Thanks to Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft’s astounding success with the Patriots, owning a sports franchise might seem glamorous to the outside world. With skyrocketing valuations and championship parades, it can look like a luxurious title. But that’s not what owning a team is really about.
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In reality, beyond the spotlight, team owners play a crucial role as the foundational force that shapes the trajectory of entire organizations.
From setting season objectives to navigating complex decisions about personnel, culture, and investment, the success or failure of a franchise often starts at the very top. And few people understand this better than Bill Belichick.
With six Super Bowl rings as a head coach, Belichick’s tenure with the New England Patriots under owner Robert Kraft was a model of long-term success.
And while talent and strategy played their parts, the legendary NFL coach believes it was the alignment of goals between him and Kraft that truly set the dynasty in motion. It’s a sentiment he echoed in his recent sit-down with Alex Rodriguez on The Deal, where the UNC HC peeled back the curtain on what defines a good owner.
And his answer wasn’t about how much money they spend — it was primarily about priorities. “The first thing is, what are your goals?” Belichick said. “Is it the bottom line? Is it financial? Is it championships?”
He explained that while every player wants a clear path to a championship, not every organization is structured to support that ambition. “When something got in the way of that path, you wanted it removed,” he told Rodriguez. “Whatever it happened to be — whether it’s travel, personnel, or the way something was handled that affected your performance.”
That’s where the owner’s mindset becomes crucial.
“You probably want the best of both [financial and competitive success],” Belichick acknowledged. “But ultimately, which one is the driving force?”
In the longtime Patriots HC’s world, the best owners are the ones who remove obstacles — even expensive ones — that stand in the way of winning.
That could mean upgrading training facilities, improving travel logistics, or backing bold coaching decisions. But it all comes back to alignment: if a player or coach is chasing a ring, the owner has to be ready to fuel that chase, not slow it down.
And as Belichick pointed out, this isn’t unique to sports. “It’s probably like that in a lot of businesses,” he said. “If your goals are truly winning, then you want to remove every obstacle that could be in the way.”
So all said and done, Belichick doesn’t describe a “good” owner as the richest, flashiest, or most popular, but as the most committed. The one who’s ready to share the sacrifices that winning requires. And coming from the most decorated NFL coach of the modern era, that’s advice any franchise — or executive — should take seriously.
