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Pegulas unanimously approved as new Bills owners

Terry Pegula, Kim Pegula

FILE - In this April 13, 2013, file photo, Buffalo Sabres’ owner Terry Pegula and his wife, Kim Pegula, pose for cameras during groundbreaking ceremonies at First Niagara Center before an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers in Buffalo, N.Y. The Sabres owners said in a statement on Friday, June 20, 2014, that they have a strong desire to see the Bills stay in Buffalo, and aren’t ruling out making a bid to buy the franchise. The statement was released a day after a person familiar with the sale process told The Associated Press the Pegulas were among prospective buyers who received a non-disclosure agreement and background on the Bills from a law firm representing late owner Ralph Wilson’s estate. (AP Photo/Gary Wiepert, File)

AP

The NFL owners gathered in New York on Wednesday morning for a set of meetings and they didn’t waste much time welcoming the newest additions to their club.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello announced on Twitter that Terry and Kim Pegula were unanimously approved as the new owners of the Buffalo Bills shortly after the meetings got underway.

The vote is the final step in the process of transferring ownership from the family of the late Ralph Wilson to the Pegulas, a transaction that cost the new owners $1.4 billion while winning them huge support in the Buffalo community because of their commitment to keeping the team in town while bidding against others with less clear plans about the location of the franchise in the future.

Keeping the franchise in place will likely mean the construction of a new stadium at some point in the not too distant future, with the Pegulas reportedly looking for a downtown site that’s close to the arena used by the Buffalo Sabres, the NHL franchise that they also own. With the lease at Ralph Wilson Stadium running through 2022, there’s time for that to work itself out while the Pegulas get settled as the new stewards of the organization.