As mentioned on the Showtime TV series Billions, NFL team owners are viewed and respected with high standards, similar to those of Britons who are knighted in Britain’s royal crown. That is, before you can own an NFL team, the team must not only be wealthy enough to buy it, but also have a special position in society considered worthy of royal status. This is important to note because before any potential NFL team owner can finalize an acquisition, they must be vetted by the league, which must meet a wide range of requirements.
In terms of the costs of owning an NFL team today, future owners of that era must part with hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, to become members of this prestigious group. Some billionaires have been known to see it as an expensive hobby and a way to display their wealth and status among themselves, which makes it even more open to those with very deep pockets. Here is a list of the richest NFL team owners, their net worth and how they made their living.
The Richest NFL Team Owners
Stan Kroenke
Net worth: 8.5 billion USD
Source of income: Real estate
NFL Team: Los Angeles Rams
Stan Kroenke is the owner of American sports and entertainment company Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, owner of the Los Angeles Rams, among many other sports teams in the United States and elsewhere. In 2018, Forbes estimated his net worth at around US$8.5 billion.
Kroenke’s journey to becoming a member of the prestigious group of NFL team owners began in the mid-1990s, after earning a huge fortune in the real estate market and partnering with his wife, Ann Walton, member of the Walton family, owner of the multinational retail company, Walmart. He first took a stake in the St. Louis Rams in 1995 before taking full control of the franchise in 2010. He has since left to become the owner of the National Basketball Association’s Denver Nuggets, Avalanche Colorado of the National Hockey League, Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer and Arsenal Football Club of the English Premier League, among others.
Robert Kraft
Net worth: $6.6 billion
Source of income: Paper manufacturing conglomerate, real estate
NFL Team: New England Patriots
Robert Kraft is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the diversified holding company, Kraft Group, which owns the New England Patriots of the National Football League, among other sports teams and companies in the manufacturing and ‘immovable. According to the Forbes report for 2018, his net worth is estimated at US$6.6 billion.
Of all the names that appear on this NFL team owners list, Kraft is hands down the most successful NFL team owner, as the New England Patriots enjoyed unimaginable success under his leadership. Since taking over the team in 1994, the Patriots have appeared in 11 Super Bowls and won 6 of them. The team he bought for $172 million has since acquired a value of $3.7 billion of dollars.
Stephen M. Ross
Net worth: 7.6 billion USD
Source of income: Real estate
NFL Team: Miami Dolphins
Stephen M. Ross, who according to Forbes has an estimated net worth of US$7.6 billion, is the primary owner of the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. In 2008, the University of Michigan accounting graduate, who later acquired a Juris Doctor, paid $550 million for a 50% stake in the Dolphins franchise. A year later, he bought another 45% stake for the same amount to become the owner of the franchise and the stadium in which the team plays.
Prior to joining the NFL’s roster of team owners, Ross worked in the real estate market. In 1972 he founded The Related Companies, which develops, buys, manages, finances, markets and sells properties in the United States and around the world. The company is valued today at more than $15 billion and is said to have developed properties worth $30 billion. Among his best-known projects are the Time Warner Center and the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, both located in Manhattan, New York.
jerry jones
Net worth: US$7.0 billion
Source of income: Oil, real estate
NFL Team: Dallas Cowboys
Jerry Jones is the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, which is according to Forbes, the most valuable sports team in the world. He bought the franchise in 1989 for an estimated $150 million. He then transformed the mediocre performing team into a perennial playoff team, having won the Super Bowl three times in the early 90s (1992, 1993, 1995). Since then, the value of the franchise has skyrocketed to $5 billion, making its owner a billionaire.
Like a few others on this list, Jones has football in his blood. In 1964, he was co-captain of the University of Arkansas team that won the national championship. After graduating, he went into business, opening a chain of Shakey’s Pizza Parlor restaurants. He then moved into oil and gas exploration, forming Jones Oil and Land Lease, where he enjoyed resounding success before becoming a sports owner.
Shahid Khan
Net worth: $6.9 billion
Source of income: Automotive manufacturing
NFL Team: Jacksonville Jaguars
Unlike other NFL team owners, Shahid Khan, who owns the Jacksonville Jaguars, built his fortune on next to nothing, coming from a middle-class family background in Pakistan. The businessman, whose net worth stands at US$6.9 billion, making him the richest person of Pakistani descent, is the first member of a minority ethnic group to own a team of the NFL and one of three owners to be born outside the United States. States.
Khan moved to the United States at the age of 16 to study Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois, where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1971. He later served as director of engineering for the company of Flex-N-Gate automobile manufacturing for a few years before buying out the owner in 1980. By 2011, he had grown the company to 48 manufacturing plants in the United States and several other countries, with sales of 3 billions of dollars. It was around this time that he paid $760 million to buy the Jaguars.
Arthur Blank
Net worth: 4.7 billion USD
Source of income: Home Depot
NFL Team: Atlanta Falcons
Arthur Blank bought the Atlanta Falcons franchise in 2002 after spending 23 years running the business of Home Depot, which he co-founded. Blank had worked for the Daylin Company, where he rose to vice president of the finance division before being fired following a power struggle. Along with another laid-off employee, he revolutionized the home improvement industry by creating a one-stop shop that had everything under one roof. The company was hugely successful with its warehouse approach and later turned its owners into billionaires.
Blank retired as co-president in 2001 and went straight into the sports business. A year later, he took charge of the Falcons and a few years later tried to buy the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball as well. This agreement, however, failed. He then established a Major League Soccer expansion franchise, Atlanta United FC, while continuing his endeavors.
Terrence Pegula
Net worth: 4.3 billion USD
Source of income: Natural gas, real estate
NFL Team: Buffalo Bills
Terrence Pegula is the owner of the sports and entertainment company, Pegula Sports and Entertainment, which owns, among other sports teams, the NFL team, the Buffalo Bills. After taking full control of the franchise in 2014 following the death of its founding owner, Ralph Wilson, Pegula is one of the newest NFL team owners to make this list.
Prior to getting into sports team ownership, Pegula, who holds a bachelor of science degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Penn State University, worked for a number of petroleum marketing companies before founding his own natural gas drilling and exploration company, East Resources, which made huge profits after discovering deep layers of natural gas in the Marcellus formation in eastern North America.
Steve Bisciotti
Net worth: 4.2 billion USD
Source of income: Business
NFL Team: Baltimore Ravens
Steve Bisciotti is the majority owner of the Baltimore Ravens. The business executive who was well known for his low profile before his involvement in the sports business acquired a 49% stake in the team in 2000, before buying out the remaining 51% in 2004. Under his leadership, the Les Ravens launched an all-new, state-of-the-art training and practice facility, dubbed “The Castle,” before winning Super Bowl XLVII in 2013.
Unlike other NFL team owners, Bisciotti did not make his fortune from the real estate or oil market. He achieved this by co-founding a recruitment company that provided workers specifically for the aerospace and technology sector. The company, dubbed Aerotek, quickly morphed into what is now known as the Allegis Group, an international talent and management firm.