NFL Billionaire Owners 2011

Paul Allen

Team: Seattle Seahawks

Net Worth: $13 billion

The Microsoft co-founder also owns the NBA Portland Trail Blazers. His net worth could purchase about a third of the NFL.

Stephen Ross

Team: Miami Dolphins

Net Worth: $3.1 billion

Ross, who made his fortune in real estate, has tried to spice up the Dolphins image by selling small minority shares to celebrities like Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan and the Williams sisters.

Stan Kroenke

Team: St. Louis Rams

Net Worth: $2.6 billion

The longtime sports mogul, married into the Wal-Mart fortune, took control of the Rams a year ago.

Malcolm Glazer

Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Net Worth: $2.6 billion

Glazer’s $192 million investment in the Bucs in 1995 is now worth about a billion.

Jerry Jones

Team: Dallas Cowboys

Net Worth: $2 billion

Jones’ club now has the over-the-top stadium to match its over-the-top brand.

Robert Kraft

Team: New England Patriots

Net Worth: $1.5 billion

Kraft has transformed New England from one of the league’s blandest franchises to one of the most dynamic. State-of-the-art Gillette Stadium opened in 2002.

Stephen J. Bisciotti

Team: Baltimore Ravens

Net Worth: $1.5 billion

The self-made Maryland native made enough money in the staffing business to buy his hometown Ravens in 2000.

Robert McNair

Team: Houston Texans

Net Worth: $1.4 billion

McNair cashed out of Cogen Technologies at the right time – selling to Enron just before its collapse. His club’s $300 million stadium naming rights deal with Reliant is the league’s richest.

James Irsay

Team: Indianapolis Colts

Net Worth: $1.4 billion

One of the few owners whose fortune is primarily tied up in his team, Irsay inhereted the Colts in 1997 from his father Robert.

Arthur Blank

Team: Atlanta Falcons

Net Worth: $1.3 billion

The Falcons have won more often since the Home Depot cofounder bought them in 2002, but the low-revenue Georgia Dome has the club’s valuation lagging.

Alexander Spanos

Team: San Diego Chargers

Net Worth: $1.1 billion

A self-made real estate mogul who bought the Chargers for $70 million in 1984, Spanos’s final NFL legacy may come down to whether he moves the team to Los Angeles (or sells to someone who does).

Dan Snyder

Team: Washington Redskins

Net Worth: $1.1 billion

The sporting press generally rakes Snyder over the coals for the Skins perpetual mediocrity. But there’s no arguing with the business results – lucrative FedEx Field keeps Washington’s valuation at or near the top of the league every year.

Jeffrey Lurie

Team: Philadelphia Eagles

Net Worth: $1 billion

Lurie made most of his fortune in the movie production business. Since buying the Eagles in 1994, he’s turned them into consistent winners playing to sellout crowds at state-of-the-art Lincoln Field, which carried a $140 million naming rights deal.

Randy Lerner

Team: Cleveland Browns

Net Worth: $1 billion

Lerner inhereted the family fortune – his father founded credit card giant MBNA – and brought football back to Cleveland after the original Browns abandoned the city for Baltimore in 1998.

Tom Benson

Team: New Orleans Saints

Net Worth: $1 billion

The 84-year-old Benson made his money in auto dealerships and small banks, evenutally landing the Saints in 1985 for $70 million. After enduring years of losing plus Hurricane Katrina, he was rewarded with a Super Bowl trophy in 2010.

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Source: Forbes