Report: Cleveland Browns officially sold to Jimmy Haslam for $1 billion

Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner reportedly sold the franchise for more than $1 billion. (Ian Walton/Getty Images)

The Cleveland Browns were officially sold by owner Randy Lerner to Jimmy Haslam for more than $1 billion, reports ESPN.com.

Haslam will pay approximately $700 million in the first part of his purchase from Lerner, then more than $300 million in second part.

Haslam is president and CEO of Knoxville, Tenn.-based Pilot Flying J, the largest operator of travel centers and travel plazas in North America with more than 550 retail locations. He is the older brother of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, who also worked for the family business before he was elected mayor of Knoxville in 2003 and again in 2007, then governor in 2010.

The Lerner family has owned the Browns since 1999 after the original franchise moved from Baltimore.

Randy Lerner also owns the Aston Villa soccer club in England and inherited the Browns in 2002 following his father's death.