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The NFL suspended 49ers owner Jed York for six games under its personal conduct policy and fined him $500,000, the league announced Friday.
The league cited York for violating the conduct policy after he was arrested in August in Ohio in a prostitution-related case and pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors.
The NFL said that York “has stayed away” from the 49ers’ first three games this season “as well as from NFL league meetings” during the league’s investigation.
Those three games count toward his suspension, the league said, and York is eligible to return Oct. 20.
“Today, the NFL concluded its review, and I accept its decision in full,” York said in a written statement released by the 49ers. “To my family, to the players, coaches, and employees of the San Francisco 49ers, to our fans and partners, I am deeply sorry. This was an inexcusable mistake and I take full responsibility. What I did does not reflect my values or the man I strive to be for my family.”
The 2026 version of the NFL’s personal conduct policy for league and non-player club employees says: “Ownership and club or league management have traditionally been held to a higher standard and will be subject to more significant discipline when violations of the Policy occur.”
Front Office Sports first reported Sept. 20 that a resolution to the league’s review of York under the personal conduct policy could come soon.
York did not attend the Aug. 26 special league meeting in Atlanta, FOS reported at the time, at which the NFL’s team owners voted unanimously to ratify the league-record $9.612 billion sale of the Seahawks to a group led by the family of venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. Al Guido, the team’s CEO, was the 49ers’ primary representative at that meeting.
After FOS reported York was not believed to have attended the 49ers’ season-opening game in Melbourne against the Rams last month, ESPN reported that York was in Australia but did not attend the game.
The 49ers are off to a 3-0 start to their season.
Sources told FOS last month that any action initiated by York and the 49ers, such as York taking time away from his role with the team, might be factored into the NFL’s disciplinary decision. That may have been reflected Friday in the NFL citing York being away from the team for the league meeting and the first three games.
The NFL did not immediately clarify for FOS what level of involvement in team operations and decision-making, if any, York is permitted to have during his suspension.
York, 46, took over the 49ers as CEO in 2008 and became the team’s principal owner after acquiring additional shares from his mother in 2024. The 49ers list his parents, Denise DeBartolo York and John York, as co-chairs.
The NFL Players Association did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment by FOS on its view of the league’s ruling in the York case and whether the union considers it an equitable application of the personal conduct policy, which also applies to players.
Columbiana County, Ohio, court records showed in August that York posted a $5,000 bond and was released on his own recognizance after pleading no contest to charges of disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools. York, who spent one day in jail, was hit with a total of $1,150 in fines, plus additional court fees.
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