AT&T Stadium view from outsideAT&T Stadium (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)


You may think every NFL team that plays in a stadium does so without paying anything, but you would be wrong. The vast majority pay substantial rent just to play there every year.

There are currently around seven teams in the league that pay very little or nothing at all, while many others pay six figures or more.

A recent breakdown shows which teams pay the most and least amount of rent to the stadium they play in and the numbers are quite staggering.

Two NFL teams, the Los Angeles Chargers and Carolina Panthers, pay only $1 in rent, while the Ravens, Bengals, Raiders, Commanders, and Rams pay $0 in rent.

Here is a complete breakdown of just a few of the teams, per The Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Buffalo Bills

Stadium: New Era Field

Opened: 1973

Team annual rent cost: $800,000

Miami Dolphins

Stadium: Hard Rock Stadium

Opened: 1987

Team annual rent cost: Zero

New England Patriots

Stadium: Gillette Stadium

Opened: 2002

Team annual rent cost: Estimated $2 million-$3 million.

New York Jets

Stadium: MetLife Stadium

Opened: 2010

Team annual rent cost: $2.5 million co-pay with New York Giants

Cleveland Browns

Stadium: FirstEnergy Stadium

Opened: 1999

Team annual rent cost: $250,000

NFL Team Owners May Pay Rent But Get Away With Other Expenses

Most sports facilities are owned publicly with the team owner having a master lease.

NFL stadiums are not privately owned, which means the team owner doesn’t have to pay property taxes.

A team like the Baltimore Ravens may have $0 in rent, but it does have to pay all utility and maintenance costs, plus the salaries of all stadium workers, including stadium authority personnel.

Then you have teams that share stadiums, like the New York Giants and New York Jets, who share MetLife Stadium, and the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams, who share SoFi Stadium.