Who Owns the NFL?
Contents
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league. The NFL is the highest level of professional football in the United States, and is considered to be the top professional American football league in the world.
The Structure of the NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league. It is composed of 32 teams, each of which is a member of one of the league’s two conferences, the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is the highest level of professional football in the United States. NFL teams are divided into two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC), each of which has 16 teams. The NFL is overseen by a Commissioner, who is elected by the owners of the teams.
The League Office
The League Office is the administrative arm of the NFL. It is responsible for all league-wide activities and initiatives, including:
-Developing and enforcing league rules
-Managing officiating
-Negotiating television contracts
-Planning and executing special events
-Overseeing player personnel
-Marketing and public relations
The League Office is led by Commissioner Roger Goodell, who is elected by the 32 club owners.
The Teams
The National Football League is made up of 32 teams, divided equally into two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference is then further divided into four divisions: North, South, East, and West.
Since 2002, the NFL has also been divided into eight four-team divisions (two in each conference), each of which contains one team from each division. This allows for a more equal distribution of talent across the league and provides more opportunities for teams to make the playoffs.
The Owners of the NFL
The National Football League is a business. It is made up of 32 teams, all of which are owned by different people. The teams are worth billions of dollars, and the owners are some of the richest people in the world. But who exactly are these owners?
The Majority Owners
The majority of NFL team owners are billionaires, and the combined net worth of all 32 is a staggering $100 billion. Here’s a look at who owns what, and how they made their money.
1. Jerry Jones – Dallas Cowboys: Net worth $8.6 billion
He is the owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He first bought the Cowboys in 1989 for $140 million.
2. Stephen Ross – Miami Dolphins: Net worth $7.6 billion
He is the majority owner of the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He is also the chairman and founder of The Related Companies, a real estate development firm.
3. Arthur Blank – Atlanta Falcons: Net worth $4.9 billion
He is the co-founder of The Home Depot and developer of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home to the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL, as well as Atlanta United FC of Major League Soccer (MLS). He also owns Mountain Sky Guest Ranch in Montana.
4. Jeffrey Lurie – Philadelphia Eagles: Net worth $3 billion
He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Hollywood production company Castle Rock Entertainment, which he founded in 1987 with Martin Shafer and Alan Horn. He has been the owner of National Football League’s Philadelphia Eagles since 1994.
5. Robert Kraft – New England Patriots: Net worth $6.9 billion
Kraft has been chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Kraft Group, a diversified holding company that wholly owns both the New England Patriots franchise in Major League Soccer (MLS), as well as Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution since he purchased them both in 1995 for a then-record price tag for an MLS team ($110 million).
The Minority Owners
While the majority of NFL team ownership still lies in the hands of white men, that is slowly starting to change. There are now three NFL minority owners who are women, and several more who are people of color. These new owners are not just token additions either – they are helping to shape the future of the NFL, and they are doing it in a big way.
The first woman owner in the NFL was Virginia Halas McCaskey, who inherited the Chicago Bears from her father,George Halas, in 1983. She is still the owner of the team today, and she is now joined by two other female owners: Denise DeBartolo York,who owns the San Francisco 49ers, and Amy Adams Strunk,who owns the Tennessee Titans. In total, women now own three NFL teams.
People of color also now have a significant presence among NFL ownership. The first African American majority owner was Edward DeBartolo Jr.,who owned the 49ers from 1977 until 2000. He was followed by Shahid Khan,who became majority owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012. There are now six non-white majority owners in the NFL: Khan, Jimmy Haslam (Cleveland Browns), Robert McNair (Houston Texans), Stephen Bisciotti (Baltimore Ravens), Jeffrey Lurie (Philadelphia Eagles), and Terry Pegula (Buffalo Bills). These six men come from a variety of backgrounds – Khan is Pakistani American, Haslam is Jewish American, McNair is African American, Bisciotti is Italian American, Lurie is Jewish American, and Pegula is Italian American – but they all have one thing in common: they are helping to diversify NFL ownership.
NFL Ownership Groups
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world. The NFL’s 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing 16 games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, six teams from each conference advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, which is usually held in the first Sunday in February and is played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.
The Kroenke Group
The Kroenke Group is an American sports and entertainment holding company based in Denver, Colorado, United States. It owns several professional sports teams and other entertainment assets. The group is owned by Walmart heir Stan Kroenke.
The group’s holdings include the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL), Arsenal F.C. of the English Premier League, Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL), Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer (MLS), two Arena Football League teams, two major indoor lacrosse teams, and Pepsi Center, a major concert and sports arena in Denver, among others.
The Mara Family
The Mara family has been associated with the Giants since 1925, when Tim Mara paid $500 for the team. His son, Wellington Mara, took over the team in 1930 and ran it until his death in 2005. Wellington’s sons, John Mara and Steve Tisch, are now co-owner of the team. The Mara family also owned Yankee Stadium from 1973 to 1974.
The Glazer Family
The Glazer family owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and are worth an estimated $4.4 billion. The family’s patriarch, Malcolm Glazer, bought the team in 1995 for $192 million. Since then, the team has won one Super Bowl and made the playoffs six times.
The Glazers also own the English soccer club Manchester United, which they purchased in 2005 for $1.47 billion. The team has won five English Premier League titles and one Champions League title since the Glazers took over.
The Business of the NFL
The National Football League is a business. A very successful business. In 2019, the NFL generated $8.1 billion in revenue. That’s a lot of money. But who owns the NFL? The answer may surprise you.
The NFL’s Revenue
In 2018, the NFL brought in $8.1 billion in revenue, up from $7.8 billion in 2017 and $7.2 billion in 2016, according to data from the league. The majority of that revenue — about two-thirds — comes from television deals with networks like NBC, CBS, ESPN, and Fox. The 2019 season is expected to bring in even more money for the league as it signed a new nine-year contract with television partners that will run through the 2023 season. That deal is worth $110 million per year, an increase of nearly 28 percent over the previous contract.
The NFL also generates revenue from ticket sales, sponsorships, and licensing fees for products like apparel and video games. In recent years, the league has focused on growing its international fanbase as a way to generate even more revenue. The NFL now has fans in more than 180 countries and hosts regular-season games in London as well as Mexico City.
The NFL’s Expenses
Like any other business, the NFL has to generate enough revenue to cover its expenses. In 2017, the league brought in a record $14 billion in revenue. The biggest chunk of that came from TV rights fees, which totaled $7.8 billion. That was followed by $1.6 billion from sponsorship deals and $1.4 billion from tickets sales. Other sources of revenue include things like merchandise sales ($1.2 billion) and NFL Ventures ($2.1 billion), which is the league’s for-profit arm that owns things like NFL Network and NFL On Location, a hospitality company that provides packages that include game tickets and hotel rooms.
The Future of the NFL
The NFL is a multi-billion dollar industry and it is one of the most popular sports in America. The league is made up of 32 teams and each team is worth over one billion dollars. The NFL has been around for over 100 years and it is one of the most successful sports leagues in the world.
The NFL’s TV Contracts
The NFL’s current TV contracts with CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN expire after the 2022 season.
The NFL is the most watched programming on TV and is a key part of the networks’ schedules. The NFL also brings in high ratings for its broadcast partners, which is why the networks are willing to pay billions of dollars for the rights to air NFL games.
The NFL is currently negotiating new TV contracts that will begin in 2023. It’s expected that the new contracts will be worth even more than the current ones, which are worth a combined $4.6 billion per year.
The future of the NFL depends on many factors, but one of the most important is its relationship with its broadcast partners. The NFL will continue to be one of the most valuable properties on television as long as it remains popular with viewers.
The NFL’s Digital Media Strategy
The National Football League has been slow to embrace digital media, but it is now starting to invest more heavily in this area. The NFL’s digital media strategy includes a partnership with CBS, which will allow the NFL to live-stream its games on the CBS All Access platform. The NFL is also working on creating its own over-the-top (OTT) service, which will be available to subscribers of its Sunday Ticket package. In addition, the NFL is partnering with Twitter to livestream select Thursday Night Football games.
The NFL’s goal is to reach as many viewers as possible, and its digital media strategy is an important part of that effort. By livestreaming games on platforms like CBS All Access and Twitter, the NFL can make its product more accessible to a wider audience. And by creating its own OTT service, the NFL can better control its content and create a direct relationship with its fans. The NFL’s digital media strategy is a smart move that will help the league stay relevant in the ever-changing world of television.