Who are the current NFL team owners?
Arizona Cardinals: Michael Bidwill
Bidwill served as the Cardinals’ president for 13 seasons before inheriting the team from his father, Bill Bidwill, who owned the team from 1962 until his death in 2019. Originally, Charles Bidwill — Michael’s grandfather — bought the Chicago Cardinals in 1933 and owned the team until his death in 1947, months before they won their second and most recent championship.
Atlanta Falcons: Arthur Blank
Blank has become among the NFL’s most recognizable owners since purchasing the Falcons for $545 million in 2002. The sale came a year after Blank retired as co-chairman of Home Depot, which he helped co-found in 1978. Blank also owns Atlanta United (MLS) and sold a 10% stake in the Falcons for an estimated $300 million in 2019.
Baltimore Ravens: Steve Bisciotti
Bisciotti earned his fortune as the founder of Aerotek, a staffing and recruiting firm for engineering and technology companies. He purchased 49% of the Ravens for $275 million in 2000 — 10 months before the team won its first Super Bowl — and secured full ownership for an additional $325 million in 2004.
Buffalo Bills: Kim and Terry Pegula
The Pegulas, who have co-owned the Bills since 2014, originally purchased the Buffalo Sabres (NHL) in 2011 for a reported $189 million with the promise to never move the team. Three years later, after the death of Bills founder and longtime owner Ralph Wilson, the Pegulas paid a then-record $1.4 billion to keep the franchise in Buffalo.
Carolina Panthers: David Tepper
When Tepper bought the Panthers for $2.3 billion in 2018, it wasn’t just the most anyone had ever paid for an NFL team — it was among the highest price tags in the history of North American sports. It was still a drop in the bucket for the renowned hedge fund manager, who was previously a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Chicago Bears: Virginia Halas McCaskey
Halas McCaskey, 101, is the longest-tenured owner in the NFL and the oldest owner in major U.S. professional sports. One of 10 current female owners in the league, she inherited the team from her father, George Halas — the legendary Bears founder who won 324 games and six NFL titles as a coach and owned the team from 1921 until his death in 1983.
Cincinnati Bengals: Mike Brown
Brown has owned and operated the Bengals since the 1991 death of his father, Paul Brown, who co-founded and coached both the Bengals and the rival Cleveland Browns — a franchise named after him.
Cleveland Browns: Dee and Jimmy Haslam
Jimmy Haslam, whose father founded the nation’s largest truck stop chain (Pilot Flying J), became CEO of the company in 1996 and bought a minority stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008. He sold it four years later to buy the Cleveland Browns for a reported $1.1 billion in 2012. He and his wife, Dee, also own the Columbus Crew (MLS) and a stake in the Milwaukee Bucks (NBA).
Dallas Cowboys: Jerry Jones
Since purchasing the Cowboys for $140 million in 1989, Jones has arguably become the face of the NFL ownership group. The longtime oil baron and real estate magnate has turned the Cowboys into the most valuable franchise in all of professional sports, estimated to be worth roughly $9 billion as of 2023 — $1.5 billion more than any other team.
Denver Broncos: Rob Walton
The oldest heir to the Walmart fortune, Walton is the head of the Walton-Penner ownership group — a collective that includes Starbucks CEO Mellody Hobson, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, among others. Led by Walton, the group purchased the Broncos in 2022 for $4.65 billion, more than $2 billion above the previous record for an NFL team.
Detroit Lions: Sheila Ford Hamp
Sheila Ford Hamp is one of just 10 current female owners in the NFL — joining a group that previously included her mother, Martha Firestone Ford, before she passed down ownership of the Lions to her daughter in 2020. Hamp’s father, William Clay Ford, was the last surviving grandchild of Henry Ford and secured full ownership of the franchise for $6 million in 1963.
Green Bay Packers: Green Bay Packers, Inc.
The Packers are the only franchise in the NFL not owned by an individual owner or private ownership group. Instead, the team has operated as a publicly owned, non-profit corporation since 1923, with more than a half-million stakeholders “owning” a part of the franchise. The team’s ownership duties are fulfilled by president and CEO Mark Murphy, who is set to retire in July 2025.
Houston Texans: Janice McNair
McNair took control of the Texans in 2018 after the death of her husband, Bob McNair, who paid $700 million for the expansion franchise in 1999. Their son, Cal McNair, is the current CEO. The team ranks 12th among NFL franchises in estimated valuation ($5.5 billion) as of 2023.
Indianapolis Colts: Jim Irsay
Irsay inherited the Colts in 1997 after the death of his father, Robert Irsay, who bought the Los Angeles Rams for $19 million in 1972 before trading the franchise in exchange for the Baltimore Colts and cash. Twelve years later, the elder Irsay secretly moved the franchise overnight to Indianapolis, where the team won its second Super Bowl (2006) under the younger Irsay’s watch.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Shahid Khan
One of just three principal owners born outside the United States, Khan emigrated from Pakistan at 16 with $500 and a future career in auto parts design. Forty-four years later, he purchased the Jaguars for $760 million in 2011. He is currently the wealthiest Pakistani person in the world.
Kansas City Chiefs: Clark Hunt
The Hunt family owes its fortune to H.L. Hunt, whose investments in oil in the 1930s laid the foundation for one of the richest families in America. His son, Lamar Hunt, founded the Dallas Texans in 1960 but moved them three years later to Kansas City and re-named his team the Chiefs. He also founded multiple leagues, including the original AFL and MLS — and owned the Chiefs until his death in 2006, when his eldest son, Clark, took over as CEO.
Las Vegas Raiders: Carol and Mark Davis
For years, Al Davis was the face of the Oakland Raiders, serving as the team’s coach from 1963-65 before securing a 10 percent ownership stake for $18,500 in 1966. He continued to buy up shares of the team and remained owner until his death in 2011 — when the team was split between his wife, Carol, and his son, Mark, who moved the franchise to Las Vegas in 2020.
Los Angeles Chargers: Dean Spanos
While Spanos is the controlling owner of the Chargers, the franchise is divided among the four children of longtime owner Alex Spanos, who bought the team originally located in San Diego in 1984 and owned it until his death in 2018. All four children own 15 percent of the team, while Dean Spanos and sister Dea Spanos Berberian share control of a trust that holds a 36 percent ownership stake in the franchise.
Los Angeles Rams: Stan Kroenke
While Kroenke is perhaps best known for moving the Los Angeles Rams from St. Louis in 2016, he also owns the Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL) and Colorado Rapids (MLS), and he is the owner and chairman of Arsenal FC (Premier League) and owner of Arsenal W.F.C. (Women’s Super League). Kroenke is married to Ann Walton, a cousin of Denver Broncos owner Rob Walton, and is the fifth-largest landowner in the United States with 1.6 million acres as of 2023.
Miami Dolphins: Stephen Ross
Ross rose to prominence as a real estate developer, responsible for massive projects such as the Time Warner Center and Hudson Yards in New York City. In 2008, he purchased the Dolphins and surrounding real estate for a collective $1.1 billion. He has also donated nearly $500 million to his alma mater Michigan, making him the single-largest donor in the university’s history.
Minnesota Vikings: Zygi Wilf
The son of Holocaust survivors, Wilf was born in Germany and immigrated with his family to New Jersey in the early 1950s, where they made their fortune in commercial and residential real estate development. Wilf and his partners — brother Mark Wilf and cousin Leonard Wilf — bought the Vikings for $600 million in 2005.
New England Patriots: Robert Kraft
One of the most prominent owners in the NFL, Kraft worked for his father-in-law’s paper and packaging material company before expanding it into a shipping and real estate conglomerate. In 1994, he bought the Patriots for $172 million — a fraction of the team’s estimated $7 billion current valuation, the second highest in the NFL. He also founded the New England Revolution, one of 10 charter clubs for MLS in 1996.
New Orleans Saints: Gayle Benson
When business tycoon Tom Benson died in 2018, Gayle Benson became the first woman to own both an NFL and NBA team. Her husband originally purchased the Saints for more than $70 million in 1985 to keep the team from moving to Jacksonville. In 2012, when the New Orleans Hornets (NBA) were on the verge of a potential move, he bought the team for $338 million and rebranded it to the Pelicans — named after the Louisiana state bird — a year later.
New York Giants: John Mara and Steve Tisch
While Mara is the CEO and primary owner of the Giants, he technically shares ownership with Steve Tisch, whose family purchased 50% of the franchise in 1991. Mara is also the uncle to actors Kate and Rooney Mara — who are great-granddaughters of both Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney and Giants founder Tim Mara, who bought the team for $500 in 1925 before passing it down to his family.
New York Jets: Christopher and Woody Johnson
The Johnson brothers are heirs to Johnson & Johnson, a pharmaceutical corporation that ranks among the most valuable companies in the world. Woody Johnson purchased the Jets for $635 million in 2000 and handed co-ownership duties to his brother, Christopher, after being appointed U.S. ambassador to the UK in 2017.
Philadelphia Eagles: Jeffrey Lurie
An heir to one of the largest movie theater chains in the country, Lurie started his career as a professor and eventually founded his own film production company in 1985. Eight years later, in 1993, Lurie tried to buy the Patriots and Rams and was a potential investor in the Ravens, but he eventually purchased the Eagles for an estimated $195 million in 1994.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Art Rooney II
The Steelers have been in the Rooney family for generations. In 1933, Art Rooney founded the team with $2,500 he reportedly won at the racetrack. He owned the team until his death in 1988, when it was split among his five sons. The oldest, Dan, owned the team until passing it down to his son and current team president, Art Rooney II, in 2017.
San Francisco 49ers: Denise DeBartolo York and John York
In 1977, real estate mogul Edward DeBartolo, whose company dominated the shopping mall industry for decades, purchased the 49ers for roughly $15 million. When he died, Denise DeBartolo York took over her father’s company and ownership of the Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL), which she later sold. She and husband John York took control of the 49ers in 2000, and their son, Jed York, has served as the team’s CEO since 2008.
Seattle Seahawks: Jody Allen
While Allen is effectively the owner of the Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers (NBA), both teams are technically part of the trust of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who bought the Seahawks for $200 million in 1997 and remained owner until his death in 2018. Jody Allen is the trustee and executor of her brother’s estate and, as of 2022, has made clear that neither team is for sale in the foreseeable future.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Glazer Family
When wealthy businessman Malcolm Glazer purchased the Buccaneers for a then-record $192 million in 1995, it took him less than a decade to lead the team to its first championship and a top-three valuation in the NFL. After his death in 2014, his six children split majority ownership of the Buccaneers ($4.2 billion) and Manchester United ($6 billion), which is currently the second-most valuable soccer team in the world.
Tennessee Titans: Amy Adams Strunk
The Titans franchise has been in the Adams family since 1960, when Bud Adams founded the Houston Oilers with his fortunes from the petroleum industry. When he died in 2013, Adams Strunk inherited a third of the franchise from her father and assumed controlling ownership from her sister in 2015. She remains one of the only female primary owners in the NFL.
Washington Commanders: Josh Harris
The newest owner in the NFL, Harris led the group that purchased the Commanders from embattled owner Dan Snyder for a record-setting $6.1 billion earlier this year — by far the highest sales price ever reported for a sports team. It’s the fourth ownership foray for the private equity billionaire, who owns the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) and New Jersey Devils (NHL) and is a part-owner of Crystal Palace FC (Premier League).
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