Born in Chicago, Illinois, Bidwill and his elder brother Charles were adopted by Charles and Violet Bidwill, who were NFL team owners. Bidwill attended Georgetown Preparatory School, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy until 1956. He went to college at Georgetown University, and after his graduation, moved to St. Louis a few months before the Cardinals moved there.
Charles Bidwill purchased the team, then known as the Chicago Cardinals, from David Jones in 1933. After his death at age 51 in 1947, his widow authorized business partner Ray Bennigsen to carry on management of the team. Violet Bidwill married St. Louis businessman Walter Wolfner in 1949 and he later became managing director.
St. Louis Cardinals
Prior to the 1960 season, Violet moved the Cardinals to St. Louis. Charles Jr. and Bill inherited the team after their mother's death in January 1962, and served as co-owners for ten seasons, until Bill purchased it outright in 1972. Among NFL franchises, only the Chicago Bears and New York Giants have been controlled by one family longer than the Cardinals.
Arizona Cardinals
Bidwill's ownership was marked by little success. In his years as at least part-owner, the Cardinals only made the playoffs eight times. He moved the team to Phoenix, Arizona, prior to the 1988 season after St. Louis refused to build a new stadium to replace Busch Memorial Stadium, in spite of the fact that the team was well supported by the local fans. Bidwill had also publicly pledged to support a future effort to gain an expansion franchise for St. Louis. Instead, he voted to approve a new franchise in Jacksonville, Florida. However, St. Louis eventually gained a new franchise anyway, the relocated Los Angeles Rams in 1995. The Rams returned to Los Angeles in 2016. Bidwill had a reputation for running the Cardinals rather cheaply; the Cardinals had one of the lowest payrolls in the league for many years. Following the move to State Farm Stadium in 2006, the team began to spend more money. The increased revenue paid off in 2008, when the Cardinals won their division for the first time since 1975, hosted a playoff game for only the second time in franchise history and advanced to Super Bowl XLIII. They won two more division titles in 2009 and 2015.
Personal life
Bidwill ceded most day-to-day control over the Cardinals to his sons Michael and Bill Jr., who serve as team president and vice president, respectively. Bidwill also had two other sons, Patrick and Tim, and a daughter, Nicole. After the death of Ralph Wilson in March 2014, Bidwill became the longest-tenured owner in the NFL.
Death
Bidwill died at age 88 on October 2, 2019. At the time of his death, he was the longest tenured owner in the NFL.
