The Raiders on Monday received an overwhelming vote of approval by NFL owners to move to Las Vegas.

The margin was 31-to-1, and the only vote against the move came from Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.

Although his vote may come as a surprise, it really shouldn’t considering Ross has generally been against relocation since taking over as majority owner of the team in 2009. That was the case two years ago when Ross had his own stadium issues in South Florida. He ended up paying all $500 million in renovations out of pocket. In return, the Dolphins will get "stadium credits" for bringing big events to Hard Rock Stadium.

Ross ensured fans that the team wasn’t leaving South Florida and never used the threat of relocation as leverage against local and state government. That is rare in the NFL these days and probably hurt Ross in the end with public funding. But it also set the table for Monday's vote.

The Dolphins’ owner stood firm against the Raiders’ relocation despite unanimous support in the opposite direction. That certainly will open Miami’s owner to criticism when, in reality, he deserves credit for sticking to his principles.

Ross’ vote was about fans over money. That is not the NFL way, which was further emphasized by the 31-to-1 vote.

“My position today was that we as owners and as a league owe it to the fans to do everything we can to stay in the communities that have supported us until all options have been exhausted,” Ross said in a statement Monday at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix. “I want to wish Mark Davis and the Raiders organization the best in Las Vegas.”

The Raiders and other NFL owners will benefit greatly with this relocation. There will be millions of dollars in additional revenue to share as the league enters an exciting, new market that happens to be one of the biggest entertainment capitals in the world.

Ross stands to financially benefit from this as well. But on Monday he cared more about the dedicated fans of Oakland than further lining his already wide pockets.

Ross also is showing gumption among his billionaire peers. Ross certainly knew his vote wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme. The expectation for a while was that the NFL would have enough votes -- a minimum of 24 -- to secure the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas.

But this is actually a growth moment for Miami’s owner. Ross has been a majority owner for eight years and is starting to find his voice among a very strong, very rich and very powerful group.