There is no question that the business of the NFL is huge business from massive player contracts to mega TV rights contracts. If fact, according to Forbes, the total value of all NFL franchises is $37.44 billion, which is an average of $1.17 billion per team (as of Aug. 2013).
For those wondering, the Dallas Cowboys lead the way with an estimated value of $2.3 billion while the Oakland Raiders are the lowest valued team at $825 million.
Clearly, owning an NFL franchise has been nothing but beneficial to the net worths of the owners. But which owners got in the earliest and paid the least, and who has paid the most for an NFL franchise?
We take a look at the current roster of NFL owners and how much they paid for their franchises:
| Team | Owner | Purchase Price | Purchase Date |
| Arizona Cardinals | William Bidwill | $50,000 | 1932 |
| Atlanta Falcons | Arthur Blank | $545,000,000 | 2002 |
| Baltimore Ravens | Stephen Bisciotti | $600,000,000 | 2004 |
| Buffalo Bills | Terry and Kim Pegula | $1,400,000,000 | 2014 |
| Carolina Panthers | Jerry Richardson, Carolina PSLFC | $206,000,000 | 1993 |
| Chicago Bears | McCaskey Family | $100 | 1920 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | Michael Brown | $8,000,000 | 1967 |
| Cleveland Browns | Jimmy Haslam | $1,000,000,000 | 2012 |
| Dallas Cowboys | Jerry Jones | $150,000,000 | 1989 |
| Denver Broncos | Patrick Bowlen | $78,000,000 | 1984 |
| Detroit Lions | William Clay Ford | $4,000,000 | 1964 |
| Green Bay Packers | Green Bay Packers, Inc. | $50 | 1919 |
| Houston Texans | Robert McNair | $700,000,000 | 1999 |
| Indianapolis Colts | James Irsay | $15,000,000 | 1972 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | Shahid Khan | $770,000,000 | 2012 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | Lamar Hunt Family | $25,000 | 1960 |
| Miami Dolphins | Stephen Ross | $1,100,000,000 | 2008 |
| Minnesota Vikings | Zygmunt Wilf |
$600,000,000 |
2005 |
| New England Patriots | Robert Kraft | $172,000,000 | 1994 |
| New Orleans Saints | Tom Benson | $70,000,000 | 1985 |
| New York Giants | John Mara/Steve Tisch | $500 | 1929 |
| New York Jets | Robert Wood Johnson IV | $635,000,000 | 2000 |
| Oakland Raiders | Mark Davis | $25,000 | 1966 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Jeffrey Lurie | $185,000,000 | 1994 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | Rooney Family | $2,500 | 1933 |
| San Diego Chargers | Spanos Family | $70,000,000 | 1984 |
| San Francisco 49ers | Jed York | $13,000,000 | 1977 |
| Seattle Seahawks | Paul Allen | $194,000,000 | 1997 |
| St. Louis Rams | Stanley Kroenke | $750,000,000 | 2010 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Glazer Family | $192,000,000 | 1995 |
| Tennessee Titans | Kenneth Adams Jr | $25,000 | 1959 |
| Washington Redskins | Daniel Snyder | $750,000,000 | 1999 |
Note: In 1991, the Mara family, who own the New York Giants, sold a 50% stake in the team to Steve Tisch for $80 million, which valued the team at $160 million at the time.
The total amount paid by current owners for each franchise is $10,207,128,150 with an average purchase price of $318,972,755. Compared to the estimated values from Forbes, there is approximately $27.2 billion of unlocked value among current owners.
The highest amount paid for an NFL franchise is $1.4 billion by Terry and Kim Pegula for the Buffalo Bills who purchased the team from the trust of Ralph C. Wilson, Jr who paid $25,000 in 1959 for the Bill franchise fee.
For more on the purchase prices of sports franchises, check out our piece on Purchase Price of Each NBA Franchise.