{"id":689512,"date":"2026-01-19T20:34:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T20:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/689512\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T20:34:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T20:34:19","slug":"art-rooney-ii-tabbed-as-one-of-the-cheapest-owners-in-nfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/689512\/","title":{"rendered":"Art Rooney II Tabbed as One of the Cheapest Owners in NFL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"categories\"><a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/steelers-news\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"788\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768854856_692_DSC_3657Rooney.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium tpd-force-16x9-aspect-ratio wp-post-image\" alt=\"Pittsburgh Steelers Art Rooney II Rule\" decoding=\"sync\" loading=\"eager\"   fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II before a game against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 15, 2024. &#8212; Alan Saunders \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II was tabbed as the third-cheapest owner in the NFL by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnetwork.com\/nfl\/cheapest-nfl-owners\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Action Network<\/a>, behind only Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots and Michael Bidwill of the Arizona Cardinals. <\/p>\n<p>Action Network looked at team facilities, off-field perks like food, and ownership opinion from the 2025 NFL Player Report Card.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Steelers slot in third thanks to a D-graded locker room that players describe as outdated and cramped, even though the franchise valuation is strong,\u201d Kathy Morris of Action Network wrote. \u201cAdd in a D grade in ownership, with Rooney regularly underinvesting in upgrades, and the pattern is hard to miss. For a brand that sells itself as one of the league\u2019s blue bloods, players say the daily environment feels far from premium.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New Jets owner Woody Johnson received the league\u2019s only F in ownership, paired with a C- food grade and D+ locker room, ranking him fourth in cheapness even though the team is worth $8.1 billion.<\/p>\n<p>The Cincinnati Bengals cheap out on food, running the worst food program in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"788\" height=\"525\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC_3646Rooney.jpg\" alt=\"Pittsburgh Steelers Art Rooney II\" class=\"wp-image-83192\"  \/>Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II before a game against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 15, 2025. \u2014 Alan Saunders \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n<p>For the second year in a row, the Steelers did not receive favorable reviews in the <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/steelers-once-again-getripped-in-nflpa-report-card\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFLPA\u2019s annual facilities report card<\/a>. The Steelers once again were ranked No. 28 out of 32 teams.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers made some improvements, most notably by adding a gameday daycare for players. That raised their family support grade from an F- to a C-. But overall, the Steelers are still lacking in several key departments.<\/p>\n<p>The state of the Steelers facilities came up again recently due to the New York Jets revealing a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nyjets\/status\/1947627579315298560\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener external nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"(opens in a new tab)\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">state of the art locker room<\/a> at the team\u2019s facility.<\/p>\n<p>Former Steelers wide receiver Ryan Switzer <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/former-steelers-wr-defends-teams-facilities-you-felt-the-history-everyday\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">defended the Steelers facilities on X<\/a>. He loves the old-school traditions that the franchise carries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s Heinz. The one at the Southside facility is a lot smaller,\u201d Switzer responded to a fan this past July. \u201cCall me crazy \u2013 but one of the coolest parts about being a Steeler was the nostalgic of the wooden lockers, non-modernized locker room. You felt the history everyday you went to work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The biggest issue is that the Steelers just lack space at their South Side facility. Rooney even said during an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JennaHarner11\/status\/1894797250850619460\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener external nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"(opens in a new tab)\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Jenna Harner of WPXI<\/a> that they potentially have to look into a new facility.<\/p>\n<p>Rooney\u2019s average rating for perceived willingness to invest in the facilities was 6.00 out of 10 from the Steelers players, a ranking of 30 out of 32 owners in the league, according to the NFLPA report. The players feel that Mike Tomlin was moderately receptive to locker room feedback on the team\u2019s needs, ranking him 15 of 32 head coaches in the league.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen asked to identify top improvement areas, players mention locker room, which is in serious need of renovation, and the strength staff, which scores low on providing individualized training plans and contributing to the players\u2019 success,\u201d the NFLPA overview report stated.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/art-rooney-ii\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Art Rooney II<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/pittsburgh-steelers\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/steelers\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/steelers-news\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers News Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II before a game against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 15,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":689513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[4393,7,6,520,57,2360,426,2395],"class_list":{"0":"post-689512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-art-rooney-ii","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","14":"tag-steelers","15":"tag-steelers-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115923680613976977","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=689512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/689513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}