NFL
Who are the Top 5 NFL's Longest-Tenured Owners?
NFL team owners are instrumental in driving teams to success with the support of their massive fortunes. Let’s focus on some of the longest-tenured owners in the NFL.
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Each NFL franchise is tied to an owner, except the Green Bay Packers, which is owned by thousands of individuals with shares. NFL owners are influential and hold plenty of power to regulate teams. They greatly manipulate bottom line factors that affect wins and losses in franchises. They control the hiring and firing of coaches and executives. Some teams are owned by individuals, while others are owned by ownership groups.
Here’s a look at the top 5 longest-tenured NFL owners.
5. The Rooney Family (1933) - Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers dates back to 1933, when it was incepted by its original owner Art Rooney. He paid a franchise fee of $2,500 for the team’s creation. In 1975, Art Rooney assigned day-to-day operations to his oldest son, Dan, granting him the role of team president. Art’s demise in 1988 left the Steelers in the hands of his five sons, each acquiring 18% and the McGinley family owning the rest of the 10%.
In 2008, the NFL ordered the Steelers to restructure ownership to fit the league rules that are against owners having ties to the gaming industry. As a result, Dan Rooney and Art Rooney II bought adequate shares of the franchise and maintained control of the organization. Over the years, the Steelers have been under the continuous ownership of the Rooney family.
Pittsburgh has remarkably won six Super Bowls, tied for the most in NFL history. Throughout its existence, the team has only had 16 different head coaches.
4. Michael Bidwill (1932) - Arizona Cardinals
The Bidwill family gained ownership of the Cardinals in 1932, after Charles Bidwill’s $50,000 purchase of the franchise, then based in Chicago. Since then, the Cardinals has remained under the leadership of the Bidwill family, with the current owner being Michael Bidwill. Before Michael inherited the franchise in 2019, it was under the tenure of his father, who became the sole owner in 1971.
Before taking ownership in 2019, Michael Bidwill was serving as Cardinals’ team president since 2007. Overall, his leadership has been transformational to the Cardinals, in both on and off the field situations.
Part of his most significant accomplishments is the creation of State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The world-class establishment has proved pivotal to the franchise. The team has hosted three Super Bowls at the stadium, the most recent being in 2023.
The origin of the Cardinals name was from the colour and not the bird. Chris O’Brien, the franchise’s original owner bought used uniforms from the University of Chicago. The red uniforms had faded a little bit. As a result, O’Brien stated that they were not red but Cardinal red, leading to the name “Cardinals”.
3. John Mara and Steve Tisch (1925) - New York Giants
John Mara, the current CEO of the New York Giants is also the franchise’s co-owner, along Steve Tisch. Tim Mara, John’s grandfather, was the original founder of the franchise. He passed on the Giants to his sons, Jack and Wellington, who later passed it on to John, the latter’s oldest son.
John’s involvement with the Giants began in 1991, the same year that Preston Robert Tisch purchased 50% of Giants’ ownership stake. In 2005, Steve Tisch inherited the family’s share of the Giants, following Robert’s death.
John Mara and Steve Tisch have led the Giants collaboratively, despite having vastly different life experiences. When it gets to making major decisions pertaining the franchise like hiring and firing, they make amicable agreements.
The Giants is currently among the most valuable organizations in the NFL, given its worth of $7.3 billion as estimated by Forbes, making it the fourth-highest in the league. The team has emerged victorious in eight championships, among them being four Super Bowls. However, the Giants has only made two postseason appearances in the last 10 years.
2. Green Bay Packers, Inc. (1923) - Green Bay Packers
Since 1923, the Green Bay Packers has been the only publicly owned NFL franchise in the league. The non-profit corporation has more than 538,000 stockholders with a collective ownership of more than 5.2 million shares. This NFL team’s 100-year-old ownership structure is akin to that of a publicly traded company.
The Green Bay Packers are the 12th most-valuable franchise in the NFL, valued at $6.3 billion, as revealed by CNBC's Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations. This third-oldest NFL franchise has played home games at Lambeau Field since 1957 and it is the team with the most wins in NFL history, following its 13 league championship victories. Additionally, the Packers has nine pre-Super Bowl NFL titles and four Super Bowl wins.
1. Virginia Halas McCaskey (1920) - Chicago Bears
Virginia Halas McCaskey, the daughter of George Halas, has owned the Chicago bears since 1983. She took over the franchise after the death of her father, who was the team’s founder. George McCaskey acquired the Bears before her birth in 1920, which renders her the oldest NFL owner, at her current age of 101.
The Bears’ ownership has been under the same family the longest; no other family has owned an NFL team longer than the McCaskey. The family’s net worth is estimated to range between $1.3 million and $1.7 billion.
Under Virginia’s tenure as the owner, the Bears has made two Super Bowl appearances and won once. The team emerged victorious in Super Bowl XX against the New England Patriots in 1986. This stands out as the only Super Bowl victory in the Bears history. McCaskey’s tenure has further seen the Bears maintain a record of 324-328 over 41 seasons.
Despite maintaining a significant net worth, McCaskey does not appear on the list of the top 20 NFL owners. Moreover, the franchise’s historic tenure does not surpass the notable achievements of other franchises.
Ian Mugo Wanyeki is based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is a sports enthusiast with vast knowledge of different sport disciplines. Ian is a graduate with a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Kenyatta University. He is a Kenyan journalist who’s worked as a sports analyst at Covenant Television Network, as a sports reporter at NTV and as a Sports Correspondent/contributor at Quartz Africa.