CHICAGO — The sale of the Cleveland Browns to Jimmy Haslam III has been unanimously approved by NFL owners.

Haslam bought the team from Randy Lerner for $1 billion, and the owners voted 32-0 Tuesday to approve the deal. Haslam, who built his fortune with Pilot Flying J truck stops, has been a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but divested that stock to buy the Browns.

Haslam and Lerner agreed to the sale in August just as training camp was opening. Haslam has said his mission is to bring winning football back to Cleveland; the Browns have made the playoffs once since returning to the NFL in 1999.

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Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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