The NFL, long seen as a boys club, is becoming a women’s club in the ownership ranks.
After the recent death of Colts owner Jim Irsay, who left the operation of the team to his daughters Kalen Jackson, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, and Casey Foyt—all hold the equal title of vice chair/owner—at least 12 of the total 32 NFL teams now count women as controlling or significantly active owners.
Those teams are the Colts, 49ers, Chiefs, Raiders, Browns, Bills, Buccaneers, Titans, Saints, Seahawks, Lions, and Broncos.
(Under NFL rules, there must be one controlling owner, which is the person who votes on things like rule changes, although the league does not disclose that list. Families that control teams must collectively own 30% of the club.)
That’s not to mention other teams with women who are deeply involved in organizations—like Charlotte Jones with the Cowboys and Katie Blackburn with the Bengals—or the increasingly diverse slate of NFL minority owners or limited partners (LPs), a list that has grown significantly since owners in 2022 issued a joint statement nodding to the “important goal of increasing diversity among ownership.”
Among the 30 new limited partners added across eight teams since 2024, 18—or 60%—are people of color, women, or both, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy tells Front Office Sports.
Notable female minority owners include Mellody Hobson of Ariel Investments, who is part of the Broncos ownership group; Theresia Gouw of Acrew Capital, who is a minority owner in the Bills; and retired Olympic medal-winning American gymnast Dominique Dawes, who owns a piece of the Falcons.
“There are more women in ownership at every level than ever before,” McCarthy tells FOS.
How Things Started
The NFL launched in 1920 and didn’t have its first female owner until 1947, when Violet Bidwill took over the then–Chicago Cardinals following the death of her husband, Charles Bidwill. She quickly became the first female NFL owner with a championship under her belt when the Cardinals won the 1947 NFL Championship Game, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 28–21 (the first “Super Bowl” wasn’t until 1967, and it was only referred to as the Super Bowl after the fact).
The next female owner didn’t arrive until 1983, when Virginia Halas McCaskey took over the Bears following the death of her father, George Halas. McCaskey owned the Bears until she passed away in February of this year at the age of 102.
San Francisco 49ers
The contemporary guard of female owners began taking shape in 2001, when Denise DeBartolo York assumed control of the 49ers after her brother, Eddie DeBartolo Jr., was caught up in a gambling fraud probe. Denise, her husband, John York, and their son Jed York (who is CEO of the team) recently welcomed new minority owners, announcing in May a total 6% investment from three Bay Area families. The 49ers were reportedly valued at $8.5 billion in that deal. Edward DeBartolo Sr. purchased the team in 1977 for $13 million.
Kansas City Chiefs
Sharron Hunt is one of four siblings who are co-majority owners of the Chiefs. The team was passed down to them in 2005. Lamar Hunt Sr. founded the team in 1959, which has seen significant success in recent years (three Super Bowls since 2020). The Chiefs have a $4.85 billion valuation, according to Forbes.
Las Vegas Raiders
In 2011, Carol Davis and her son, Mark Davis, assumed control of the then–Oakland Raiders after Al Davis’s death. Al originally bought a 10% stake for $18,500 in 1966 and amassed additional shares over the years. The team, which moved to Las Vegas in 2020, is currently 47%-owned by Carol and Mark and is valued at $6.7 billion.
Cleveland Browns
Dee Haslam joined the ranks of female NFL owners in 2012, when she and her husband, Jimmy Haslam, purchased the Browns for about $1 billion. Today, the team is valued at about $5.15 billion. The Haslams recently sold a 0.1% stake in the team to Pro Football Hall of Famer Charles Woodson.
Buffalo Bills
In 2014, Terry and Kim Pegula bought the Bills for $1.4 billion. Kim was deeply involved in the franchise until June 2022, when she suffered cardiac arrest. The recovery has not been easy; in July 2024, she made her first public appearance. In December 2024, the Bills sold a 10% stake to Arctos Partners, in what represented one of the first of two private-equity deals since the league voted to approve limited PE ownership last summer. The team’s current value is $4.2 billion.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The six Glazer siblings—Bryan, Edward, Joel, Avram, Kevin, and Darcie Glazer Kassewitz—have been in control of the Bucs since 2014. They assumed ownership after the passing of their father, Malcolm Glazer, who bought the team for $192 million in 1995. Today, the team is valued at $5.4 billion.
Tennessee Titans
Since 2015, Amy Adams Strunk has been controlling owner of the Titans, which have been in the Adams family since 1960, when Bud Adams founded the then–Houston Oilers. They relocated to Tennessee and became the Titans in 1997. The Titans’ value is $4.9 billion.
New Orleans Saints
Gayle Benson has owned the Saints since 2018, when her husband, Tom Benson, passed away. He outlined in 2015 the plan for Gayle to take control of both the Saints and New Orleans Pelicans upon his death. Tom Benson bought the team in 1985 for $70 million. Today, the Saints are valued at about $4.4 billion.
Seattle Seahawks
Also in 2018, Jody Allen assumed control of the Seahawks (and Portland Trail Blazers) upon the death of her husband, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, who purchased the Seahawks for $200 million in 1997. Under Allen’s will, Jody is supposed to eventually sell both teams. She recently put the Blazers up for sale, but not the Seahawks, which are valued at $5.45 billion.
Detroit Lions
In 2020, Sheila Ford Hamp took over as majority owner of the Lions from her mother, Martha Firestone Ford, who had succeeded her late husband, William Clay Ford, in 2014. William, the grandson of Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford, had purchased the Lions for $6 million on Nov. 22, 1963, which is the same day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The Lions’ current value is $4.15 billion.
Denver Broncos
Carrie Walton Penner, alongside her husband Greg Penner, joined the ranks in 2022, when her family bought the Broncos from the Pat Bowlen Trust for $4.65 billion, which at the time represented a record for a U.S. sports team (that record has since been broken multiple times, most recently by the NBA’s Boston Celtics sale worth more than $6 billion). Today, the Broncos are valued at $5.5 billion.
