Michael Bidwill Net Worth 2022, Cardinals President's Family Ownership

According to the Spanish newspaper Marca, Michael Bidwill's net worth stands at $1.4 billion. 

Michael Bidwill is famously known as the NFL franchise Arizona Cardinals owner. The team is currently worth $3.27 billion. And like a few other NFL owners, Bidwill inherited the team from his family rather than having to buy it.

The Cardinal owner previously worked as a federal prosecutor for six years before joining the franchise in 1996. At the time, his father, Bill Bidwill, ran the franchise, but quite unsuccessfully. 

During the 90s, the Cardinals only reached one playoff and had seen eight losing campaigns. Bill passed away in 2019 and left behind the business to be handled by Michael, who was serving as the president at the time.

Increase In Value of Arizona Cardinals

Michael became part of the Cardinals in the early 2000s as a vice president, and since then, the team has seen an upturn in its business. It now has major sponsorships from State Farm, the University of Phoenix, Papa John's, and Hyundai.

And though business-wise Cardinals may look like a success, the same cannot be said about their football. The team reached the playoffs in 2021 but has not been able to capitalize on that and has performed poorly this season.

Cardinals President Michael Bidwill's family ownership over the franchise began in 1932. Charles Bidwill, the grandfather of Michael Bidwill, bought the Cardinals for $50,000 that year.

Charles Bidwill, a famous sports entrepreneur from Chicago, one day while he was on his yacht, decided to buy the football team known as Chicago Cardinals at the time.

The entrepreneur was known to have a connection with the notorious American gangster Al Capone. Many knew Charles as a business associate for the gangster; at one point, his connection to the gangster let him in hot water with the U.S Senate investigation.

After buying the football team on a whim in his yacht during a party, Charles ran the franchise until 1947, after which it was passed on to his widow Violet and then, after her demise in 1960, to their two sons, Bill Bidwill and Charles Bidwill Jr.

Michael's father, Bill Bidwill, became the individual owner in 1971. During his tenure, the team was known as one of the worst-run teams in the league and one of the cheapest.

It was only after Michael Bidwill entered the franchise that its fortune shifted. The team became more competitive and used the revenue from the University of Phoenix Stadium, which was opened in 2006 and brought $200 million per year since then.

Today the team is worth $3.27 billion and saw an increase of 23% from last year. And though it improved its overall ranking amongst sports teams, the Cardinals dropped to No. 30 from No. 27 in the NFL.

A large chunk of Michael Bidwill's career earnings stems from being the owner of the Arizona Cardinals. The NFL team brought him a revenue of $467 million in 2021, and Forbes ranked it as the 47th most valuable sports team in the world.

And being the billionaire he is, it comes as no shock that he owns expensive houses and luxury cars. Recently, the Cardinal's owner listed his Paradise Valley property for $5.8 million. He has been living in Paradise Valley for the past 15 years. 

The 8000 sq ft mansion was bought by Michael in 2007 for $4.425 million, and he is trying to leverage the most out of the current price hike in real estate since the pandemic as the prices of houses have skyrocketed in Paradise Valley.

In 2021, Bidwill purchased a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft not for himself but for his team. The aircraft is branded with the Cardinals' color and design and has a seating capacity of 288. 

And he further tried to prove that he was the best boss in the NFL when he sent his private jet to pick up JJ Watt, their newest member at the time. But maybe fans would have been impressed by the team's owner and would start challenging for the real prizes and won its first Super Bowl.