NFL Succession Planning/Estate Tax

[THE PISTONS]

Here's something that I don't think I've seen discussed for a while. First off, I'm not an estate lawyer or sports lawyer. But, I'll post some articles and then maybe people can chime in with what they know.

1) Teams have succession plans that they submit to the NFL: 'The NFL is aware of the McCaskey estate plan, and that of each of the other 30 family-owned franchises (the community-owned Green Bay Packers are an exception). Every summer, those teams submit updated franchise succession plans with the league’s central office. The documents, according to multiple people familiar with the process, lay out the current owner’s intentions for the team once he or she is no longer in control. Will there be an interim owner? Will the team be sold? Which heir will take over? Is that child aware and willing to assume responsibility?'

2) Both the Bills and Broncos sales came following the death of an owner. In fact, half of the most recent dozen NFL team sales can be traced to the death of the prior controlling owner. In 2010, the then St. Louis Rams were sold to Stan Kroenke so Georgia Frontiere’s children could satisfy their estate tax bill. Ralph Wilson (Bills), Leon Hess (Jets) and Jack Kent Cooke (Washington) all called for their teams to be sold after their passing, and Saints owner Gayle Benson said last year she will do the same. Atlanta and Denver were sold after their respective owners died, with the heirs in both cases fighting over whether to keep the team in the family. The Seattle Seahawks are currently controlled by the trust of late owner Paul Allen, who instructed that the team be sold with the proceeds going towards philanthropy.

3) As happy as the NFL is to add Walmart heir Rob Walton to its ownership ranks in Denver, the league prefers teams stay in the family when an owner dies.

Reference for 1-3 - https://www.sportico.com/business/finance/2022/nfl-succession-plans-chicago-bears-mccaskey-1234687987/

4) I believe this article has been posted, but it has a blurb about IRS issues when Paul Brown passed:

'Before Paul Brown died in 1991, he assigned Sawyer’s note and option to a family partnership that was also established in 1983. That allowed shares to be distributed to not only Mike and Pete Brown, but Mike’s wife, Nancy, and children, Katie Blackburn and Paul H. Brown.

The IRS argued the deal was a “sham” transaction, designed to avoid estate tax. But Colvin ruled it was an arms-length deal in which both sides got something of value.'

'Sawyer’s role as a Brown family friend first came to light when the IRS filed a $30 million tax lien against the team, claiming a 1983 option agreement was a way for the Browns to avoid estate taxes. Judge Colvin rejected the IRS claim while explaining how Sawyer helped the Brown family become majority owners.'

5) The Brown family now owns 97%.

6) The Cincinnati Bengals are worth between $4.1 billion and $5.25 billion, depending on whether you believe Forbes with the lower estimate, or CNBC with the highest.

Reference for 4-6 - https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/i-team/the-billionaire-bengals-how-the-brown-family-got-rich

[*pally*]

While we know that Mike is the controlling owner, we don't know how much of the team he individually owns. His brother Robin had 4 children, how many shares do they own. Pete, afaik, didn't have any children. Did he leave his shares to his nieces and nephews or to his brother? There is still at least 1 minority owner outside the family.

I would guess that the Bengals ownership looks very similar to the Bears with the shares divided among various family members and Mike controlling the votes. When he passes Katie will take over that role.

[THE PISTONS]

(03-06-2025, 11:04 AM)pally Wrote: While we know that Mike is the controlling owner, we don't know how much of the team he individually owns.  His brother Robin had 4 children, how many shares do they own.  Pete, afaik, didn't have any children.  Did he leave his shares to his nieces and nephews or to his brother?  There is still at least 1 minority owner outside the family.

I would guess that the Bengals ownership looks very similar to the Bears with the shares divided among various family members and Mike controlling the votes.  When he passes Katie will take over that role.

Yes. Likely. But, there will be a tax bill that needs paid.

So what kind of estate tax would someone owe? Well, it depends on who passes away and who owns what shares and how things are setup and maybe more factors. Without being able to see the succession plan, it's impossible to say.


The NFL franchise values in billions sound great, until you consider that taxes paid in this situation are based upon them.

I asked ChatGPT and basically it says that you could pay up to 40% of the value of the franchise...which is $4.5 to $5 billion. (That's likely worst case scenario as a team wouldn't have 1 owner, but ownership split.) But, the tax bill could still be hundreds of millions of dollars.

[THE PISTONS]

So the interesting thing with NFL franchises is they have a value in the billions, but that's mainly an on paper value. Some franchises make $100 or so million actual profit per season.

IF I were involved in a franchise, I'd imagine that I'd want to have a fairly large amount of cash in the bank to cover those estate taxes should the unexpected happen.

[*ochocincos*]

I wonder how the Art Modell Law in Ohio would still be in effect with the passing of the owner?
If so, that could have an impact into the next owner of the team.
https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-9.67

[THE PISTONS]

(03-06-2025, 01:51 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I wonder how the Art Modell Law in Ohio would still be in effect with the passing of the owner?
If so, that could have an impact into the next owner of the team.
https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-9.67

Yeah, there's a lot of unknown on this stuff. Very complex.

It may explain or partially explain why the Bengals want to pay large bonuses in certain years, etc. May. Of course, that may be a business decision too.

[Nepa]

(03-06-2025, 11:08 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Yes. Likely. But, there will be a tax bill that needs paid.

So what kind of estate tax would someone owe? Well, it depends on who passes away and who owns what shares and how things are setup and maybe more factors. Without being able to see the succession plan, it's impossible to say.


The NFL franchise values in billions sound great, until you consider that taxes paid in this situation are based upon them.

I asked ChatGPT and basically it says that you could pay up to 40% of the value of the franchise...which is $4.5 to $5 billion. (That's likely worst case scenario as a team wouldn't have 1 owner, but ownership split.) But, the tax bill could still be hundreds of millions of dollars.

Is that the same ChatGPT that makes up fake citations for legal briefs filed with the court? Or that provided the wrong answer when i posted a grammar question, while giving a detailed explanation of why it was right, and then it took me 10 subsequent questions where it ended up contracting itself and then finally admitted it had been wrong (remarkably it stated, "I lied") . No one should ever cite ChatGPT or accept it's answers prima facie. It often makes up answers to questions. I stop reading when someone cites ChatGPT, though it's good that they cited the source.

[*pally*]

(03-06-2025, 01:51 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I wonder how the Art Modell Law in Ohio would still be in effect with the passing of the owner?
If so, that could have an impact into the next owner of the team.
https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-9.67

it should be.  There is nothing in the law that specifies different rules for different scenarios.

[Luvnit2]

I am not a billionaire, but I do have some experience with passing on a business to my family. MB has had over 20 years to pass on ownership. I am guessing, Katie already owns at least 25% of the ownership. If so, is business is valued at 4 billion, she owns 1 billion dollars in company stock.

An acountant may value the business a lot lower than the so called experts projecting value.

If Kate owns 25% and other family members own 20%, that leaves MB with 55%. Katie would use her 25% ownership leverage to purhase MB's 55% (value of 2.1 billion).

The 2.1 billion would be taxed to Mike Brown, not to Katie or the team. The tax bill would be paid out of MB's sale proceeds to Katie. Any money in MB" estate from his personal assets + sale - taxes likely will go to Katie. Katie can use this money to put in escrow to pay her loan, or choose to get a smaller loan.

Again, I am no expert, but MB is over 90 years old and a lawyer. My hunch is they have ownership succession planned and have been working on transfer of ownership for last 20 years and maybe longer.

My experience is while liviing, I retired and sold ny business to my children. My tax liability was extremely low because we had a 20 year plan of transfer of ownership each year.