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Think you’ve made it when you’ve purchased a professional sports team? Not so fast. You’ll need a private jet to shuttle between games.
New York Jets owner Woody Johnson isn’t the only billionaire sports team owner to have a jet. Just ask Houston Texans’ Bob McNair, Minnesota Vikings’ Zygi Wilf or Boston Bruins’ Jeremy Jacobs, and they’ll tell you that private wheels are a must-have for convenience and status.
But the list of sports team owners and their reasons for owning a jet doesn’t end there.
Most lend their aircraft to complete humanitarian missions, transport underfunded college and professional women’s teams to championship games, or delight fans with surprise trips.
Here are seven sports team owners who travel by private jet but also use their aircraft for more wide-ranging purposes.
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Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys
Image Credit: Courtesy Jeremiah Jhass/Dallas Cowboys After building a $1 billion stadium in Arlington, Tex., spending $8 million for a helicopter may feel like chump change to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. When Jones heads to AT&T Stadium, the nine-seat Airbus ACH145 helicopter shaves 30 minutes off his commute from the team’s training complex and 20 minutes off his trip home to Dallas.
The Dallas Cowboys often donate the helicopter for charitable events for veterans and other Texas nonprofits.
Jones owns a $61 million Gulfstream V for trips farther afield.
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Robert Kraft, New England Patriots
Image Credit: Getty Images In addition to owning the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft has a fleet of private jets that he likes using for humanitarian missions and to surprise lesser-funded sports teams.
His AirKraft Boeing 767 jumbo jet transported N-95 masks from China to Boston during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also deployed it to bring the Boston Renegades women’s professional football team to win the 2021 Championship in Minnesota and the University of Miami’s basketball squad back from Houston, Tex., after the Hurricanes lost in the NCAA tournament to Connecticut.
Kraft also has a Gulfstream G650, which he flew to the annual Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, last year, and a $26 million Bombardier Challenger 350. The Challenger seats 10 on cushy white leather upholstery and features a bathroom, dining table and small kitchen.
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Michael Jordan, Charlotte Hornets
Image Credit: City of Salisbury Facebook Michael Jordan, a six-time NBA champion and five-time MVP with the Chicago Bulls, now watches basketball games from the owners’ box.
The world’s first billionaire athlete purchased a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets in 2010, becoming the first former player to become the majority owner of an NBA team, as well as the league’s only African-American majority owner.
The GOAT gets to those games, as well as to his homes around the country, in a $61-million Gulfstream IV renovated to suit his needs. The plane’s tail number is N236MJ, a nod to his jersey number, number of titles and initials. The wing shows the NBA logo-like silhouette of a basketball player dunking. Inside the 16-person jet is a full bedroom with bathroom, a bar, and a stash of cigars to enjoy with friends such as Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen.
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Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Mark Cuban is more than a Shark Tank investor. The billionaire entrepreneur also owns the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and a pair of aircraft: a Boeing 757 for basketball-related travel and a Gulfstream G550 for personal use.
Cuban customized the 757 to include a weight room and space for medical treatments, but he charters the plane to other customers during the off-season. He purchased the Gulfstream G550 online in 1999 for $40 million, a deal the Guinness Book of Records credited as the world’s “largest single e-commerce transaction.” Cuban’s most expensive plane, a $144 million Boeing 767 jumbo jet, was scrapped for parts in 2021.
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Steve Ballmer, Los Angeles Clippers
Image Credit: Flickr Steve Ballmer’s commute got a lot longer when he retired from Microsoft as CEO in 2014. Now he regularly jets between Seattle and Los Angeles, where he owns the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team. He paid ousted owner Donald Sterling $2 billion in a bidding war for the team, by far the most paid for an NBA franchise.
Ballmer flies between rainy Seattle and sunny LA in his Gulfstream G650. He is in good company, as Gulfstream is the go-to for billionaire sports team owners who want to splurge.
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Jim Irsay, Indianapolis Colts
Image Credit: Courtesy Indianapolis Colts Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay used one of his four private jets to send 14 contest winners to New York to see the Colts play the New York Giants on New Year’s Day. Designed to reward Colts fans after a disappointing season, the “Super Thank You Dream New Year Trip” included VIP tickets, hotel accommodations, meals, ground transportation, and $2,000 in cash.
Irsay is known as being one of the most fan-friendly owners in the NFL, as well as donating his aircraft for charity use.
The billionaire’s fleet includes a Gulfstream IV as well as a Boeing 737 with a master bedroom, two dining room tables, and two twin beds.
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Shahid Khan, Jacksonville Jaguars, Fulham FC
Image Credit: Planespotter.net If owning the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team didn’t keep him busy enough, auto parts tycoon Shad Khan also has a soccer, ahem, football team across the pond: the English Premier League team Fulham FC. How does he cross the ocean to oversee his two professional sports franchises? Not by flying commercial!
Khan owns a fleet of private jets, including Lear Jets, a Bombardier Global 6000, and the top-of-the-line Bombardier Global 7500 ultra-long-range jet. The Global 7500 can accommodate 19 passengers and fly for 17 hours, nearly enough for a roundtrip between Jacksonville, Florida, and London. It features a permanent stateroom with a two-person bed and shower, a large living room that doubles as a conference room, and one of the largest kitchens in the business.