Best owners

[Splendid Splinter]

This made me think, who are some of the best owners throughout the history of sports.

there’s Walter A. Brown of the Celtics, Conn Smyth of the Maple Leafs, George Halas of the Bears that come to mind.

 

[Songbird]

Jerry Buss

 

[wicked]

Mark Cuban and Dan Snyder came into ownership at about the same time, the young rich kids.

If you’d said then that Cuban >>> Snyder, you would’ve been laughed at.

 

[da man]

Didn't everyone love playing for Eddie DeBartolo?

 

[Baron Scicluna]

This made me think, who are some of the best owners throughout the history of sports.

there’s Walter A. Brown of the Celtics, Conn Smyth of the Maple Leafs, George Halas of the Bears that come to mind.

How are we defining “best owners”? Being good to their players? On-field success? Both?

Halas used to get ripped on for being cheap with contracts. I think Smythe used to compare the players’ union to Communists.

I think Joan Payson was well-liked when she owned the Mets. M. Donald Grant, who ran the team for her, on the other hand ...

Art Rooney seems to have been beloved with the Steelers. I don’t recall any Giants players saying anything negative about Wellington Mara either.

 

[Batman]

He's obviously had his issues off the field, but Robert Kraft seems like he checks all the boxes. Good organization, helped resurrect football in New England, and I think his players like him.

Jerry Jones hasn't had nearly the same success as Kraft, but I'd put him among the best in the NFL. He invests in his team, is passionate about it, (mostly) built his own stadium, turned the team's headquarters into a tourist attraction, and has done a lot of innovative stuff on the business side. It's weird to think that, outside of the old school families and the Packers' public ownership, he's now the longest-tenured owner in the NFL.

 

[MileHigh]

Jerry Buss

Absolutely.

 

[MileHigh]

Pat Bowlen was tremendous, and you can see the drop-off since he stopped with day-to-day operating control and his subsequent death. More Super Bowl appearances than losing seasons during his tenure. Loyal to his players and coaches. A class organization under him.

His kids' infighting has gutted the organization. And as someone who oversaw estates of my sister and her family -- obviously not to that scale -- I can see how all of that is getting played out and I count my lucky stars we got through it without all of the bull**** they are doing to each other.

They need to -- and will -- sell and split up $1.5 billion after taxes.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

He's obviously had his issues off the field, but Robert Kraft seems like he checks all the boxes. Good organization, helped resurrect football in New England, and I think his players like him.

Jerry Jones hasn't had nearly the same success as Kraft, but I'd put him among the best in the NFL. He invests in his team, is passionate about it, (mostly) built his own stadium, turned the team's headquarters into a tourist attraction, and has done a lot of innovative stuff on the business side. It's weird to think that, outside of the old school families and the Packers' public ownership, he's now the longest-tenured owner in the NFL.

Jerry the owner: Absolutely.
Jerry the GM: Not so much. January marks 25 years since his last Super Bowl.

 

[Starman]

Bill Veeck, who made decisions based on pleasing the fans, a revolutionary and dangerous strategy at the time (1940s/50s).

On the down side, he invented the debenture/ stock option structure which became commonplace throughout pro sports from the 40s/80s, before corporate acquisition became the norm.

His existence as an owner essentially came to an end when MLB totally missed the call on the Messersmith arbitration case, kicking the door open for free agency and blasting the salary scale beyond what could be handled by syndicates of individual investors and into the stratosphere where only corporations could compete.

This all came down just as Veeck closed the deal on his second purchase of the White Sox (heading off an imminent Sox move to Seattle and probably a following move by Charlie Finley to take the A's to Chicago, which he'd been itching to do for years and years).

If Veeck had known the Messersmith ruling was coming down, he probably would have tried to rope in some corporation to back his bid for the White Sox, but Veeck had always balked at working for anybody else, so it would have been a big leap for him to be a minority or limited partner with a big money corporation having final call on everything.

 

[Batman]

Jerry the owner: Absolutely.
Jerry the GM: Not so much. January marks 25 years since his last Super Bowl.

Agreed. He's definitely too hands on for his own good. He's a lot like George Steinbrenner in that regard. As a Cowboys hater, though, that's fine by me.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

When Jerry does it, it’s called “meddling.” Because it doesn’t work.

When Cuban does it, it’s called “involved brilliance.” Because it (mostly) works.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

It depends how you define best
Mike Ilitch’s Red Wings won the Stanley Cup and his Tigers went to two World Series
He had no problem spending $$$ for the best players
But he built a stadium and arena with sweetheart deals and taxpayer money and the promised District Detroit is just that — a broken promise
He also had a reputation of treating a lot of his employees like crap
Mike Ilitch did a lot of good for Detroit but he never did anything that didn’t benefit Mike Ilitch first and foremost

 

[da man]

Lamar Hunt

Jerry the owner: Absolutely.
Jerry the GM: Not so much. January marks 25 years since his last Super Bowl.

Well, Jerry the owner hired Jerry the GM, and won’t replace him despite decades of evidence showing he’s not the right man for the job.

So what does that say about Jerry the owner?

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

It depends how you define best
Mike Ilitch’s Red Wings won the Stanley Cup and his Tigers went to two World Series
He had no problem spending $$$ for the best players
But he built a stadium and arena with sweetheart deals and taxpayer money and the promised District Detroit is just that — a broken promise
He also had a reputation of treating a lot of his employees like crap
Mike Ilitch did a lot of good for Detroit but he never did anything that didn’t benefit Mike Ilitch first and foremost

I’d probably put the late Bill Davidson on that list, who has to be spinning in his grave over what happened to the Palace.

 

[Huggy]

Smythe was like all other sports owners of his era but he did finance and build Maple Leaf Gardens in something like six months in the middle of the Depression.

I often spend a lot of time at work poring over newspaper archives and one day was looking for something in the Toronto Star when I came across a story from sometime in the 50s about the Gardens getting new lights installed to allow for better viewing on TV. Smythe was holding court with the press and was not happy with TV showing games figuring it would cost him at the gate (spoiler alert, it didn't) and he was musing aloud that if he couldn't charge people to watch his games on TV whether there was something he could give people on TV they would pay for such as practices. What he was thinking about was decades ahead of it's time, something like Leafs TV or any number of team or league/conference specific outlets.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Smythe was like all other sports owners of his era but he did finance and build Maple Leaf Gardens in something like six months in the middle of the Depression.

I often spend a lot of time at work poring over newspaper archives and one day was looking for something in the Toronto Star when I came across a story from sometime in the 50s about the Gardens getting new lights installed to allow for better viewing on TV. Smythe was holding court with the press and was not happy with TV showing games figuring it would cost him at the gate (spoiler alert, it didn't) and he was musing aloud that if he couldn't charge people to watch his games on TV whether there was something he could give people on TV they would pay for such as practices. What he was thinking about was decades ahead of it's time, something like Leafs TV or any number of team or league/conference specific outlets.

Walter O'Malley was thinking the same thing at that time, once he moved the Dodgers to LA. He was thinking something like a coin box in each TV where the viewers could put in coins, and then they would be able to watch Dodger games.

 

[DanOregon]

The Haas family owned the A's from Billyball through the Series win and a few years after that. I don't know how much they made off the sale, and to be fair - Charlie Finley hired Martin and signed Rickey - but the players dug the Haases, and the community did as well. Seemed like every game there was some promotion, not just a giveaway, but a night to raise awareness of an obscure disease, rescue dogs, etc. They really turned the franchise into a community resource.
Dan Snyder aside - I think I'll take an owner who built their own company before buying a team over second, third or fourth generation owners. The guy who bought the Ravens from Modell strikes me as a good owner.

 

[Splendid Splinter]

It's all subjective, so I will let you decide your own definition of best owners.

Not sure if I missed it, however, do you guys believe George Steinbrenner belongs on the list of best owners?

I will not add Marge Schott to this list.