Dan Snyder and other billionaires who own the NFL’s teams; Packers only publicly owned pro sports team
Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder may not be on the formal agenda when his counterparts meet in New York on Tuesday. His name is sure to come up anyway.
Snyder is the subject of multiple ongoing investigations by Congress and the league, and his status got renewed scrutiny last week following an ESPN report detailing his efforts to influence other owners and the league office to maintain control of the team.
There is not expected to be any sort of vote regarding Snyder — it would take 24 owners to agree to remove him — but that doesn’t mean he won’t be talked about.
Here is an alphabetical, team-by-team look at Snyder and his peers who control the most popular and powerful sport’s clubs, with owner net worth and franchise value estimates according to Forbes:
ARIZONA CARDINALS
Owner: Michael Bidwill
Owned team since: 2019
Age: 58
Money made: Bidwill’s grandfather purchased the team in 1933; it was passed down to his son, Bill, Michael’s father. Bill handled the day-to-day operations of the franchise for decades before Michael became the team’s president in 2007 and owner after Bill died in 2019.
Net worth: $1.4 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.27 billion (30th)
Noteworthy: Bill moved the team from St. Louis to Arizona in 1988. … Michael was instrumental in helping open the Cardinals’ retractable dome stadium that’s been their home since 2006; it will host its third Super Bowl in February.
ATLANTA FALCONS
Owner: Arthur Blank
Owned team since: 2002
Age: 80
Money made: Co-founded Home Depot in 1978.
Net worth: $7.5 billion
Franchise value (rank): $4 billion (16th)
Noteworthy: Blank’s AMB Group operates Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which opened in 2017 at a cost of about $1.5 billion. … Falcons have missed the playoffs the last four seasons.
BALTIMORE RAVENS
Owner: Steve Bisciotti
Owned team since: 2004
Age: 62
Money made: At age 23, Bisciotti and his cousin started Aerotek, offering aerospace and technology companies access to temporary employees. … Bisciotti purchased a small portion of the Ravens shortly before they won their first Super Bowl in 2001. He gained full ownership in 2004.
Net worth: $6.4 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.9 billion (19th)
Noteworthy: Baltimore won a second championship in 2013. … Bisciotti generally keeps a low profile, but in 2014, after video surfaced of Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his fiancée in a casino elevator, he sent a letter to season-ticket holders explaining how the team fell short in its investigation.
BUFFALO BILLS
Owners: Terry and Kim Pegula
Owned team since: 2014
Ages: Terry, 71; Kim, 53
Money made: Terry Pegula made his fortune in the natural gas industry by selling his Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling rights for $4.7 billion to Royal Dutch Shell in 2010. Pegula maintains other drilling rights properties across the U.S. The Pegulas also own the NHL’s Sabres.
Net worth: $6.7 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.4 billion (29th)
Noteworthy: Out-bid Donald Trump and Jon Bon Jovi to purchase the Bills for a then NFL-record $1.4 billion from the estate of team founder and Pro Football Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson. … After a 17-year playoff drought, Bills reached postseason in four of past five seasons. … Reached tentative deal in March to build a $1.4 billion new stadium across the street from their current facility, with taxpayers on the hook for $850 million.
CAROLINA PANTHERS
Owner: David Tepper
Owned team since: 2018
Age: 65
Money made: Tepper earned his fortune as a hedge fund manager. His firm now manages nearly $13 billion, down from a peak of $20 billion, according to Forbes. Prior to purchasing the Panthers, Tepper owned a 5% share of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Net worth: $18.2 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.6 billion (25th)
Noteworthy: Tepper purchased the Panthers four years ago for a then-record $2.3 billion from founder Jerry Richardson, who sold the team amid a scandal for sexual and racial misconduct in the workplace. The NFL fined the outgoing Richardson $2.75 million in 2018. … Panthers are 23-47 without a playoff appearance since Tepper purchased the team. He fired two coaches in the last four years. … Tepper planned to build an $800 million practice facility/team headquarters just over the border in Rock Hill, South Carolina, but the project fell through. He’s now involved in a legal dispute with the City of Rock Hill and York County.
CHICAGO BEARS
Owner: McCaskey Family
Owned team since: 1921
Money made: The Bears have essentially been a family business since 1921, when A. E. Staley gave George Halas the club with $5,000 to keep the Staleys name for the year. The Decatur Staleys became the Chicago Staleys until they were renamed the Bears in 1922.
Net worth: Unknown
Franchise value (rank): $5.8 billion (5th)
Noteworthy: Virginia McCaskey assumed ownership upon her father George Halas’ death in 1983, and her late husband, Ed McCaskey, succeeded Halas as chairman. Not long after, she turned over operational control of the team and the title of president to the eldest of her 11 children, Michael McCaskey, who served as chairman until turning the job over to brother George McCaskey in 2011. Virginia McCaskey’s brother, George “Mugs” Halas, Jr., was being groomed to take over the team, but died suddenly of a heart attack in 1979. The McCaskey side of the family bought out the Halas side to resolve a 1987 lawsuit brought by “Mugs” Halas’ children. … “The Monsters of the Midway” have won nine championships, including the Super Bowl in the 1985 season. … Chicago has two playoff appearances since 2010. … The Bears are considering building an enclosed stadium in suburban Arlington Heights, Illinois, to anchor an entertainment and residential complex they say would cost nearly $5 billion.
CINCINNATI BENGALS
Owner: Mike Brown
Owned team since: 1991
Age: 87
Money made: The only living son of Bengals founder and NFL legend Paul Brown, Mike Brown has been involved with the Bengals since the team was founded in 1968, taking over as majority owner when his father died in 1991.
Net worth: About $2 billion.
Franchise value (rank): $3 billion (32nd)
Noteworthy: Brown has been criticized through the years for meager spending and lack of success. … In the 1990s, he threatened to move the team if Cincinnati or Hamilton County didn’t fund a new stadium. Local officials voted to do so with a controversial property tax increase. … Daughter Katie Blackburn is the Bengals’ executive vice president and first woman executive in the NFL to act as chief contract negotiator.
CLEVELAND BROWNS
Owners: Dee and Jimmy Haslam
Owned team since: 2012
Ages: Both 68
Money made: The Haslam family built its fortune with truck stops, beginning when Haslam’s father, Jim Sr., bought a gas station in Virginia for $6,000 in the 1970s. Jimmy Haslam joined the board of Pilot Corporation in 1976, when he was enrolled at Tennessee. Today, Pilot Flying J has more than 800 North American locations, generating roughly $26 billion in annual revenue.
Net worth: $4.8 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.85 billion (21st)
Noteworthy: In 2013, the FBI raided Pilot Flying J’s headquarters as part of an investigation into a rebate scheme run by employees. Jimmy Haslam claimed he was unaware that truckers were being defrauded of nearly $100 million. Four years later, more than a dozen former company executives pleaded guilty to a variety of charges. … The Haslams bought the team from Randy Lerner and their tenure has been marked by losing (54-122-1), instability and controversy. … The Browns went 0-16 in 2018; they ended a long postseason drought in 2020. … In March, the Browns traded three draft picks to Houston for quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women and is serving an 11-game NFL suspension.
DALLAS COWBOYS
Owner: Jerry Jones
Owned team since: 1989
Age: 80
Money made: Jones struck it rich as a wildcatter in the oil business before plunging most of his fortune into the Cowboys in a $140 million purchase. Now his club-driven empire includes energy holdings, real estate interests and a sports and entertainment company called Legends, which has its roots as a partnership with the New York Yankees. Despite no trips to the Super Bowl in more than a quarter-century, the Cowboys are the world’s most valuable franchise.
Net worth: $15.7 billion
Franchise value (rank): $8 billion (1st)
Noteworthy: An ESPN report revealed a years-old settlement with several members of the team’s famous cheerleading squad over voyeurism claims against former public relations chief and Jones confidant Rich Dalrymple. That was followed by a lawsuit from a woman in her 20s claiming Jones is her biological father. … Jones is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, more for his business acumen than his successes as the team’s longtime GM. He dragged the NFL into the modern world of corporate sponsorships by striking several deals for his team that sparked a lawsuit from the league and a countersuit from Jones.
DENVER BRONCOS
Owner: Rob Walton
Owned team since: 2022
Age: 77.
Money made: Walton is the eldest heir to the Walmart fortune and by far the richest owner in the NFL. His father was Walmart founder Sam Walton. Rob Walton helped take Walmart public in 1970 and served as Walmart’s chairman of the board of directors from 1992-2015. Rob Walton and his daughter, Carrie Walton-Penner, and her husband, Greg Penner, purchased the Broncos for $4.65 billion, a global record for a professional sports franchise.
Net worth: $57.9 billion.
Franchise value (rank): $4.65 billion (12th).
Noteworthy: The Broncos have five consecutive losing seasons.
DETROIT LIONS
Owner: Sheila Ford Hamp
Owned team since: 2020
Age: 70
Money made: Her great-grandfather, Henry Ford, founded Ford Motor Co.. The automaker, which her family controls, posted a $17.94 billion net profit last year.
Net worth: $2 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.05 billion (31st)
Noteworthy: She began attending Lions games she was 5. Her late father, William Clay Ford, bought the Lions and his first full season was 1964. He died in 2014, and his wife Martha Firestone Ford took over the team. Hamp succeeded her mother as principal owner and chairman in 2020. … Since Detroit won the 1957 NFL title, it has won only one playoff game, in 1992.
GREEN BAY PACKERS
Owner: The Packers are the only publicly owned pro sports team. Mark Murphy is the team’s president/CEO and serves as the team representative at owners meetings.
Owned team since: Murphy has been president/CEO since January 2008. Fans took ownership of the franchise in 1923.
Age: 67
Money made: The Packers held their sixth stock offering earlier this year, raising $65.8 million and producing 176,160 new shareholders. The Packers sold more than 198,000 shares at $300 each. The latest stock offering increased their total number of shareholders to over 537,000. About 17% of the shareholders are from Wisconsin. … Murphy played in the NFL with Washington from 1977-84.
Franchise value (rank): $4.25 billion (15th)
Noteworthy: Play in the smallest TV market (69th) of any major sports franchise. Buffalo, New York (53rd) is the next-smallest NFL market. … The Packers nearly collapsed financially on four occasions: 1921, 1922, 1933 and 1949.
HOUSTON TEXANS
Owner: Janice McNair
Owned team since: 1999
Age: 86
Money made: Janice McNair is the widow of Bob McNair, who died in 2018. She inherited his 80% stake in the team. While she is listed as the team’s owner, son Cal McNair handles day-to-day operations as chairman and CEO. Bob McNair made his money by selling his company Cogen Technologies to Enron for $1.5 billion in 1999.
Net worth: $5 billion
Franchise value (rank): $4.7 billion (11th)
Noteworthy: Bob McNair faced intense criticism in 2017 when a report quoted him as saying: “we can’t have the inmates running the prison” at a meeting of NFL owners over what to do about players who kneel in protest during the national anthem. McNair apologized for the comment and said he regretted using the expression and that he was “not referring to our players.” … This summer, the Texans were sued by 30 women who said the team enabled former quarterback Deshaun Watson’s alleged sexual assault or misconduct during massage therapy sessions. The team settled with the women.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Owner: Jim Irsay
Owned team since: 1997
Age: 63
Money made: Irsay inherited the team after his father, Robert, died in 1997, and he prevailed in a legal battle with his stepmother to retain ownership. Robert Irsay amassed a fortune estimated to be more than $150 million in heating and air conditioning services. He bought the Los Angeles Rams for $19 million in 1972, swapped franchises with Baltimore Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom, then moved the Colts to Indianapolis.
Net worth: $3.4 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.8 billion (22nd)
Noteworthy: Irsay fought drug addiction and drew a six-game suspension after pleading guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated in September 2014. He also was fined $500,000. … In 2009, said he wouldn’t “even consider” voting for new St. Louis Rams ownership group that included the late Rush Limbaugh. … Made decision to cut Super Bowl-winning QB Peyton Manning after future Hall of Famer missed entire 2011 season with neck injury.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Owner: Shad Khan
Owned team since: 2012
Age: 72
Money made: Khan worked at the automotive manufacturing company Flex-N-Gate Corp. while attending the University of Illinois. After graduation, he was hired as the company’s engineering director. In 1978, he started Bumper Works with a small business loan and $16,000 in savings. Two years later, he bought Flex-N-Gate from his former employer and merged the two companies. Khan’s business blossomed from $17 million in sales to nearly $9 billion in 2020. He paid $770 million for the Jaguars. He also has since bought Fulham FC in London and created All-Elite Wresting.
Net worth: $7.6 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.475 billion (28th)
Noteworthy: He locked arms with players in a sign of solidarity during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Wembley Stadium in 2017, the first NFL game played after President Donald Trump called for protesting players to be “fired” and urged fans to boycott the league. … Khan has contributed more than $500 million to the Jaguars during his ownership, including at least $60 million to a performance center that’s currently under construction next to the team’s downtown stadium.
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
Owner: Mark Davis
Owned team since: 2011
Age: 67
Money made: Davis inherited control of the team following the death in 2011 of his father, Al, who had run the team since 1963. Al Davis bought a 10% share in 1966 and became managing general partner with control of the team in the 1970s. Mark and his mother, Carol, became owners when Al Davis died 11 years ago, with Mark in control as managing general partner. Mark Davis also bought the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA in 2021.
Net worth: $1.9 billion.
Franchise value (rank): $5.1 billion (9th)
Noteworthy: The Raiders have made the playoffs only twice, with no postseason wins since Mark Davis took over for his father, Al. … Mark Davis oversaw the team’s move from Oakland to Las Vegas for the 2020 season after being denied a chance to move to Los Angeles and being unable to build a stadium in Oakland. … Davis got $750 million in public funding for the $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium. … Davis hired Sandra Douglass Morgan as the first Black female team president in the NFL.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Owner: Dean Spanos
Owned team since: 1984
Age: 72
Money made: Family patriarch Alex Spanos borrowed $800 from a banker in 1951 to start a catering business which sold sandwiches to migrant farm workers in California’s San Joaquin Valley. He made most of his wealth with real estate investments and founded A. G. Spanos Companies, which has built mostly apartment complexes in 18 states. He bought a minority stake in the Chargers in 1982 before gaining controlling interest in 1984 for $48.3 million from Gene Klein. Alex Spanos turned over day-to-day operations of the team over to Dean Spanos in 1994. Alex Spanos passed away in 2018.
Net worth: $1 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.9 billion (20th)
Noteworthy: The Spanos Family Trust owns 36% of the team, with each Spanos sibling — Dean, Michael, Dea Spanos Berberian and Alexis Spanos Ruhl — having 15%. Dea Spanos Berberian filed a lawsuit against Dean Spanos last year, alleging breach of fiduciary duty against the Spanos Trust and trying to force a sale. Spanos Berberian filed a new lawsuit in June accusing her brother of “misogynistic” behavior, “self-dealing” and repeated “breaches of fiduciary duty”. … The remaining 4% is owned by the family of George Pernicano, one of the original minority owners. … Spanos moved the team to Los Angeles in 2017 after years of trying to get a new stadium built in San Diego. … Chargers have to pay a $650 million relocation fee for the move. … Dean Spanos is a member of the league’s Management Council Executive Committee (CEC), which negotiates the labor agreement with the NFL Players’ Association. … Spanos also sits on the NFL’s Business Ventures Committee.
LOS ANGELES RAMS
Owner: Stan Kroenke
Owned team since: 2010
Age: 75
Money made: Married Walmart heiress Ann Walton in 1974. Founded a real estate development firm in 1983 that frequently builds commercial property for — and around — Walmart stores. Founded Kroenke Sports & Entertainment in 1999 and purchased the NBA’s Nuggets, NHL’s Avalanche, MLS’s Rapids and English soccer team Arsenal.
Net worth: $10.7 billion
Franchise value (rank): $6.2 billion (3rd)
Noteworthy: Engineered the Rams’ return from his native Missouri to Los Angeles in 2016, ending the NFL’s 21-year absence from the nation’s second-largest city and leaving behind many angry St. Louisans who claimed the league ignored its own relocation guidelines in allowing the Rams to return home. Kroenke and the league eventually agreed to a $790 million settlement with St. Louis interests last year to end a 4 1/2-year legal battle. The owners will vote Tuesday to determine how much of that fee will be paid by Kroenke. … Won the Super Bowl in February in the Rams’ own SoFi Stadium, built by Kroenke largely with his company’s own money.
MIAMI DOLPHINS
Owner: Stephen Ross
Owned team since: 2009
Age: 82
Money made: Ross was a tax attorney before founding Related Companies, a real estate development firm, in 1972. Related has developed or acquired more than $60 billion worth of properties all over the world. Ross also has stakes in Equinox Fitness, SoulCycle and several fast casual restaurant chains. He bought 95% of the Dolphins for $1 billion.
Net worth: $11.6 billion
Franchise value (rank): $4.6 billion (13th)
Noteworthy: Before this season, Ross was suspended and fined $1.5 million for tampering with quarterback Tom Brady and former Saints coach Sean Payton. The NFL began the investigation after former Miami head coach Brian Flores’ ongoing discrimination lawsuit in which he said the NFL has racist hiring practices and that Ross incentivized him to purposely lose games to get a top draft pick. … The Dolphins haven’t been to the playoffs since 2016.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Owners: Zygi Wilf and Mark Wilf
Owned team since: 2005
Ages: 72 and 60
Money made: The Wilfs inherited their New Jersey family real estate business, Garden Homes, that grew from single family homes into building apartment complexes, shopping centers and office buildings.
Net worth: Unknown
Franchise value (rank): $3.925 billion (18th)
Noteworthy: The Wilfs completed a $600 million purchase of the team in 2005 from Texas businessman Red McCombs. … Just four months into their tenure, they had off-the-field trouble when Vikings players held a boat party during their bye week that turned debaucherous and resulted in misdemeanor charges for four players. … In 2014, they dealt with an even bigger public relations crisis when star running back Adrian Peterson was ensnared in a felony child abuse case. … They spent their first seven years as owners pushing hard for public money for a new stadium to replace the Metrodome, and the reward finally came in 2012 when the state funding bill was signed into law. U.S. Bank Stadium, which was built for $1.1 billion with roughly half of it coming from public sources, opened in 2016.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Owner: Robert Kraft
Owned team since: 1994
Age: 81
Money made: Built his initial fortune through a packaging company, helping him to purchase the Patriots for $172 million to keep the team from moving to St. Louis.
Net worth: $10.6 billion
Franchise value (rank): $6.4 billion (2nd)
Noteworthy: Finalist for the 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. … Kraft’s tenure in New England also includes two major cheating investigations — and other, minor ones — that cost him and the team draft picks and more than $1 million in fines. Those include spying on an opponent’s defensive signals, violating playing rules and for failure to cooperate in the subsequent investigation of the use of under-inflated footballs in the 2014 AFC championship game, and violating the league’s COVID-19 protocols. … Kraft had a misdemeanor charge in Florida dismissed in February 2020 after courts blocked prosecutors’ use of video that allegedly showed him paying for massage parlor sex.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Owner: Gayle Benson
Owned team since: 2018
Age: 75
Money made: Third wife of the late Tom Benson, a New Orleans native who bought the Saints in 1985 for about $70 million in a deal brokered in part by then-Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards to prevent the club from moving. Benson had built his fortune in auto sales, banking and real estate. In the years before Tom Benson’s death, he and Gayle Benson invested in thoroughbred horse racing stables (GMB Racing), a downtown office tower near the Superdome and a brewery.
Net worth: $4.7 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.58 billion (26th)
Noteworthy: Team has been involved in a court battle over a cache of confidential emails describing behind-the-scenes PR work Saints executives did for the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 2018 and 2019 to contain fallout from clergy abuse scandals. The club said it only assisted in messaging, but attorneys for those suing the church have alleged in court records that Saints officials joined in the church’s “pattern and practice of concealing its crimes.” … Former coach Sean Payton was suspended for the 2012 season for what the NFL said was his failure to stop an improper cash-for-hits bounty program run by former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and some defensive players. … Also while Tom Benson was in charge: Saints were investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2010 for unregulated distribution of the pain killer Vicodin at team headquarters.
NEW YORK GIANTS:
Owners: John Mara and Steve Tisch
Owned team since: 2005
Ages: Mara is 67; Tisch is 73
Money made: Mara’s grandfather was a businessman and bookmaker who invested $500 to found the team in 1925. Tisch’s father was president of Loews Corp., a financial conglomerate. The Mara family has owned the team since 1925; the Tisch family acquired half of it in 1991. After the deaths of Wellington Mara and Bob Tisch a month apart in 2005, their sons, John and Steve, took over ownership.
Net worth: $500 million for Mara; $150 million for Tisch.
Franchise value (rank): $6 billion (4th)
Noteworthy: John Mara serves on the NFL Competition Committee and he is the chairman of the league’s Management Council Executive Committee. … Mara, Tisch and Jets owner Woody Johnson combined to build MetLife Stadium and worked to bring the Super Bowl there after the 2013 season.
NEW YORK JETS
Owner: Woody Johnson
Owned team since: 2000
Age: 75
Money made: Johnson is the heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company, founded by his great-grandfather. He bought the Jets for $635 million, which in 2000 ranked as the third-highest price for a professional sports team.
Net worth: $5.6 billion
Franchise value (rank): $5.4 billion (6th)
Noteworthy: Shortly after purchasing the team, Johnson announced plans to build a stadium on Manhattan’s West Side. But the project was defeated and Johnson instead partnered with the Giants to build a shared stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. … Moved the team’s training facility from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, to Florham Park, New Jersey, in 2008. … Served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Donald Trump from 2017-21, during which time his brother Christopher took over as acting CEO and owner. … Was accused by some staffers of making “insensitive” and “inappropriate” remarks during his tenure as ambassador, which he vehemently denied. After the report by an internal watchdog office, the State Department said no further investigation was necessary because Johnson understood the responsibilities of his diplomatic job. … The Jets currently have the NFL’s longest active postseason drought at 11 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Owner: Jeffrey Lurie
Owned team since: 1994
Age: 71
Money made: Lurie’s grandfather, Philip Smith, founded General Cinema Corporation, a movie-theater chain. Lurie used a loan to purchase the Eagles for $185 million in 1994.
Net worth: $4.4 billion
Franchise value (rank): $4.9 billion (10th)
Noteworthy: A progressive, socially conscious owner, Lurie has a B.A. from Clark University, a master’s in psychology from Boston University and a Ph.D. in social policy from Brandeis University. He had a stint as an adjunct professor of social policy at Boston University. … Lurie started the Eagles Autism Foundation, which has raised more than $16 million since 2018.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Owner: Art Rooney II
Owned team since: Family-owned since 1933. Rooney II became team president in 2003.
Age: 70
Money made: The team is the family business. Rooney took over control of the Steelers from his father, Dan Rooney, who took over the Steelers from his father, team founder Art Rooney Sr. The eldest Rooney famously paid the $5,000 franchise fee with money he won betting on horses.
Net worth: $500 million
Franchise value (rank): $3.975 billion (17th).
Noteworthy: Pittsburgh has had just three coaches since 1969 (Hall of Famers Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher and current coach Mike Tomlin). … The Rooneys have expanded their ownership group, with former stakeholders Jimmy Haslam (Browns) and David Tepper (Carolina) going on to own their own teams. … Dan Rooney was the architect of the “Rooney Rule” that requires teams to interview people of color for various coaching and front office positions.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Owner: Denise DeBartolo York and John York
Owned team since: 1999
Age: 71 or 72, and 73
Money made: The DeBartolo family made its money in real estate, with father Edward Sr. running a company that built shopping centers and malls around the country before also getting into the world of sports in 1977, buying both the 49ers and the NHL’s Penguins. Denise and her husband, John, took over ownership of the 49ers in 1999 when her brother, Eddie Jr., was convicted in a Louisiana bribery case. The family’s business also bought a share of the English soccer club Leeds United in 2018.
Net worth: $5.1 billion
Franchise value (rank): $5.2 billion (8th)
Noteworthy: Denise DeBartolo York and John York put their son, Jed, in charge of the 49ers in December 2008. … Jed oversaw the opening of Levi’s Stadium in 2014, when the franchise moved from Candlestick Park in San Francisco to nearby Santa Clara.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Owner: Jody Allen as trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust
Owned team since: 1997
Age: 63
Money made: Allen took over stewardship of the Seahawks and NBA’s Trail Blazers following the death of her brother Paul in 2018 from cancer. Paul Allen made his fortune as co-founder of Microsoft and purchased the Seahawks in 1997 to help keep the team from moving to Southern California under former owner Ken Behring. Paul Allen’s first foray into sports ownership came in 1988 when he bought the Trail Blazers. Paul and Jody Allen also formed Vulcan, Inc., a privately held company that oversees the family’s business and philanthropic endeavors.
Net worth: Paul Allen was worth an estimated $20.4 billion at the time of his death.
Franchise value (rank): $4.5 billion (14th)
Noteworthy: There have been continued rumors of a potential sale of the franchise as part of Paul Allen’s wishes to have most of his fortune dedicated to philanthropic ventures following his death. Jody Allen released a statement last summer that there’s no timeline for possible sale.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
Owners: Glazer Family
Owned team since: 1995
Age: Bryan, 57; Joel, 55; Edward 50; Darcie, 53; Avram, 61; Kevin, 58
Money made: Before acquiring the NFL’s Buccaneers, and later Manchester United of the Premier League, the late Malcolm Glazer amassed a family fortune primarily through real estate and other business ventures.
Net worth: $4.7 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.675 billion (24th)
Noteworthy: The Bucs were one of the least successful franchises in any of the four major U.S. professional sports leagues when Malcolm Glazer, who died in 2014, purchased the club for a then NFL-record $192 million in 1995.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Controlling Owner: Amy Adams Strunk
Owned team since: 2015
Age: 68
Money made: Daughter of the late K.S. “Bud” Adams who founded the then-Houston Oilers and was co-founder of the AFL, which later merged with the NFL. Her father also founded KSA Industries, which included the team he relocated to Nashville in 1997. His estate was placed into a trust when he died in 2013 and divided between his two daughters, Amy and Susie, with each receiving a third share of the franchise and a third of KSA Industries. The other third was divided into three 11% shares to the widow and sons of Adams’ late son, Kenneth Adams III. Strunk also is a businesswoman who is owner and president of both Kenada Farms and the Little River Oil and Gas Company. She also has been involved in the Adams’ family’s farming and ranching businesses as a vice president of Bud Adams Ranches, Inc.
Net worth: $1.6 billion
Franchise value (rank): $3.5 billion (27th)
Noteworthy: Bud Adams agreed to negotiate with Nashville, Tennessee, in Aug. 1995, to leave Houston in exchange for a new stadium that opened for the 1999 season. The Oilers relocated to Tennessee in 1997. … The Titans went through a 5-27 stretch during which Strunk took over the team from her brother-in-law in March 2015. Under her management, the Titans have six straight winning seasons. … Strunk was appointed to the NFL’s Hall of Fame Committee in 2016. She was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Board of Trustees in 2017.
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
Owners: Dan Snyder and family
Owned team since: 1999
Age: 57
Money made: Snyder and sister Michele began in advertising before expanding to marketing, telemarketing and communications. Revenues for Snyder Communications rose to $9 million by 1993, and by 1996 he was the youngest CEO of a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange at age 32. The company had over $1 billion in annual revenues in 1998, a year before he bought the team for $750 million, with much of that money coming in the form of loans. He made $300 million by selling Snyder Communications in a $2 billion agreement in 2000.
Net worth: $4.9 billion
Franchise value (rank): $5.6 billion (6th)
Noteworthy: Was pressured by sponsors to drop the team’s former name in the summer of 2020. … The team was punished in 2012 for circumventing salary cap rules. … After dozens of former employees said they were sexually harassed while working for the team, an NFL investigation found Snyder oversaw a toxic workplace environment. Washington was fined $10 million and Snyder stepped away from day-to-day operations of the team for several months. When a written report was not released, a congressional investigation into the organization was launched, which also found potential financial improprieties. … Bought out minority owners in March 2021. Team has won just two playoff games in 23 years.
TOP PHOTO: FILE – Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder, co-owner and co-CEO of the Washington Commanders, pose for a photo on the field during warmups before a NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The Washington Commanders are denying the contents of a report by ESPN detailing Dan Snyder’s efforts to influence other NFL owners and the league office to keep control of the team. In a statement sent to The Associated Press on Thursday, Oct. 13, a Commanders spokesperson called it “categorically untrue” and “clearly part of a well-funded, two-year campaign to coerce the sale of the team, which will continue to be unsuccessful.”(AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth, File)