NEW YORK — NFL owners unanimously voted to add another member to their club, approving Terry Pegula as the new owner of the Buffalo Bills.

The vote took place early Wednesday at the Conrad Hotel, where owners are holding their fall meeting.

Pegula purchased the Bills from the estate of original owner Ralph Wilson for $1.4 billion and their bid was unanimously approved by the finance committee on Sept. 17. They need three-fourths of owners to vote in favor of their bid to become the league’s newest owners.

“We’re delighted to approve them and I think they’ll be great for Buffalo,” Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said Tuesday.

The vote consisted of a short financial presentation without Pegula and his wife, Kim, before they were invited into the room to make a presentation and answer questions.

Pegula did not have a vote, but the Wilson family estate held one of the 32 votes.

Pegula, 63, was a real estate and natural gas mogul and has owned the Buffalo Sabres since Feb. 2011. He won a bidding process that included Donald Trump, singer Jon Bon Jovi backed by Toronto’s Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment group, who also own the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs.

“In terms of Ralph, I think he was one of the best owners in the history of the league,” Green Bay Packers President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Murphy said. “You go back to what he did with the Bills and the AFL and just him throughout his whole tenure as owner, just was great for the organization and for the community. He leaves a great legacy but I think we’re excited about the Pegulas and excited to see how things unfold.”

The Bills were put up for sale after Wilson passed away in March. Russ Brandon has been serving as team president and the priority for a new owner is someone committed to keeping the team in Western New York.

“I think it’s very important for the league to have a variety of different ownership structures and teams and different markets and we’ve shown that we can be very successful in a small market,” Murphy said. The Bills have had success both on and off the field. Just having grown up in Buffalo, I know how much the Bills mean to the community and it would have been a big loss.”

The Bills have played in Ralph Wilson Stadium in suburban Orchard Park since 1973. Before that, they spent 13 years at downtown Buffalo’s War Memorial Park.

The team signed a 10-year lease to stay in Buffalo in 2012 and reports have stated that Pegula would like to build a stadium in downtown Buffalo near where the Sabres play.

“For me the most important thing is that they’re somewhere in Western New York,” Murphy said.