Sports ownership is changing, and it’s happening with a lot more melanin than it used to. One of your favorite former NBA players (no, not Allen Iverson, though the internet played in our faces this week to make us believe he was) joined the sports ownership ranks. Russell Westbrook, barely a month into retirement, signed on as a co-founder and chief strategy officer of the upstart basketball league Project B, taking an ownership stake and a board seat as the league gets off the ground. And he’s not the only one. Plenty of other Black star power is claiming its stake in the sports game right now too.
But back to Iverson. That rumor all began with a post from Tyrese Gibson (to his 19 million Instagram followers) claiming that “The Answer” had bought into the Philadelphia 76ers ownership group. It spread everywhere within a few hours, until Front Office Sports reporter Ben Horney shut it down just as fast, confirming with a source close to the situation that the claim was fake.
Had it been true, Iverson would have joined one of the shortest lists in sports: Michael Jordan held the title of the only Black majority owner in modern sports history for over a decade, from buying into the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006 to selling his stake in the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, and no one held that title again until Kwanza Jones this month.
For those 17 years Jordan held it alone, more than half of NFL players were Black, and the league still had zero Black majority owners as of its most recent diversity report card from the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. Black athletes make up roughly 70 percent of the NBA too, and ownership there has looked just as lopsided.
That five percent is starting to move, just not through Iverson. Black minority owners now hold more seats across NFL franchises than at any other point in the league’s history, which is a shift that’s happened almost entirely in the last two seasons. And it’s not just former players buying back into the teams they used to suit up for. Media executives and financiers are getting into these deals now too, and so are entertainers who are looking for ways to stretch those Hollywood dollars.
Kwanza Jones, San Diego Padres
Kwanza Jones just bought her way into the history books. She and her husband José E. Feliciano closed a $3.9 billion deal for the San Diego Padres, and it’s now the most expensive sale in Major League Baseball history. The deal also makes Jones the first Black woman to hold majority ownership of an MLB franchise. Before any of this, she was a Princeton grad with a law degree from Cardozo who spent years as a Billboard-charting recording artist. She later founded SUPERCHARGED, her media and personal development company. At the introductory press conference, she picked jersey number 00 for “zero limits” and led the room in a World Series chant.
Renee Montgomery, Atlanta Dream
Renee Montgomery bet on herself, and it paid off. She walked away from an 11-year WNBA career in 2021 and joined the investor group that bought the Atlanta Dream, becoming the first former player to serve as both a co-owner and executive of a WNBA team. The sale came after Dream players pushed for owner Kelly Loeffler to be bought out over her public criticism of the league’s social justice work. Montgomery has said LeBron James’s public interest in assembling a Dream ownership group helped push her toward the idea.
Grant Hill, Atlanta Hawks
Grant Hill has held his stake in the Atlanta Hawks for a decade. He joined Ares Management founder Tony Ressler in 2015 to buy the team for $850 million and has served as vice chair of the board ever since. The franchise has climbed to a valuation of more than $3 billion since then. Hill has never disclosed his exact stake, but he’s said Ressler treats him as a partner rather than an investor.
Tems, San Diego FC
The Nigerian singer joined the San Diego FC ownership group in February 2025 through her company The Leading Vibe, making her the first African woman to hold a stake in an MLS team. The deal came together with Pave Investments, an African private equity firm that also helped drive investment into NBA Africa. Tems has said her love of football goes back to watching her brother play as a kid in Lagos.
Issa Rae, San Diego FC
Issa Rae has been part of the San Diego FC ownership group since before the club’s 2025 MLS debut, joining alongside World Cup winner Juan Mata and MLB All-Star Manny Machado. Her involvement puts her in the same ownership circle as Tems, meaning two Black women sit inside the leadership of the same club. Between Rae, Tems, and Kwanza Jones’s Padres deal, San Diego now has three Black women who’ve bought into its sports teams.
Candace Parker, Angel City FC
Most athletes wait until retirement to think about ownership, but Candace Parker got in while she was still playing. She became a part owner of Angel City FC in 2020 while an active WNBA player, and the NWSL club has since grown into one of the league’s most valuable franchises. More athletes have since followed her into women’s soccer ownership, but she got there first.
Mellody Hobson, Denver Broncos
Mellody Hobson broke an NFL barrier that had stood since the league’s founding. She became the first Black woman with equity in an NFL franchise when she joined the ownership group behind the Broncos’ $4.65 billion sale in 2022, alongside Condoleezza Rice and Lewis Hamilton. Hobson is co-CEO of Ariel Investments and chairs Starbucks’ board. Through Ariel, she has since raised $250 million for Project Level, a fund focused on investing in women’s sports.