The Bills have announced that Terry Pegula and his family have agreed to buy the team from the estate of the late owner Ralph Wilson.
Both sides have agreed that the deal will be submitted to the other NFL owners to be put to a vote on October 8.
The deal, which is reportedly worth $1.2 billion, will keep the Bills in Buffalo. There had been concerns in Western New York about an investor from outside the area buying the Bills and moving them, but Pegula’s long ties to the area as the owner of the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo’s HarborCenter mean that this sale is intended to keep the team where it is.
“This is a very important day in the history of the Buffalo Bills franchise,” Ralph Wilson’s widow Mary Wilson said in a statement. “Ralph brought professional football to Buffalo in 1959 and it was his life’s passion. He loved his team and he cherished the fans and his legacy will remain for all-time. Ralph would have been pleased with the sale of the team to the Terry Pegula family, who has been so committed to Buffalo and the Western New York region.”
Pegula, who is in the natural gas and oil business, has an estimated net worth of $3.3 billion.