People ask me this one a lot, and I get why the question is confusing. There’s no single person who “owns” the National Football League the way Jerry Jones owns the Dallas Cowboys. The NFL is a joint trade association owned collectively by its 32 member clubs, each with its own separate owner or ownership group.
I’ve spent years covering sports ownership structures, and the NFL’s setup is one of the more unusual ones in American business. It’s less a company with shareholders and more a cooperative where 32 billionaires (and a few ownership groups) agree to share revenue, follow common rules, and vote on league matters together.
Quick Facts
| Entity | National Football League (NFL) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1920 (as the American Professional Football Association) |
| Renamed NFL | 1922 |
| Structure | Unincorporated association of 32 independently owned teams |
| Commissioner | Roger Goodell (since 2006) |
| Owner | No single owner — collectively owned by 32 team owners |
| Headquarters | New York, New York |
| Combined league value | Over $200 billion across all 32 franchises (2026 estimates) |
So Who Actually Runs the NFL?
The league office, led by Commissioner Roger Goodell, handles day-to-day operations — scheduling, officiating, broadcast deals, discipline, and marketing through NFL Properties and NFL Media. But Goodell works for the owners, not the other way around. He’s hired and can be fired by a vote of the 32 team owners, and major decisions (new team sales, relocations, rule changes) require owner approval, often a supermajority of 24 votes.
Each of the 32 teams has its own owner or ownership group, and that’s really where the power sits. I cover these individually across this site — everyone from Jerry Jones at the Cowboys to the Rooney family in Pittsburgh to the Green Bay Packers’ unique shareholder-owned model, the only publicly owned team in the league.
Ownership History
| Year | Development |
|---|---|
| 1920 | Formed as the American Professional Football Association by 14 teams in Canton, Ohio |
| 1922 | Renamed the National Football League |
| 1960 | Rival American Football League (AFL) founded, increasing competition for players and markets |
| 1970 | NFL-AFL merger completed, creating the modern 26-team league structure |
| 2015 | League office voluntarily gave up its 501(c)(6) tax-exempt status amid public criticism, though individual teams were never taxed as nonprofits |
| 2022 | Broncos sold to the Walton-Penner group for $4.65 billion, then a league record |
| 2023 | Washington Commanders sold to a Josh Harris-led group for $6.05 billion |
| 2026 | Seattle Seahawks agree to a record $9.612 billion sale to a group led by Vinod Khosla, pending owner approval; Las Vegas Raiders add minority owners including Ari Emanuel, Michael Dell, and Mark Shapiro |
Key Ownership Highlights
- The NFL itself has no shareholders or single owner — it’s a cooperative of 32 independent franchise owners.
- The Green Bay Packers are the sole exception, structured as a nonprofit owned by roughly 537,000 shareholders with no dividends and no single controlling investor.
- Franchise sale prices have exploded in the last five years, with the Seahawks’ pending $9.612 billion deal now the highest in NFL history.
- Team owners must be approved by a 24-of-32 supermajority vote before any sale closes.
- Commissioner Roger Goodell reports to the owners and negotiates his own contract with a compensation committee of team owners.
FAQ
Is the NFL a nonprofit?
No, not since 2015. The league office gave up its federal tax-exempt status that year, though this was largely symbolic since the league office wasn’t paying taxes on team profits anyway — those are taxed at the individual team level.
Who is the richest NFL owner?
Based on total net worth, that title regularly rotates between Walmart-linked Broncos owner Rob Walton’s family and Panthers owner David Tepper, though team value alone (not personal net worth) is led by the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones franchise, valued north of $12 billion.
Can one person own multiple NFL teams?
No. NFL cross-ownership rules generally prohibit an individual from holding a controlling stake in more than one NFL team, though limited minority stakes across multiple teams have become more common as private equity money has entered the league.
