Mark Davis or Jerry Jones: Who is the more hated NFL owner?
Anybody who has ever had to deal with Mark Davis or Jerry Jones would know that neither of them is everyone's cup of tea. While both of them own teams with hardcore support, their fanbases have never really warmed up to either owner. Las Vegas Raiders fans believe their decline and lack of identity in Las Vegas is tied to an owner who does not understand the sport or the team.
Dallas Cowboys fans, on the other hand, will acknowledge that Jerry Jones is passionate about football, but is increasingly meddlesome in places that he does not understand. So who is reviled more? Is it Mark Davis or is it Jerry Jones? Each makes a strong case to be the most loathsome owner in the NFL,
Mark Davis and Jerry Jones bring different brands of craziness to the NFL
Mark Davis is the owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, formerly based out of Oakland. Handed down the reins by his father Al, he presided over the controversial move by the Raiders out of Oakland. The situation in Las Vegas robs one of the most fanatic fanbases in the NFL of coming out to games and rooting for their team.
The purpose of the move to Las Vegas was never in the interest of the Raiders fanbase, which is based mainly in Oakland and wider California, plus diehard supporters who identify strongly with its purported counterculture. Instead, Mark Davis got a new stadium to fill with tourists who flock to Las Vegas. The Las Vegas market is not a big market on its own, thus any fans who come there to watch are most likely to be casual fans unlike the hardcore fans that supported the team in Oakland.
Jerry Jones, on the other hand, has built the Dallas Mavericks into the NFL's behemoth. They are the highest valued franchise in the NFL at the moment despite their Super Bowl drought now a quarter of a century. What makes Jerry Jones unlikable is the simple fact that his passion meddles with professionalism.
His continued belief that he is the best General Manager the Dallas Cowboys can have, and not hiring a professional for that position, has led to some head-scratching moves over the years. Perhaps his biggest blunder was getting rid of Jimmy Johnson after two consecutive Super Bowls.
Taken together, both Mark Davis and Jerry Jones come across as uniquely unlikeable, but due to different reasons. Mark Davis ignored the passion of the fanbase to move cities, whereas Jerry Jones is so passionate that he cannot seek outside help to make the Dallas Cowboys more professional. It is a close call and hence we think it is a tie between the two in terms of who their fanbases hate more.