Sports often feels more like a passion than a capitalist pursuit. Fans buy jerseys of their favorite players and pretend they’re kids again as they celebrate athletes and ask for their autographs. However, when the corporate big-shots who own a professional sports franchise make a blunder, the rose-colored glasses come off. Fans are then reminded of how badly these business professionals can mess up.
The worst sports owners in history range from racists and harassers to scumbags who put profit above success.
1. Donald Sterling – Los Angeles Clippers
Donald Sterling’s atrocities ranged from gawking at athletes in the locker room to racist rants against Magic Johnson. Sterling kept the Clippers in the shadow of Los Angeles basketball for decades. Since Steve Ballmer bought the team in 2014, the Clippers have been a contender almost every season.
2. George Preston Marshall – Washington Commanders
George Preston Marshall founded the Washington franchise in the NFL, but he deserves legendary mocking for his outdated stance on racial integration in football. Marshall tried as hard as he could to prevent other teams and his own from signing Black players in the 1940s-1960s. The team’s racist nickname, the Redskins, also became controversial in the 2010s and led to a name change.
3. James Dolan – New York Knicks
James Dolan can’t be called a racist like the previous two owners on the list, but his lack of caring for the New York Knicks makes him an unpopular figure in America’s biggest city. Dolan inherited the team from his dad, and despite having one of the most lucrative teams in the league, he often fields one of the worst products on the court.
4. Robert Sarver – Phoenix Suns
Robert Sarver’s ode to terrible ownership included racism and cheap spending. The Phoenix Suns often didn’t have the cash to compete with other contenders in the Western Conference with Sarver at the helm of the franchise. He sold the team in 2023, and fans can now wait and see if the team wins a title without him.
5. Clayton Bennett – Oklahoma City Thunder
Clayton Bennett probably receives adulation in his hometown of Oklahoma City, but the way he handled relocating the Seattle SuperSonics to the Midwest will go down as one of the NBA’s worst team heists ever. Bennett never intended to keep the Sonics in Seattle, yet he kept feeding the fans lies and deceit for over a year after purchasing the basketball team.
6. Stan Kroenke – Los Angeles Rams
Stan Kroenke actually owns a lot more than just the Los Angeles Rams, including the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche. His awful ownership mostly resides in his treatment of the fans in St. Louis when he moved the Rams to Los Angeles. Like Bennett, Kroenke ruthlessly ripped the team from the people in the original market.
7. Frank McCourt – Los Angeles Dodgers
Frank McCourt built a poor legacy in Los Angeles by not asserting his spending power or efforts properly with the Dodgers. Fans were often frustrated throughout the 2000s when McCourt wouldn’t prioritize winning over money with the Dodgers. The team has since become one of the best in baseball yearly after McCourt’s sale to Magic Johnson and others.
8. Marge Schott- Cincinnati Reds
Marge Schott separates herself from other owners in baseball history by exclaiming her racist views with vigor and an unforgivable nature. Schott owned the Cincinnati Reds but apparently didn’t want any Black players on her team. Schott constantly used slurs against the athletes on the field and got in trouble for using Nazi symbols.
9. Art Modell – Cleveland Browns
Another unfaithful owner who moved his team from one city to another, Art Modell ingrained himself into the Cleveland community before ripping the Browns from the city. The return of the team four years later helped soften the blow, but fans in Ohio still despise Modell for moving a team he owned for decades to Baltimore.
10. Jack Kent Cooke – Los Angeles Lakers
Jack Kent Cooke did a lot of good things for the Lakers, such as moving them into their iconic stadium, the Forum, and suggesting the purple and gold color scheme they’ve employed for decades. His arrogance often interfered with the team’s chances of improvement, however. He famously hung balloons from the rafters before Game Seven of the 1969 NBA Finals, a move that motivated Bill Russell and the Celtics.
11. Nintendo of America – Seattle Mariners
Anytime a corporation owns a team, the chances of success fall off a cliff. Nintendo of America bought the Seattle Mariners because of their geographical proximity to the team, but they put in zero effort in the two-plus decades they owned the M’s from 1992 through 2016. Seattle has been one of the worst teams in baseball in their entire history, and the effects of Nintendo’s ownership are still seen today.
12. Daniel Snyder – Washington Commanders
Daniel Snyder transformed the Washington Commanders into one of the worst teams in the NFC during his two decades owning the team. He continually botched the nickname scandal surrounding the previous moniker, Redskins, and got in trouble for harboring a toxic work environment and harassment in the workplace.
13. Dan Gilbert – Cleveland Cavaliers
Dan Gilbert clearly cares about the Cleveland Cavaliers — maybe even a little bit too much. His main blunder was writing a nasty and inappropriate letter to the fans in Ohio after LeBron James left the Cavs on national television in 2010. Gilbert’s opinion of James felt tinged with personal hatred and sour grapes, but LeBron returned to the team in 2014 anyway.
14. Jerry Richardson – Carolina Panthers
Jerry Richardson accomplished very little in his 20-plus years owning the Carolina Panthers. He got in trouble for sexual misconduct in the workplace and set a standard of poor execution in Charlotte. The Panthers have endured as one of the worst teams in sports, even after his death.
15. David Glass – Kansas City Royals
When a team can’t ever get above water, look to ownership as one of the first reasons why. David Glass ran the Kansas City Royals during one of the most unsuccessful periods of the franchise. The team missed the playoffs for the first 13 seasons he owned the team before finally winning a World Series in 2015. Glass always put his wallet above the success of the team.
16. Jimmy Haslam – Cleveland Browns
Any association with the current Cleveland Browns brings ominous clouds to a person’s resume, and Jimmy Haslam deserves the same distinction. Haslam doesn’t do much to improve the reputation of the Browns, and his decision to sign abuser Deshaun Watson should be criticized.
17. Jeffrey Loria – Miami Marlins
Jeffrey Loria never gave the Miami Marlins much of a chance to compete after their World Series successes in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Fans complained of his cheap management and lousy negotiations for new stadiums using taxpayers’ money instead of private funds.
18. Jerry Jones – Dallas Cowboys
Jerry Jones certainly cares about the Dallas Cowboys, maybe too much. Jones fields a competitive team in Texas every season, but his over-involvement in the decisions on and off the gridiron makes it impossible for the franchise to take another step forward and return to Super Bowl glory.
19. George Steinbrenner – New York Yankees
George Steinbrenner makes the list for the same reasons as Jerry Jones. Steinbrenner often believed he was the reason the Yankees were winning instead of the players and management. He fired his bench coaches at the drop of a hat and engaged in media and interviews like a movie star.
20. Dean Spanos – Los Angeles Chargers
Taking ownership from family almost always spells trouble. Dean Spanos hails from his father’s business ventures and took over the Chargers in the last decade. Spanos’ team lives in the shadow of the Rams and also left the loyal fans in San Diego after 56 years.
21. Michael Jordan – Charlotte Hornets
Michael Jordan made history as one of the only Black owners in sports during his time with the Charlotte Hornets, but he didn’t bring his signature competitive edge to the city. Charlotte only made the playoffs three times during Jordan’s 13 years owning the team.
22. Jerry Reinsdorf – Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox
Jerry Reinsdorf went from one of the best owners in sports to one of the worst when he wouldn’t shell out enough money to maintain legendary coach Phil Jackson in 1998. Reinsdorf’s teams have experienced very little success since the White Sox won the World Series in 2005.
