Canadian firm True North Sports and Entertainment bought the club last month and announced they were planning to move the franchise to Winnipeg.
Winnipeg has been without an NHL team since 1996 when the Jets moved to Phoenix, Arizona.
The board of governors' vote makes the sale and move official and the new Winnipeg club plans to begin play in the 2011-12 regular season.
"Everybody is extremely excited about the opportunities in Winnipeg for our return," commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday.
This gives hockey-mad Canada seven teams as Winnipeg joins Edmonton, Ottawa, Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Stanley Cup runner-up Vancouver. Atlanta is the fifth club to move since Bettman became commissioner 18 years ago.
The sale is reportedly worth $170 million, including a $60 million relocation fee that will be split among the owners.
"It's a sad day for hockey fans in Atlanta," Thrashers president Don Waddell said.
Waddell has decided not to take general manager Rick Dudley with him to Winnipeg.
Dudley, who had completed just one year of a four-year contract, has been general manager and coach of several NHL teams.
The Canadian played 10 years in the NHL, including the 1980-81 season with the Winnipeg Jets.
The Thrashers move to Winnipeg marks the first time an NHL has relocated a team in 14 years when the Hartford Whalers moved to Carolina.
There was no word on a name for the new Winnipeg team but it will likely inherit the rostered players, protected lists and draft spots from Atlanta.
Atlanta has suffered from poor attendance, ownership difficulties and a string of losing seasons since joining the NHL in 1999 as an expansion franchise. The Thrashers averaged less than 14,000 fans per game last season.
This is the second time Atlanta has lost an NHL team. The Atlanta Flames spent eight seasons in the city before relocating to Calgary, Canada in 1980.
Winnipeg's huge fan base and the strength of the Canadian dollar compared to the US greenback has made it more economical for the NHL to increase the number of teams in Canada.
The Winnipeg announcement will no doubt raise the spirits of a group trying to bring Quebec City back into the NHL fold. The Nordiques spent 16 years in Quebec before moving to Colorado to become the Avalanche.
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