DALLAS, Texas – A tweet from the top NFL spokesman about 2:37 p.m. eastern time Wednesday says that the league owners have approved Shahid Khan as the new owner of the Jaguars. A news conference is expected at about 4 p.m.
Khan's purchase of the Jacksonville franchise unanimously passed the NFL Finance Committee last Tuesday. All 32 owners were to vote on the deal at their scheduled meeting in Texas on Wednesday.
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Channel 4 sport director Sam Kouvaris said the NFL owners have never gone against the recommendation of the finance committee.
The owners walked into the meeting just before 2 p.m. The NFL initially said Khan would be introduced at a news conference between 2:30 and 3 p.m., but Kouvaris was told it will occur later in the afternoon. It will be carried live on News4Jax.com and Channel 4 when it happens.
Khan, an Illinois businessman, reached an agreement with Wayne Weaver last month to purchase the Jaguars for an estimated $760 million.
"He's a great American story. He's going to be great for our Jacksonville market," Weaver said. "We're lucky to have him in Jacksonville. I'm going to be his greatest cheerleader."
For several years, Weaver had been seeking a buyer who would keep the team in Jacksonville.
"I like Jacksonville a lot," Khan told Channel in New York last week. "I spend a lot of time on Blount Island installing bumpers."
Born in Pakistan, Khan came to the U.S. as a teenager to attend the University of Illinois. In 1980, he purchased Flex-N-Gate Corp., a major manufacturer of bumper systems for pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles built in North America.
The company employs more than 9,500 people and last year had revenues of $2.57 billion.
"It's unbelievable," Khan said last week about being so close to becoming an NFL owner. "It's the American dream."
Going into the meeting Wednesday, Weaver called this "a bittersweet time, but it's the right time."