From being spotted at the Super Bowl to sharing drinks with NFL team owners, Jeff Bezos seems to love sports, but does he own his own team?
No, Jeff Bezos does not own a sports team. Nonetheless, he certainly has enough money to buy a sports team with the fortune he has accumulated from Amazon. Bezos has expressed interest in purchasing a team in the future when it is the right time.
Scroll down to read more about what sports Bezos is interested in and what league he would want a team in.
Bezos’ Childhood Sports
Growing up in the southern states, it would come as a shock if Bezos didn’t play some kind of sport during his childhood. When he was in elementary school, he lived in Texas, a state where American football reigns as the most popular sport. So it would make sense that Bezos would play.
When he was around twelve years old, Bezos’ parents, Jackie and Mike, decided to enroll him in football. Jackie recalls that “He barely made the weight limit, and I thought he was going to get creamed out there.” True to his entrepreneurial spirit and leadership skills, this was not the case. Due to his intellect and invaluable memory, Jackie soon found that “Within two weeks, however, the coach had named him defensive captain, because Jeff was one of the few kids on the team who could remember all the plays.”
What League Would He Choose?
It should come as no surprise that Bezos is a big American football fan. This is probably due to his interest in football from playing as a boy. This means that his league of choice would be the National Football League also known as the NFL. In this post from his Instagram, Bezos even attended Super Bowl LIV and took the opportunity to take a picture of himself with singer Lizzo.
Bezos’ interest in buying an NFL team seems to be growing as well. It has been reported in the news recently that Bezos has been befriending other NFL team owners. He also appears to be gaining support from some of the owners within the league for purchasing a team. However, in order for him to buy a team, one of the current owners would have to be willing to sell.
There have been a few rumors spreading around over the past couple of years about Bezos making deals to purchase a team. One rumor that arose in 2018 was that Bezos was going to purchase the Seattle Seahawks after owner Paul Allen passed away. The most recent rumor was that Bezos was going to purchase the Detroit Lions, but this was shot down by the owner Martha Ford.
You can watch the below YouTube video explaining why the NFL is so interested in Bezos owning a team.
How Does Buying an NFL Team Work?
There is a set of restrictions in place for ownership of an NFL team. One of these restrictions is that the government, religious groups, or non-profits are not allowed to own a team. Another is that ownership cannot be held by a group larger than 24 people. There is also an informal rule that the owner must have a relatively liquid cash flow in order to own a team.
Once all of these restrictions are met, a current owner has to decide to sell their team before someone can even consider buying one. Then the bids are made for the team, but the owners of the other teams have to unanimously agree to the purchase. The last time a team sold was the Carolina Panthers in 2018 for a whopping $2.3 billion.
Even though Jeff Bezos has enough money to buy an NFL team, there are so many other factors that are currently stopping him from making the purchase. It is easy to predict though, that sooner or later Bezos will become the proud owner of an NFL franchise.