Nathaniel Hackett has his hands full during his first low season as head coach. He’s incorporating a new offense, building a relationship with new star quarterback Russell Wilson, and generally getting used to the day-to-day demands of his position in the NFL.
However, even with everything that happens when the Broncos enter their third week of team-organized activities, the most important history of the franchise cannot be ignored. With a second round of bids scheduled for the end of Monday, the organization is making rapid progress toward resolving a property saga that has lasted for most of the past decade.
“My job is to prepare the team,” Hackett said Monday. “For us, it’s about winning, no matter who owns the team. Everyone who has been (part of the bidding process) has been very excited to be (potentially) part of the Denver Broncos. We’ll see where it goes. “
Who are the potential new owners?
Four groups were expected to submit bids on Monday, according to a source. This is a group of about 10 people who initially expressed a significant interest in buying an organization that has won three Super Bowls and appeared in eight title matches.
These groups, as 9News first reported, are led by Walmart heir Rob Walton, the former president of the company co-founded by his late father, Sam; Josh Harris, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA and the New Jersey Devils in the NHL; Jose E. Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali, founders of private equity firm Clearlake Capital; and Mat Ishbia, president and CEO of Michigan-based mortgage lender UWM Holdings and a reserve guard for the 2000 Michigan State Men’s National Basketball Team.
Is Walton the favorite?
Walton, largely due to a personal fortune estimated to exceed $ 60 billion, has been hailed as the favorite in the bid to buy the franchise, which officially went on sale in February. since he appeared as a potential buyer in April. Forbes reported Monday morning, citing bank sources, that Walton was expected to acquire the team with a winning bid of approximately $ 4.5 billion, but a source told The Athletic that no clear favorites had been identified. before the presentation of the second round of bids. .
That doesn’t mean it takes a logical leap to see Walton, whose family includes several Colorado natives, as the likely candidate to win the auction-style bidding process, who will put a new owner in his place to first time since Pat. Bowlen bought the equipment in 1984 for about $ 70 million. Walton, 77, would instantly become the richest owner in the NFL and only stand behind Steve Ballmer, owner of the NBA Los Angeles Clippers, among the richest owners of American professional sports franchises. Walton, ranked as the 18th richest person in the world by the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, was chairman of Walmart’s board of directors from 1992, when his father died, until 2015. He then handed over the job to his son. . father-in-law, Greg Penner, who is also part of the offer. Walton is married to Stan Kroenke, owner of the Los Angeles Branches. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, co-founded by Stan Kroenke, also owns the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche as part of a large sports equipment ownership portfolio.
NFL rules require a major investor in a franchise group to own at least 30 percent of the franchise, a bar that Walton could easily clear given his wealth.
Walmart heir Rob Walton has long been considered the favorite, although the second round of the bidding process is still underway until the end of Monday. (Rick T. Wilking / Getty Images)
Who is more likely to challenge Walton?
The other bidders also have intriguing credentials, if not the same fortune as Walton. Harris ‘group, as confirmed by The Athletic last month, will also include Magic Johnson, a member of the Los Angeles Hall of Fame and former Los Angeles Lakers star who is also part of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ proprietary group. Feliciano and Eghbali, according to Forbes, oversee $ 43 billion in assets through Clearlake Capital. They were supporters of Todd Boehly’s successful Premier League club, Chelsea FC, for about $ 5.3 billion in US currency. Ishbia has a net worth of $ 4.5 billion, according to Forbes, and has a 70 percent stake in UWM Holdings, the mortgage company founded by his father in 1986.
Is the incorporation of a minority owner a priority?
The NFL is watching the Broncos sales process with significant interest. The league has made no secret of its desire to see minority representation within any new ownership group, but the confidence the Broncos currently run also has the fiduciary responsibility of Bowlen’s heirs to sell the franchise for the highest price.
“We would be very clear, and we already have it with the Broncos, that (diversity) is something we would like to have in the ownership group,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said during his Super Bowl press conference. in February. “We will certainly try to encourage it as the process progresses.”
What is the deadline for a sale?
Broncos president and CEO Joe Ellis told NFL homeowners in March that the team was about to complete the sale, with the league’s final approval at the start of the season. 2022 season in September, a goal that seems to be ready. From the beginning, Ellis told reporters at the meetings, “there’s really a lot of interest from a number of very, very skilled bidders.”
“It’s exciting for the fans,” said Ellis, a member of the three-person Pat D. Bowlen Trust. “The team needs a new owner. It’s time for that.”
The Broncos have been officially led by confidence since 2014, when Bowlen resigned as the daily leader of the franchise due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease, although Ellis and then-president of football operations John Elway they had begun to manage many of them. homework as early as 2011. Bowlen died in 2019, the same year he was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
The trust was responsible for determining the next steps in the ownership process. The priority had been to identify a qualified property candidate among Bowlen’s heirs, but after years of internal strife that sometimes spilled over into the public eye and a series of lawsuits, the trust announced the February that the team would officially go on sale. It was a decision that put an end to at least a decade of uncertainty about the future of one of the region’s most beloved institutions.
Now the last clarity is closing. After submitting and analyzing the second round of bids, the process could move rapidly toward the league approval process, although the exact timing is not yet clear. Ultimately, a property group must be endorsed by the league’s finance committee and receive “yes” votes from 75 percent of the league’s property to be formally approved.
Hackett, who met with a “solid number” of potential property group members as they toured the team’s facilities and Empower Field at Mile High, said he was excited about the future of the franchise. regardless of who takes the mantle of the majority. revered owner in the sporting history of the state.
“After talking to everyone, I think they all have an incredible passion and want to be part of this league and a team,” Hackett said. “I think it’s a very beautiful thing. They want to come and win and do something great here.”
(Top photo: Dustin Bradford / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)