Buffalo Bills set to be sold to Sabres owners for NFL-record price

The Buffalo Bills announced Tuesday that the estate of late owner Ralph Wilson had reached “a definitive agreement” to sell the team to Terry and Kim Pegula, the husband and wife who own the city’s NHL team, the Sabres.

According to the Associated Press, the Pegulas will pay $1.4 billion for the Bills, a record for a professional football team. The previous high of $1.1 billion was paid for the Miami Dolphins in 2009.

The definitive agreement comes as close to a definitive statement as there can be that the team will remain in Buffalo, the Bills’ only home since their inception in 1960.

“Our interest in owning the Bills has everything to do with the people of western New York and our passion for football,” Terry Pegula said in a statement released Tuesday by the team.

“We have knowledgeable, dedicated fans here and along with our ownership of the Buffalo Sabres, it is gratifying to reassure these great fans that two franchises so important to our region are both here to stay.”

Ever since the team went up for sale following the death of former owner Wilson in March, fans had been worried that a new owner would relocate the franchise. Of particular concern was a prospective ownership group led by rocker Jon Bon Jovi, who had a pair of partners rooted in Toronto.

The sale needs to be approved by a three-quarters majority of the NFL’s owners, who are scheduled to meet on Oct. 8, and is also subject to “the satisfaction of customary closing conditions,” according to the team’s statement.

Twitter: @chewkiii