Saints fight to avoid disclosing emails in Catholic abuse crisis (MERGED)
It is, for two reasons:
1) the NFL bylaws dictate that teams must be owned by individuals, not by incorporated entities or non-profit organizations. If owned by a group of individuals, one must have greater than a 50% interest in the team.
2) NFL owners are not free to bequeath their franchise to whoever they please. The league must approve any succession plan. Without such approval, the league can revoke a franchise, temporarily place it into trust, and seek new ownership without input from the previous owner's heirs.