There’s a reason NFL owners can pay Roger Goodell more than $1 million each to be their pinata.
Because for the majority of them, a million bucks is literally pocket change.
The latest list by Forbes Magazine of the richest of the rich shows that 19 NFL owners get to start their bios with “comma, billionaire.”
Of course, their lists are based on estimates of worth, both of franchises and individuals, so take this all with a grain of salt, because everybody involved in the NFL is insanely wealthy. But here’s how they rank them, to give us all a point of reference when it’s time for righteous indignation about public money going to new stadium projects and the like.
Topping the list is Seahawks owner Paul Allen ($17.5 billion), who started some company called Microsoft with that Gates fella.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is second at $12 billion, which is why he was able to renovate Sun Life Stadium with some of his own money.
Up next is Rams owner Stan Kroenke ($7.7 billion), which helps explain why he was able to pull off the largest land snatch this side of Hedley Lamarr to move his team to Los Angeles. Since he has the means, he also owns the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets and two soccer teams, the MLS Colorado Rapids and England’s Arsenal.
Jaguars owner Shahid Khan ($5.9 billion) and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ($5 billion) round out the top five.
Robert Kraft (Patriots, $4.9 billion), Terry Pegula (Bills, $4 billion), Joan Tisch (Giants, $3.3 billion), Bob McNair (Texans, $3.3 billion), Steve Bisciotti (Ravens, $3 billion), Arthur Blank (Falcons $2.6 billion), Jim Irsay (Colts, $2.3 billion), Jimmy Haslam (Browns, $2.3 billion), Tom Benson (Saints, $2.2 billion), Dan Snyder (Washington, $2.2 billion), Denise York (49ers, $1.9 billion), Jeff Lurie (Eagles, $1.8 billion), Dean Spanos (Chargers, $1.7 billion) and Martha Ford (Lions, $1.3 billion) also made the list.
That’s not to say the other NFL owners are struggling, as the list doesn’t include family holdings, which excludes most of the rest of them, since the average franchise is worth an estimated $2 billion.