What do NFL owners do during the offseason? Go cruising on their superyachts, of course. There's an exclusive (but growing) club of NFL team owners who together have commissioned some of the largest superyachts in the world.
As the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs prepare to go head-to-head in this weekend's Super Bowl LVIII, BOAT takes a closer look at the yachts associated with the biggest names in American sport...
Aviva
Joe Lewis • Tottenham Hotspur
British businessman Joe Lewis is the majority owner of Premier League football team Tottenham Hotspur and counts the 98.4-metre Abeking & Rasmussen superyacht Aviva among his possessions. When delivered in 2017, Aviva was the third yacht of its name to be owned by Lewis – including a 62-metre Feadship and a 68-metre, also built at Abeking & Rasmussen. The superyacht's standout feature is her huge padel tennis court, measuring 20-metres long by 10 metres wide. She also has an owner’s wardrobe that designer Andrew Langton claimed was "bigger than my house in France".
Read More/Aviva: Inside the 98.4m Abeking & Rasmussen flagship yachtDreAMBoat
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, 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 – 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.
Whisper (ex Kismet)
Shahid Kahn • Jacksonville Jaguars
In 2014, serial superyacht and sports club owner Shahid Khan took delivery of his biggest boat to date. The 95.2-metre Lürssen is a hit with yacht-spotters around the world thanks to her "champagne and caviar" exterior (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 graces Kismet's bow, with its paw resting on a football helmet. Other highlights include lavish, art-deco interiors, a basketball court on the bow and a dedicated onboard hairdresser.
Kismet was sold and renamed Whisper in September 2023.
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's easy to see why. After all, 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. Fitting 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 Seattle, Miami and Cannes. She was most recently sighted in Tower Bridge, London.
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 was previously owned by Allen's widower Jody, who 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.
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 was delivered by Dutch shipyard Royal Hakvoort in 2021. She 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.