Discover the Billionaire Owners Behind Each NFL Team

The velvet rope keeps getting more expensive, and the new arrivals keep paying anyway. In 2022, Walmart heir Rob Walton led a group that paid $4.65 billion for the Denver Broncos, an NFL record at the time. That record didn’t last a year. In 2023, Josh Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, one of the largest private equity firms on the planet, finalized his purchase of the Washington Commanders for $6.05 billion, the highest price ever paid for a North American sports franchise. Walton’s net worth exceeds $130 billion, according to Forbes. Harris, worth roughly $11 billion, also owns the Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Devils, and a piece of Crystal Palace FC. These aren’t men chasing a boyhood dream. They’re billionaires buying into a system that prints money. And the entry price tells you everything about the returns.

2. The Oil and Gas Barons

Before there was Wall Street money in football, there was oil money, and it still runs the league. Jerry Jones struck oil in well after well through Jones Oil and Land Lease before buying the Cowboys for $140 million in 1989. Today, Dallas is the most valuable sports franchise in the world — $13 billion — and Jones, worth an estimated $19.6 billion, recently told the Wall Street Journal that a “$100 billion present value” natural gas deal mattered more to him than fixing his defense. Think about that. A man who owns the most valuable team in sports, on the record, saying the real money is somewhere else. The Hunt family’s fortune traces back to H.L. Hunt’s legendary 1930 acquisition of Dad Joiner’s East Texas Oil Field leases, one of the largest petroleum strikes in American history. Terry Pegula sold his fracking company to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion, then bought the Bills for $1.4 billion in cash, and recently docked his superyacht in Newport, Rhode Island, while New York taxpayers covered $850 million of his new stadium. Cal McNair’s late father, Bob, sold his energy company, Cogen Technologies, for approximately $1.5 billion and used the proceeds to bring the Texans to Houston. The ground under America literally funded the league above it.

3. The Wall Street Takeover

Hedge fund money found the NFL the way it finds everything, by following guaranteed returns. David Tepper, founder of Appaloosa Management, bought the Panthers for approximately $2.275 billion in 2018. His net worth has ballooned past $20 billion, meaning his franchise has appreciated in value while he’s been the owner. The Panthers have churned through coaches and posted losing records under his watch, and it hasn’t cost him a dime in franchise value. The team is now worth $5.7 billion. Stephen Ross, the real estate mogul behind Hudson Yards — a $25 billion development rising out of Manhattan — purchased the Dolphins for approximately $1.1 billion starting in 2008. The Dolphins are now valued at $7.5 billion. That’s roughly a 600% return in 17 years. Try finding that in the S&P 500.

4. The Self-Made Moguls

These are the owners who started with nothing — or close to it — and bought their way into the most exclusive club in sports. Shahid Khan arrived in America from Pakistan at 16 to attend the University of Illinois. He washed dishes to make ends meet while studying industrial engineering. In 1978, he left a job at auto parts company Flex-N-Gate to start his own venture, Bumper Works, where he developed an innovative one-piece bumper design that became an industry standard. Two years later, he returned to acquire Flex-N-Gate itself, merging the two companies into a global manufacturing powerhouse. He’s now worth $14.3 billion and bought the Jaguars in 2011. Arthur Blank was fired from Handy Dan Improvement Centers, co-founded Home Depot, turned it into the largest home improvement retailer on earth, and then bought the Falcons for $545 million. Steve Bisciotti started a staffing company called Aerotek with his cousin, grew it into Allegis Group, the largest private staffing firm in the country, then bought a 49% stake in the Ravens in 2000 before completing his purchase of the full franchise in 2004 for approximately $600 million. Robert Kraft built a paper and packaging empire before buying the Patriots for $172 million in 1994 — the team is now valued at $9 billion. Four men. Four American stories.

5. The Dynasties: Families Who’ve Owned Teams for Generations

Some NFL franchises have been in the same family longer than Social Security has existed. Art Rooney Sr. founded the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1933 with $2,500 he reportedly won at the racetrack. His grandson Art Rooney II runs the team now. Three generations, six Super Bowl trophies, one family. The Bidwills have owned the Arizona Cardinals since 1933 — Michael Bidwill, a former federal prosecutor, is the third generation steering a franchise that was once headquartered in Chicago, then St. Louis, then Phoenix. Tim Mara bought the Giants for $500 in 1925. Five hundred dollars, for a team now valued at $10.1 billion. His descendants, John Mara and film producer Steve Tisch, now co-own the franchise. Lamar Hunt co-founded the AFL and the Dallas Texans in 1960, the franchise that became the Kansas City Chiefs after relocating in 1963. His son, Clark, has been CEO since 2006 and recently watched the franchise win back-to-back Super Bowls. These families didn’t just buy into football. They built the league itself.

6. Married Into Power

Sometimes the fastest route to an NFL franchise runs through a wedding ring. Stan Kroenke married Ann Walton, a Walmart heir and Rob Walton’s first cousin, and built a sprawling real estate and sports empire that now includes the Rams, Arsenal FC, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, and 1.6 million acres of American ranch land. He built SoFi Stadium — a roughly $5.5 billion palace in Inglewood — entirely with private money. Woody Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune, bought the Jets in 2000 for $635 million and later served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. The Jets are now valued at $8.1 billion. His family fortune was built on Band-Aids, baby powder, and Tylenol. Now it’s parked in a football team that hasn’t won a Super Bowl since January 1969.

7. Sons and Daughters Who Got the Keys

Inheritance remains the surest path to the NFL owners’ table, and the stories prove it. Jody Allen inherited the Seahawks when her brother Paul, co-founder of Microsoft, died in 2018. She oversees one of the most consistently competitive franchises in the NFC. Mark Davis got the Raiders when his father, Al, died in 2011. The team was valued at roughly $760 million then. Davis moved the franchise to Las Vegas, and it’s now worth $7.7 billion — a staggering return on an asset he inherited. Sheila Ford Hamp, a great-granddaughter of Henry Ford, took over the Lions from her mother, Martha Firestone Ford, in 2020. In Chicago, George McCaskey became Bears chairman after his mother, Virginia Halas McCaskey — the daughter of legendary founder George Halas — died in February 2025 at age 102. Dean Spanos assumed full control of the Chargers after his father, Alex, died in 2018. Amy Adams Strunk inherited the Titans from her father, Bud Adams, who co-founded the AFL with petroleum money. These owners didn’t build the fortune or buy the team. They were born into both. And the league’s structure guarantees they’ll leave even richer than they arrived

8. Real Estate and Construction Kings

Behind several NFL franchises sit empires built on concrete, steel, and shopping malls. Zygi Wilf’s father survived the Holocaust and immigrated to New Jersey in the early 1950s. The family built Garden Homes into a commercial and residential operation — shopping centers and apartment complexes — before Zygi bought the Vikings for $600 million in 2005. Edward DeBartolo dominated the American mall industry for decades before buying the 49ers in 1977. His daughter, Denise DeBartolo York, and grandson, Jed York, now run the franchise, valued at $8.6 billion. The Glazer family’s fortune spans food service, packaging, health care, and real estate. Malcolm Glazer bought the Buccaneers for $192 million in 1995, and his six children now control Tampa Bay while retaining a majority stake in Manchester United. Malls, apartments, and strip centers. Not exactly glamorous — until you see what they bought.

9. The Wildcards

Not every NFL fortune fits a clean category, and these three might be the most fascinating owners in the league. Jeffrey Lurie left a career in academia to join his grandfather’s film company, then founded his own production house that went on to executive-produce Oscar-winning documentaries, including Inside Job and Summer of Soul. Then he bought the Eagles in 1994 for $185 million. The team is now valued at $8.3 billion, a return that would make any Wall Street shark jealous. Gayle Benson inherited the Saints and Pelicans when her husband Tom, who built a fortune on car dealerships and banking in New Orleans, died in 2018. Jimmy Haslam runs Pilot Flying J, the nation’s largest truck stop chain, founded by his father in 1958. He bought the Browns for approximately $1 billion in 2012. A film executive, a car dealer’s widow, and a truck stop heir. All sitting at a table where every seat is worth billions.

10. The Women Running the Show

The NFL’s boys’ club is cracking open, and the women who’ve stepped through aren’t figureheads; they’re running the show. Gayle Benson calls the shots for the Saints. Jody Allen runs the Seahawks. Sheila Ford Hamp presided over the Lions’ resurgence into a playoff contender. After Jim Irsay’s death in May 2025, his daughter, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, took over as the Colts’ principal owner and CEO. Amy Adams Strunk leads the Titans. Denise DeBartolo York and Jed York run the 49ers. For a league that was built by men in smoke-filled rooms, the ownership table is starting to look different. The money is still generational. But the faces are changing.​

The Most Protected Investment in America

Oil tycoons and hedge fund managers. Walmart heirs and truck stop magnates. Hollywood executives and auto parts pioneers — all funneling into the richest ownership table in American sports. Every one of them receives $432.6 million in shared revenue each year before a single hot dog is sold. The average NFL franchise is now worth $7.1 billion, a figure that has more than doubled in just four years. The salary cap controls what players earn. Revenue sharing eliminates risk. These men and women didn’t just buy football teams; they bought into a system designed so the house never loses. You fill the seats. You buy the merch. You vote for the politicians who approve the stadium deals. And they cash the checks. That’s the NFL. Now you know who owns it.

Sources:
“The NFL’s Most Valuable Teams 2025” — Forbes
“Here’s How Much Each NFL Team Made in National Revenue in 2024” — CBS Sports
“Who Are the Current NFL Team Owners?” — ESPN
“Richest NFL Owners: Where Robert Kraft, Jerry Jones, Rob Walton Rank” — Yahoo Sports
“Cowboys’ Jerry Jones: Natural Gas Deal Instead of Defensive Problems” — CBS Sports
“Ravens Owner Steve Bisciotti Announces Plans to Sell Team” — Yahoo Sports