The Buffalo Bills’ trip to London ended in an upset and a front office shakeup.
John Roth, who was recently named chief operating officer of both the Bills and Buffalo Sabres — which are owned by Terry Pegula — was fired, along with Kathryn D’Angelo, the Bill’s general counsel and senior vice president of business administration, due to their involvement in a romantic relationship in the workplace, according to The Athletic.
Things between Roth and D’Angelo “got too brazen” in London, where the Bills suffered a 25-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, and it “became an issue that had to be addressed.”
D’Angelo reported to Roth, which created “an unethical circumstance” within the front office, Graham reported.
Roth and D’Angelo confirmed they were fired in a joint phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, but did not elaborate further.
The pair went on to praise the teams’ owners, Terry and Kim Pegula, as well as Terry’s daughter, Laura.
“Both Kathryn and I wish the Pegulas the best of luck and we think the world of Terry, Kim and Laura, and the rest of the team,” Roth said, referring to his staff. “And we will be cheering the Bills and Sabres on from afar.”
The Bills announced a new management committee — consisting of Roth, D’Angelo and Josh Dziurlikowski — in July, following the departure of Ron Raccuia, the team’s former executive vice president and COO.
Roth, who had recently been named COO of the Buffalo Sabres and Pegula Sports and Entertainment, took on Raccuia’s roles in addition to his own, which included overseeing the team’s ticketing, business development and the media and content departments.
D’Angelo, who joined the Bills organization in April 2016, oversaw the team’s security, human resources, and marketing departments, in addition to her role as the general council.
Dziurlikowski’s role shifted from the Bills vice president of finance to him overseeing the team’s community relations, operations and guest experience and information technology departments.
Dziurlikowski will be interim COO and Jim Overdorf, a longtime football operations advisor, will serve as general counsel while an external search is conducted to fill the roles.
Roth worked at Fidelity Investments as an investor and served as portfolio manager for 24 years before joining the Sabres and PSE in January.
Roth reportedly got to know Pegula during his time at Fidelity, and had no prior sports experience before joining the Sabres and PSE.
This isn’t the first staff shakeup Pegula has overseen.
In May 2018, Russ Brandon resigned from his role as the Bills and Sabres president after an internal investigation concluded he had inappropriate relationships in the workplace.
Prior to that, PSE announced the departures of COO Bruce Popko, chief administrative officer Brent Rossi and executive vice president Erica Muhleman.