Richest Owners, or, Who Has $$ To Spend If NFL Goes Uncapped

Filed in archive NFL on May 22, 2008

© Matt McGee

It was not a surprise when the NFL owners voted to opt out of the current labor deal two years early, as this had been talked about for a while now. But there are ramifications, and one of those is, if no labor deal is in place by 2010, that season will be played without a salary cap. So, owners have free reign to spend whatever they please on player contracts, much like baseball. Unlike baseball, the NFL is the most lucrative sport in the country, so there should be more money to spend.

This means is that the richest NFL owners will be the ones to benefit from this. It does not mean they will choose to spend outrageous sums of money on players, but in theory, they could. Saying that, here's a look at the owners who have the most ca$h to spend. There are several NFL owners on Forbes' 2007 list of the 400 richest Americans.

- Paul Allen, Seattle Seahawks: Allen is the 11th richest person in the country, worth $16 billion.

- Stephen Ross, Miami Dolphins: Owner of half of the Dolphins, Ross is worth $4.5 billion and ranks #68 on the list of richest Americans.

- Malcolm Glazer, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Glazer comes in at #165 on the list, worth $2.5 billion.

- Wayne Huizenga, Miami Dolphins: Tied with Glazer at #165 and worth $2.5 billion is Huizenga, who owns half of the Dolphins with Ross.

- Stan Kroenke, St. Louis Rams: Kroenke is a minority owner and holds a 40% share in the Rams. He is worth $2.2 billion, and comes in at #204 on the list.

- Randy Lerner, Cleveland Browns: Lerner comes in at #297 on the list and is worth $1.6 billion.

- Arthur Blank, Atlanta Falcons: Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, is #317 and worth $1.5 billion.

- Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys: Worth $1.5 billion, Jones is tied at #317 with fellow owner Arthur Blank.

- Bob McNair, Houston Texans: Also worth $1.5 billion and ranked #317 in richest Americans.

- Bob Kraft, New England Patriots: Coming in at #361, Kraft is worth $1.4 billion.

- Steve Bisciotti, Baltimore Ravens: The owner of a large staffing firm, Bisciotti is worth $1.3 billion and is ranked #380.