One NFL team is about to have a new owner. According to Forbes, Walmart heir and former chairman Rob Walton is likely going to purchase the Denver Broncos for $4.5 billion. The winning bid has not been finalized yet and the second round of bids won’t be turned in until Monday. Forbes reported Walton’s purchase is expected to be announced “early this month.”
If Walton becomes the owner of the Broncos, he would be the richest owner in the NFL as he is worth an estimated $59.6 billion, according to Forbes. Currently, Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper has the highest net worth in the NFL at $16.7 billion. If the Broncos are sold for $4.5 billion, it would break the American record for the most money ever paid for a sports team. The current record is $2.53 billion which was for the Brooklyn Nets in August 2019.
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Walton will be purchasing the team from the Pat Bowlen trust. Bowlen bought the team for $78 million in 1984, and the Denver Broncos went on to have a successful run as they would win three Super Bowls during that time span. Bowlen died in 2019, and the trust has been running the franchise ever since.
“When Pat Bowlen purchased the Denver Broncos in 1984 with the help of his siblings—John, Bill and Marybeth—he set out with the goal of being No. 1 in everything,” the Bowlen Trust said in February. “Over the past 38 seasons, his vision enabled the Broncos to become champions on and off the field.
“With today beginning the Broncos’ transition to new ownership, our family is overwhelmed with gratitude for what this organization and community have meant to us. There are truly no words to express our deep appreciation to all of Broncos Country for its unwavering support during the past four decades.”
The Broncos are in the middle of a major transition. Along with getting a new owner, the Broncos hired a new head coach, former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. And in one of the biggest moves in free agency, the Broncos traded for former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. During his time with the Seahawks, Wilson was selected to the Pro Bowl nine times and helped the team reach two Super Bowls while winning one.
