There is a small but exclusive (and growing) club of NFL team owners who together have built and owned some of the largest superyachts in the world. As the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs prepare to go head-to-head in this weekend's Super Bowl LVII, we take a look at the most impressive vessels owned by the biggest names in American sport...
DreAMBoat
Arthur Blank • Atlanta Falcons
Owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank, made his fortune as co-founder of American hardware store The Home Depot. Blank is supposedly one of the more recent additions to the elite club of sporting superyacht owners after taking delivery of a 90-metre Oceanco named DreAMBoat in 2019. The boat began construction on speculation and is one of the largest projects to ever be started before securing an owner. It was a risk that paid off for the Dutch shipyard and soon enough the Espen Øino-penned superyacht was rumoured to have been snapped up by Blank just 18 months before she was due to be completed.
Read More/DreAMBoat: On board Oceanco's daring 90m speculative buildKismet
Shahid Kahn • Jacksonville Jaguars
Serial superyacht and sports club owner Shahid Khan took delivery of his biggest boat to date in 2014. Named Kismet, the 95.2-metre Lürssen is a hit with yacht-spotters around the world thanks to her 'champagne and caviar' exterior with a golden hull and jet-black mast. Khan purchased the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012 and on game days, a four-metre silver statue of a jaguar, its paw resting on a football helmet, graces Kismet's bow. Highlights include a lavish, bejewelled interior, a basketball court on the bow and an al fresco fire pit.
Lady S
Daniel Snyder • Washington Commanders
Feadship’s award-winning 93-metre Lady S was reportedly commissioned by Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Commanders, and is one of the world’s most expensive yachts available to charter. A week on board might set you back over €1.4 million but it is easy to see why. At the heart of the yacht is a 12-seat, two-deck IMAX cinema while a fully certified helipad allows VIP guests to come and go as they please. Naturally for an owner at the heart of American sport, Lady S is also equipped with a number of sports facilities for golf, basketball, volleyball and football.
Bravo Eugenia
Jerry Jones • Dallas Cowboys
Jerry Jones, owner and manager of the Dallas Cowboys, is said to be behind the build of Oceanco’s 109-metre Bravo Eugenia. Built under the project name Bravo and delivered in 2018, Bravo Eugenia was applauded by the industry for her slender figure and elongated bow, courtesy of Nuvolari Lenard. Onboard highlights include a duo of helipads and a hybrid propulsion system. To the delight of yachting fans all over the world, Bravo Eugenia is a city dweller and is often spotted pulling into major cities around the world including London, Seattle, Miami and Cannes.
Octopus
Paul Allen • Seattle Seahawks
The 126-metre Lürssen explorer yacht Octopus was famously commissioned by the late Paul Allen, founder of co-Microsoft and owner of the Seattle Seahawks football team. Highlights include a swimming pool with a floor that raises to transform into a dancefloor, a floodable tender garage and a heli-hangar large enough to carry two helicopters side by side. Octopus is now under new ownership after she sold in 2021 but Allen's widower Jody still remains chairman of the Seattle Seahawks.
Winning Drive
Steve Bisciotti • Baltimore Ravens
Westport motor yacht Winning Drive is rumoured to have been built for American businessman and majority owner of the Baltimore Ravens football team Steve Bisciotti. The 39.6-metre vessel was delivered in 2012 as a Westport 130 and still cruises under the same name today. Unsurprisingly, she can often be spotted cruising between Baltimore and Palm Beach, according to BOATPro's Global Fleet Tracker.
Aquila
Ann Walton and Stan Kroenke • Los Angeles Rams
Ann Walton, heiress to the Walmart fortune, owns the Los Angeles Rams football team with her husband Stan Kroenke. Together the pair reportedly purchased the 85.6-metre Derektor flagship Cakewalk and renamed her Aquila, which underwent an extensive refit at British shipyard Pendennis.
Top Five II
Terry Pagula • Buffalo Bills
Top Five is the second most recent delivery by Dutch shipyard Royal Hakvoort. She splashed in 2021 and is reportedly owned by American businessman Terry Pagula, who also owns the Buffalo Bills NFL team with this wife. The 61-metre motor yacht is described as an “ocean-going explorer” with an ice belt, built to a design by Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design with naval architecture courtesy of Diana Yacht Design. One of the highlights of Top Five's interior is her 2.4-metre-high ceilings.