http://gty.im/494841228
5. Clark Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs
- Seasons owned: 56 (7th)
- Win percentage: 0.514 (14th)
- Playoff rate: 30.4% (18th)
- Championship rate: 3.6% (13th)
- Net worth ($bn): 13 (2nd)
- Franchise growth: 6th
- Investment Factor: 3rd
- Gut check: 13th
The Hunt family is incredibly large and breathtakingly rich. The late family patriarch, H.L. Hunt, often described with the word “wildcatter,” founded an oil empire that begat a sports empire. Clark’s father Lamar wasn’t just the original owner of the team that became the Chiefs, he was a founder of the AFL (which folded into the NFL as the AFC), as well as both major American soccer leagues (the old NASL and today’s MLS).
Today, Clark Hunt manages the Hunt family’s huge portfolio of sports holdings, which is estimated to be worth $1.3 billion. How much control he has of the larger Hunt fortune is unknown, but if the Chiefs, say, needed a new stadium, it’s safe to say he wouldn’t be turning out his pockets like Mark Davis.
Though Hunt’s excellence in these rankings is mostly financial, the Chiefs have had a lot of on-field success, especially in the AFL years. Though he doesn’t have the out-there rockstar effect of some other owners, Hunt handles his business well, and has a lot of pull within the league.
Former Raiders CEO Amy Trask, whom I hold in the highest regard, recently Tweeted that she feels the same way about Hunt:
One more point: read nothing into my tweet about KC – I hold Clark Hunt in the highest regard – he's a beacon of NFL ownership – #mytwocents
— Amy Trask (@AmyTrask) November 30, 2015
http://gty.im/491820824
4. Paul Allen, Seattle Seahawks
- Seasons owned: 19 (21st)
- Win percentage: 0.544 (8th)
- Playoff rate: 52.6% (6th)
- Championship rate: 5.3% (11th)
- Net worth ($bn): 18.1 (1st)
- Franchise growth: 20th
- Investment Factor: 4th
- Gut check: 5th
When fans of flailing NFL teams dream at night, they dream of an owner like Allen: Incalculably wealthy, with strong ties to the area, who’s willing to build a great stadium, spend money to win, and even go out there and raise the 12th man flag himself.
Allen’s longevity isn’t there yet, and cashing in at least once more in the Pete Carroll Era would help his rankings tremendously.
http://gty.im/483904350
3. Robert Kraft, New England Patriots
- Seasons owned: 22 (17th)
- Win percentage: 0.691 (1st)
- Playoff rate: 72.7% (1st)
- Championship rate: 18.2% (1st)
- Net worth ($bn): 4.8 (8th)
- Franchise growth: 15th
- Investment Factor: 7th
- Gut check: 7th
Nobody wins like Kraft. Ever.
Kraft’s Patriots win in the regular season, they make the playoffs, they win Super Bowls, all at rates other NFL owners could only dream of. As a self-made paper-manufacturing industry titan, Kraft has more capital than the Pats’ last howevermany owners combined. He built a new stadium, delivered titles, and has so much pull he’s frequently called the assistant commissioner.
Yet, Kraft has had a few public embarrassments. The recent widower began dating an actress 40 years his junior, “helped” her in a bizarre movie audition and of course there’s whole Deflategate thing and the ridiculous website.
But those are tiny speedbumps on the Kraft Superhighway to Winning Everything All the Time, and every NFL fanbase wishes they were lucky enough to travel down it.
http://gty.im/138505904
2. John Mara & Steve Tisch, New York Giants
- Seasons owned: 91 (4th)
- Win percentage: 0.543 (9th)
- Playoff rate: 35.2% (13th)
- Championship rate: 8.8% (7th)
- Net worth ($bn): 8.8 (4th)
- Franchise growth: 4th
- Investment Factor: 2nd
- Gut check: 11th
Surprised? Don’t be.
Niether Mara nor Tisch have Allen’s filthy lucre, Davis’ man-child relatability or Kraft’s unimpeachable on-field product. But between their two families, they’re actually one of the most well-heeled franchises in the game—and the Giants’ long track record of on-field success has only been bolstered in recent years.
Mara & Tisch have a bit of a yin and yang thing happening: Mara is the descendent of founder Tim Mara—who made his money as a bookie, a legacy of the NFL’s rough-and-ready early days. Mara’s great-grandaughters, are Hollywood actresses Rooney Mara and Kate Mara.
As it happens, Tisch is a television and film producer. He inherited his 50% stake from father Bob, a famous hotelier and former Postmaster General of the United States (really), who bought in when Tim Mara (one of the original Tim Mara’s grandsons) decided to sell.
Mara wields old-school power and respect, while Tisch, living in LA, has more family money and entertainment-business cache. It’s an ideal partnership that keeps the Giants at the heart of everything the NFL does.
http://gty.im/498874836
1. Green Bay Packers, Inc., Green Bay Packers
- Seasons owned: 97 (1st)
- Win percentage: 0.566 (6th)
- Playoff rate: 34.0% (14th)
- Championship rate: 13.4% (2nd)
- Net worth ($bn): 1.95
- Franchise growth: 2nd
- Investment Factor: 1st
- Gut check: 1st
It’s the biggest no-brainer ever. Who’s the most likable owner in the NFL? Fans!
Not only are the Packers the oldest NFL team in existence, and the second-most frequent winners of championships, Packers fans occasionally are allowed to purchase shares of company stock.
The most recent sale, in 2012, issued non-voting shares of stock that can’t easily be re-sold, let alone for profit. As Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio frequently points out, that means it isn’t really stock.
But the publicly-held company still holds shareholder meetings and releases annual reports, and offers us a little glimpse into NFL financials that the league would certainly prefer we never see.
Fans get to call themselves owners, the team is inextricably tied to the community, we keep the league a little more honest and the Packers win all the time even without a billionaire pulling the strings? That’s just the best.
