SEPT 21 CHRISTIAN KIRKSEY RETIRES, BILLS SIGN LINEBACKER TO PRACTICE SQUAD Buffalo Bills linebacker Christian Kirksey told the team that he plans to retire according to NFL insider Mike Garafolo. Kirksey had been on Buffalo’s practice squad after he was cut by the Houston Texans during the preseason.
The Buffalo Bills have announced the following changes on the business side of the organization.
The Bills and Ron Raccuia, who worked as the team’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, have parted ways.
“We would like to thank Ron for his many years hard work and dedication with the Bills and PSE,” Terry Pegula said. “We wish he and his family the best of luck in his future endeavors.”
Moving forward, Bills owner/CEO Terry Pegula will now take over the role as president of the Bills and will work closely with a new management committee consisting of John Roth, executive vice president/chief operating officer, Kathryn D’Angelo, general counsel and senior vice president of business administration, and Josh Dziurlikowski, senior vice president of finance and business administration.
In addition, Penny Semaia was hired as the vice president of stadium relations.
Roth was recently named the chief operating officer of the Buffalo Sabres and PSE and will continue to work in all three roles. With the Bills, he will oversee the team’s ticketing, business development, and the media and content departments.
Prior to joining the Sabres and PSE, Roth worked the previous 24 years at Fidelity Investments as an investor and served as portfolio manager. He earned an MBA at Sloan School of Management at MIT and BA in economics from Colby College.
D’Angelo, who was recently named general counsel of the Bills prior to this latest promotion, will oversee the Bills security, human resources, and marketing departments in her new role. She joined the Bills legal team in 2016 and was elevated to interim general counsel in 2022 before being named general counsel earlier in 2023. A Western New York native, she earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Northeastern University and earned her law degree at the University at Buffalo Law School.
Dziurlikowski, who most recently worked as the Bills vice president of finance, will now oversee the team’s community relations, operations and guest experience, and information technology departments. He was hired by the Bills in 2007 as assistant controller and was promoted to controller in 2013 before being named vice president of finance in 2021. He is a native of Southeastern Michigan and earned a BBA and master of accounting from the University of Michigan.
Semaia was hired after working as the Senior Associate Athletic Director, Student Life at the University of Pittsburgh. He will work closely with Bills vice president of stadium development John Polka and vice president of creative/stadium design Frank Cravotta during the construction phase of the Bills new stadium.
“After taking time over the past several months to evaluate the business side of our operation, we wanted to revamp and improve our structure,” said Terry Pegula. “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. Penny’s wealth of experience at the collegiate level and personality will add to our team as he transitions into his new role with the Bills and our new stadium.”
