The Denver Broncos are one step closer to having new owners after the team accepted an $4.65 billion from the Walton-Penner family. The Broncos confirmed the news in an official statement issued on Tuesday.
The Walton-Penner family includes Walmart heir Rob Walton, his daughter Carrie Walton Penner and his son-in-law Greg Penner. They are joined by several other investors, who are set to own minority stakes in the franchise.
The sale of the Broncos now needs to be approved by the NFL owners, but that isn’t expected to be an issue, according to multiple reports. If everything checks out, the price would be a record for a franchise across sports markets in the U.S. The previous record was held by MLB’s New York Mets, which were sold for $2.475 billion in 2020, while the highest price paid for an NFL franchise was $2.3 billion David Tepper paid for the Carolina Panthers back in 2018.
“While this purchase and sale agreement is pending approval from the NFL’s finance committee and league ownership, today marks a significant step on the path to an exciting new chapter in Broncos history,” said Broncos CEO Joe Ellis in a statement.
The sale of the Denver Broncos will mark the end of a saga that surrounded the franchise since the long-term owner Pat Bowlen stepped away due to illness in 2014 and placed his interest in a trust. When Bowlen died in 2019, his seven children engaged in a messy legal battle to take the reins of the team before coming to an agreement to sell the team.
