Most controversial sports owners of all time

Former Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard is one of the most disliked hockey owners ever. After becoming part owner in 1961 and majority owner in 1972, Ballard threatened cable companies, disregarded the concerns of his own players, inflated concession stand prices and was also charged by the Canadian government for tax evasion.

When Clay Bennett bought the Seattle SuperSonics in 2006, he promised to keep the team in Seattle. Two years later, the Sonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder. Most basketball fans in the Seattle area feel Bennett was manipulative and duped them into believing their beloved Sonics would stay in Seattle. Additionally, despite being a billionaire, Bennett refuses to pay NBA luxury taxes — a choice that helped lead to the departure of superstar James Harden.

Although they’re currently one of the best teams in the AFC, when owner Mike Brown initially took control of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1991, he turned them into one of the worst teams in the NFL. Brown's first major move as owner was to fire beloved coach Sam Wyche, and the Browns threatened to move the team if taxpayers did not pony up for a new stadium. They eventually did. The Bengals have had six winning seasons in Brown’s 23 years as owner.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and the NBA front office know each other quite well at this point. Since becoming owner of the Mavs in 2000, Cuban has been fined in excess of $1.6 million by the NBA for violating policies time and time again. Still, Cuban is loved in Dallas, as the Mavs won their first ever NBA championship in 2011.

Former Raiders owner Al Davis truly marched to the beat of his own drum. Davis constantly clashed with the NFL, suing the league for the right to move his team wherever he damn well pleased. He was also active in the civil rights movement, refusing to allow the Raiders to play in any city where black and white players were forced to stay in separate hotels. Just win, baby.

The San Francisco 49ers won five Super Bowls while Edward J. DeBatrolo Jr. owned the team, but that didn’t mean DeBartolo Jr. was free from controversies. DeBartolo Jr. was accused of sexual assault in 1992 (a charge that was settled out of court) and pleaded guilty on charges of failing to report a felony in the corruption case of former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards. DeBartolo Jr. was suspended one year by the NFL for the conviction.

New York Knicks owner James Dolan has been one of the most hated men in basketball for quite some time now. The Knicks have been a futile NBA team under his leadership, as there has been constant turnover in the front office and with the coaching staff. Hopefully, new Knicks president of basketball operations, Phil Jackson, can turn things around for Dolan and all Knicks fans.

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert will forever be remembered for his scathing letter in 2010 directed toward LeBron James when he chose to leave the Cavs for the Miami Heat. Gilbert called James a “coward” and promised the Cleveland fans that the Cavs would win a title before James ever would. James won two titles in Miami and is now back with the Cavs. It’s funny how things can change with time.

Current Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has turned the Browns into one of the most futile sports franchises in the world. Haslam also defrauded customers of his fuel supply company out of millions of dollars. He was eventually forced to pay $56 million in restitution to his customers.

Former Colts owner Robert Irsay will forever be remembered as the man who moved the legendary Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis in the middle of the night. His son, and current Colts owner, Jim has had his problems as well, encountering substance abuse and legal troubles in recent years.

After winning three Super Bowls in the 1990s, the Dallas Cowboys' owner and general manager has become one of the NFL’s most reviled figures. Jones will sign a player if he believes he can help his football team win games, regardless of past actions; Greg Hardy is the latest. The Cowboys have won two playoff games under Jones' leadership since winning their last Super Bowl in 1996.

He might be the greatest basketball player of all time, but his accomplishments on the court have not translated to the front office. The decisions of Charlotte Hornets majority owner Michael Jordan to draft Adam Morrison, Bismack Biyombo and Cody Zeller, among others, have made the Hornets one of the least competitive teams in the NBA. In the 2011-12 NBA season, Charlotte posted a winning percentage of .106, the worst in NBA history. This whole ownership thing might not be best suited for M.J.

No one can deny the on-field success that the New England Patriots have had under owner Robert Kraft, but the Pats have had their fair share of controversies during Kraft’s tenure. Spygate, Deflategate, and his close relationship with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell have caused many to criticize Kraft. Also, Kraft claims Russian President Vladimir Putin stole one of his Super Bowl rings.

Rams, Nuggets and Avalanche owner Stan Kroenke is a man who likes to get his way. The billionaire, to the dismay of Rams fans, is attempting to move the team to Los Angeles. If the NFL does not allow the Rams to move, expect Kroenke to sue the NFL, just as former Raiders owner Al Davis did.

Despite winning a World Series in 2003 under his watch, Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria has been terrible for the sport of baseball. Loria forced the taxpayers of Miami to pay for much of the Marlins' new stadium but still keeps 100 percent of the revenue the Marlins make. Loria has also been criticized for leading fans to believe he wants to put together a competitive team, when really he just wants to make a buck. Well, a few million bucks.

Owner of the Washington Redskins from 1932 until his death in 1969, George Preston Marshall was one of the most notorious racists in professional sports. He was unapologetically opposed to having African-Americans on his team to the point that, while the rest of the league began integrating in 1946 and drafting black players in 1949, Marshall did not have a black player on his team until 1969. He owned a team with an already racist name, so is this any surprise?

Art Modell will forever be hated in Cleveland, as he was the man who moved the Browns to Baltimore after the 1995 season. The city of Cleveland sued Modell but failed to keep the team, and the Browns became of the Baltimore Ravens. Although the NFL rewarded Cleveland with a new Browns expansion team in 1999, Modell can never show his face in Cleveland again.

Unlike most others, former Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley is on this list for doing the right thing. O’Malley gave the green light for the Dodgers to sign Jackie Robinson, the first African-American man to play in a major North American professional sports league. Although the move was obscenely controversial at the time, O’Malley’s decision to sign Robinson changed sports and American history for the better.

Brooklyn Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov looks like a villain straight out of a James Bond movie. Since taking over the Nets in 2010, the team has become one of the NBA’s worst franchises. Prokhorov was also accused of soliciting prostitutes in 2007, although the charges were later dropped. Prokhorov is also heavily influential in Russian politics, an area where controversy is unavoidable.

When Marge Schott became owner of the Cincinnati Reds in 1984, she was initially welcomed with open arms by Reds fans. Then, in the early 1990s, it became clear that Schott was a bit of a racist and Nazi sympathizer. Needless to say, these revelations ruined here credibility with the public. She eventually sold her majority stake with the Reds in 1999.

George Shinn purchased the Charlotte Hornets in 1987 on his own terms but was not so lucky in going out the same way. After a rash of sexual assault accusations and admitted adulterous relationships, Shinn decided to move the Hornets from Charlotte to New Orleans. The move could not save him, however, as the franchise now named the Pelicans was taken over by the NBA after Shinn failed to secure a sale of the team amid financial troubles.

Arrogant and tone-deaf are two words that aptly describe Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. Snyder has repeatedly raised ticket and parking prices for Redskins games, and has even charged fans for the right to tailgate. Most notably, however, Snyder has refused to even consider changing the Redskins’ name, despite it being known within many Native-American communities as a racial slur.

John Spano was one of the greatest con men of the 20th century. Despite having barely any money to his name, Spano defrauded the New York Islanders and the NHL into selling him the team in 1996. Without having paid a single dime of his own money, Spano became owner of the Islanders before he was discovered to be a total fraud. Spano spent 71 months in federal prison for his crimes.

From 1973 up until his death in 2010, no sports owner was more beloved and hated by his own fans than New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner’s Yankees won seven World Series crowns during his tenure, but Steinbrenner was also never far from controversy. “The Boss” would flippantly hire and rehire managers, hired private investigators to dig up dirt on his own players, and was banned from all baseball activities for two years by Major League Baseball. Still, Steinbrenner is one of the most iconic owners in sports history.

When the New York Times describes your team as "the worst club and most poorly run franchise in professional basketball," it's no surprise making this list. Those words were used in reference to Ted Stepien's Cleveland Cavaliers. Not only were the Cavs futile, but Stepien rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with his controversial remarks about race, specifically regarding ticket sales.

Where do we even begin with former Clippers owner Donald Sterling? An alleged slumlord, Sterling owned the Clippers from 1981 to 2014. During that time, the Clippers were the worst sports franchise in all of North American professional sports. The NBA banned Sterling for life from the league in 2014 when a recording of Sterling making racist comments was made public. Donald Sterling is easily the most controversial sports owner of our time.

Bill Veeck at one point or another owned the Phillies, Indians, Browns and White Sox, in addition to the Brewers when they were a minor league team. During his time, controversy surrounded Veeck — whether it was made-up stories of his antics (sending in a little person to pinch hit, for example) or the ways in which he bought teams to becoming the first owner in the American League to integrate as Indians’ owner. Ultimately, he contributions led to the Hall of Fame, thanks in part to his hand in revenue sharing and integration, but his on-field stunts often drove people mad.

Current New York Islanders owner Charles Wang will go down in infamy as the man who signed goaltender Rick DiPietro to a 15-year, $67.5 million contract. For the sake of time, let’s just say the deal didn’t work out. He also hired Neil Smith as the team’s general manager in 2006, only to fire him 40 days later, replacing him with a backup goaltender. Wang also failed to keep the Islanders on Long Island, as the team moved to Brooklyn this year.

The majority owner of the Minnesota Vikings, Zygi Wilf nearly moved Minnesota’s beloved team after he felt taxpayers weren’t ponying up enough money for a new stadium. After holding Vikings fans hostage, Wilf eventually got the public money for his new stadium. Additionally, in 2013 Wilf and his brother Mark were found liable by a New Jersey court for breaking civil state racketeering laws. The judge in the case noted that Wilf had used organized crime-like tactics to commit fraud against his business partners. Wilf’s net worth is approximately $1.3 billion.