Buffalo Bills owner Kim Pegula is among the people New York State governor Andrew Cuomo appointed to his re-opening advisory board on Tuesday. Cuomo is seeking people of influence to help guide him as the state looks to open up following the coronavirus pandemic.
Within the group of 100 advisors are sports leaders. New York Knicks and Rangers CEO James Dolan, New York Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, New York Islanders owner Jon Ledecky, and Yankee president Randy Levine are all also members of the group.
“If players could get paid more than staying home, and owners could get some revenue versus total shutdown… why not?” Cuomo asked himself during a press conference this week. “I’d love to watch… I don’t know. If you can make the economics work without ticket sales and have television revenue. We’re in a different place. Be creative figure it out.”
It’s worth noting the NFL could certainly make it work without tickets sales while the Buffalo Sabres, also owned by Pegula and her husband Terry, would have a much more difficult time re-opening without fans.
Labor leaders, hospital executives, college and educational sector representatives, as well as political appointees are also on the list.
The state is planning on slowly rolling out the openings in sectors of the state. Western New York, the Finger Lakes region, and the Southern Tier located in Western New York could are likely to open before harder hit areas like New York City and Long Island.