How many NFL teams have black owners? F1 GOAT Lewis Hamilton joins exclusive list

Diversity in NFL front offices has been the topic of discussion for a long time. Currently, there are only four black head coaches in the NFL -- Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh), Lovie Smith (Houston), Todd Bowles (Tampa Bay) and Mike McDaniel (Miami).

There are minority assistant coaches, but there's still a disparity that the NFL is, at least, claiming to worry about. The Rooney Rule was put in place to ensure minorities received opportunities. It was recently altered to increase that.

However, in terms of NFL ownership, the numbers are much lower. It's something Roger Goodell has stated he wants to see changed, but how many are there?

---

How many black owners are there in the NFL?

Lewis Hamilton, the Formula One driver widely considered to be the best ever, just joined the ownership group that's about to buy the Denver Broncos.

The ownership group's leader, Sam Walton, welcomed Hamilton to the team, saying:

"We're delighted to welcome seven-time Formula One World Champion Sir Lewis Hamilton to our ownership group. He is a champion competitor who knows what it takes to lead a winning team.''

When the sale goes official, which could take several weeks, Lewis Hamilton will become the first black owner in the league.

Unless something strange happens to prevent the Walton-Penner group from purchasing or Hamilton backs out for whatever reason, the NFL will have its first black owner ever.

That's troubling, which is why commissioner Goodell said he would love to see diversity in the new owners for the Broncos.

That did happen, if only slightly. Sam Walton is joined by his daughter, Carrie Walton-Penner. She and her husband are both part of the group that Hamilton has recently joined.

Hamilton and Walton-Penner are now the third and fourth minority owners in the entire league.

There are currently only two minority owners at this time. Kim Pegula co-owns both the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres. Shad Khan is the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

New England Patriots v Buffalo Bills Kim Pegula

There haven't been a whole lot of NFL team sales in recent memory, though Carolina Panthers founder and owner Jerry Richardson sold to David Tepper, who is not a minority, in 2019.

It's an issue that has plagued the league for ages, but there's no simple solution. For starters, owners generally don't want to sell their teams.

In the case of wrongdoing, it's been made clear that the league can't force anyone to sell their team, otherwise Dan Snyder (Washington Commanders) and perhaps Robert Kraft (New England Patriots) would have been forced out.

For now, there is hope that more minorities will join ownership groups in the future, as evidenced by Hamilton joining Broncos Country.