall business acumen of Pete Guelli. The New York market is the largest in our country and highly competitive and he did an outstanding job on all levels of their business operation.
“His work in helping turn around the Charlotte Hornets franchise in the NBA was remarkable. He is a proven leader with tremendous skills and experience in the sports business landscape. With the upcoming changes on the way in both team’s venues, we are happy to have Pete to help lead our teams.”
Guelli, 59, returns to Buffalo after a five-year tenure as the Chief Business Officer of the New York Giants. He joined the Giants in 2019 and was recruited to modernize the team’s business model and operations. During his tenure with the Giants, he has restructured key business functions, established a business intelligence and analytics department, built out the team’s digital capabilities, launched team branding initiatives, implemented a new customer service function, and extended the teams partnership with Ticketmaster. Guelli also led efforts to sign Eli Manning to a comprehensive role within the organization. He is also currently serving on the NFL team presidents business optimization committee.
Prior to joining the Giants in 2019, Guelli served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Charlotte Hornets after originally joining the franchise as EVP, Chief Marketing and Sales officer in 2009. In Charlotte, he led the transition of team ownership to Michael Jordan when Jordan became the first former player to become majority owner of an NBA team. He spearheaded the organizations transition from the Bobcats back to the historic Hornets brand in 2014. He also led the efforts to secure a new television rights deal, oversaw the launch of the teams G League team, led the team’s participation in the NBA Global Games in China, expanded the team’s relationship with Live Nation, and managed the renovation of the Spectrum Center and directed a successful bid to host the NBA All-Star game in 2019. Guelli also served as the President of the Hornets Foundation focused on community investment in Charlotte.
“I just want to thank Terry and the Pegula family for this incredible opportunity,” Guelli said. “I know the importance of these franchises to the market and understand the responsibility that comes with this role. I am looking forward to getting to work and becoming part of the community again.”
A native of Rochester, NY, and a graduate of Aquinas High School and SUNY Brockport, Guelli will be embarking on his second tenure with the Bills as he served as the team’s Senior Vice President of Business Ventures from 1998-2009. He was initially hired to oversee the team’s expansion into the Rochester market including the movement of training camp from Fredonia College to St. John Fisher. Guelli will be relocating to Buffalo and is scheduled to begin with the team in mid-April. He and wife, Patty, have two sons, Gunner and Grayson.
