
How much money did the Ford family pay for the Detroit Lions?
Who is the current owner of the Detroit Lions?
Do the Fords still own the Detroit Lions?
Does the Ford family own the Detroit Lions?
How much is the Detroit Lions owner worth?
How much is the Detroit Lions franchise worth?
The Lions have a value of $2.4 million with a one-year surge of 14% in revenue. The operating income of the franchise suffered and went below zero to be -$22.2 million.
Sep 6, 2021
How much did William Clay Ford pay for the Lions?
Does Martha Ford own Ford?
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Martha Firestone Ford | |
---|---|
Alma mater | Vassar College (BA) |
Years active | 2014–2020 |
Known for | Former owner and chairwoman of the Detroit Lions |
When did Sheila Ford Hamp take over the Lions?
Who owned the Lions before William Clay Ford?
Person | Teams | Titles |
---|---|---|
Fred Mandel | Lions | Principal Owner |
Edwin Anderson | Lions | Partial Owner/President, Partial Owner/President/General Manager, Partial Owner/VP |
Lyle Fife | Lions | Partial Owner, Partial Owner/President |
William Clay Ford Sr. | Lions | President/Chairman of the Board of Directors, Principal Owner/Chairman |
Who owned the Detroit Lions before the Ford family?
Who owned the Detroit Lions in 1957?

Where did the Detroit Lions come from?
The Detroit Lions football team traces its origins to 1930, when the Portsmouth, Ohio, Spartans came into being as a member of the ten-year-old National Football League. The Spartans played well but the organization struggled financially, being based in an area that had been hit hard by the Great Depression. In 1934, the Spartans were sold to a group of Detroiters headed by George A. Richards, owner of a string of radio stations that included Detroit’s powerful WJR. They paid $7,952.08 to cover the team’s debts as well as a $15,000 NFL franchise fee. Investors numbered more than two dozen and included several prominent auto industry and department store executives.
Who was the Lions coach in 1950?
In 1950, Lions management replaced head coach McMillin with his assistant, Buddy Parker. With Parker in charge, and with the help of recently acquired players like quarterback Bobby Layne, lineman Lou Creekmur, and halfback/kicker Doak Walker (all future Hall of Famers), the team won back-to-back league championships in 1952 and 1953 and then won again in 1957, each time defeating the Cleveland Browns for top honors. The 1957 championship, a lopsided 59-14 victory, was won under coach George Wilson, who had succeeded Parker just before the season began. Other stars of this era included defensive lineman Les Bingaman, receiver Cloyce Box, halfback Bob Hoernschemeyer, and future Hall of Fame linebacker Joe Schmidt. By now attendance figures were at an all-time high, with season ticket sales topping 40,000. The franchise had finally become profitable, having gone into the black for the first time in 1951.
Overview
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team plays its home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.
The franchise was founded in Portsmouth, Ohio as the Portsmouth Spartansan…
Logos and uniforms
Aside from a brief change to scarlet and black from 1948 to 1950 instituted by then head coach Bo McMillin, which was influenced by his years as coach at Indiana, the Lions’ uniforms have basically remained the same since they moved to Detroit in 1934–silver helmets, silver pants, and either blue or white jerseys.
Glenn Presnell, the then last surviving member of the 1934 Lions, recalled that …
Thanksgiving Day tradition
In 1934, then team owner George A. Richards, who also was the owner of a major radio affiliate of the NBC Blue Network, WJR in Detroit, the forerunner to today’s ABC, negotiated an agreement with NBC to carry his Thanksgiving games live across all of the network’s stations. Since then, the tradition of the Lions playing on Thanksgiving has continued uninterrupted.
Rivalries
The Lions have had several division rivals in their existence. Their oldest rivals are the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers, whom they have faced since 1930. The Minnesota Vikings have been in a division with Detroit ever since their inaugural season in 1961. Another notable longtime division opponent was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (25 seasons from 1977 to 2001).
The Lions also have a preseason rivalry with the Cleveland Browns, dubbed the Great Lakes Clas…
Radio and television
The Lions’ flagship radio station is WXYT-FM. Dan Miller does play-by-play, Lomas Brown does color commentary, and T. J. Lang is the sideline reporter.
In 2015, the team announced that they were moving from WXYT-FM to WJR for the 2016 NFL season, ending a 20-year relationship with CBS Radio. The decision to part with WXYT was reportedly instigated by a demand by the team for the s…
Lions cheerleaders
On June 13, 2016, the Lions announced their decision to add official cheerleaders to the organization. The team also announced that Rebecca Girard-Smoker, formerly the director of the Detroit Pistons dance team, would be the coach of the cheerleading squad. It marked the first time in over 40 years the team had an official cheerleading squad. The cheerleading squad is a part of the entertainment during football games, and active at community events.
See also
• NFL on Thanksgiving Day
• History of the Portsmouth Spartans
External links
• Official website
• Detroit Lions at the National Football League official website