Sabres owner hopes to cut deal for Bills

Terry Pegula's bottom line has received a big bump in his bid to purchase the Buffalo Bills.

The owner of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres closed a $1.75 billion deal to sell the oil rights on about 34,400 hectares of land in Ohio and West Virginia to American Energy on Tuesday.

The sale comes at a time when Pegula and his wife, Kim, are considered the front-runners to buy the Bills, who are for sale after owner Ralph Wilson died in March.