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Broncos sale to Walton group unanimously OK’d by NFL owners

Broncos sell for a record $4.65 billion
Greg Penner, left, Carrie Walton Penner and Rob Walton pose at the NFL owners meeting in Bloomington, Minnesota, on Tuesday. The record $4.65 billion sale of the Denver Broncos to Walmart heir Rob Walton and his daughter and son-in-law was unanimously approved by NFL owners. (AP Photo/Dave Campbell)

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The record $4.65 billion sale of the Denver Broncos to Walmart heir Rob Walton and his daughter and son-in-law was unanimously approved Tuesday by NFL owners, the expected final step in the transfer from the family of the late Pat Bowlen.

The vote was taken at a league meeting at a hotel in Minnesota, where Walton, his daughter, Carrie Walton Penner, and her husband, Greg Penner, were introduced by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. With an estimated worth of $60 billion, the 77-year-old Walton – the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton – becomes the wealthiest owner in the league. Rob Walton served as chairman of the retail giant from 1992-2015.

“I’m appreciative to see such a good group coming to own the Broncos. I think it speaks to the direction that the organization is going in,” right tackle Calvin Anderson said after practice in Englewood, Colorado. “Just like the Avs winning the Stanley Cup, it’s a challenge to us to rise to the occasion.”

The Walton-Penner group paid the highest price in history for a sports franchise anywhere in the world. The three limited partners are Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton, Starbucks board chair Mellody Hobson and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

All three investors are Black, satisfying a goal to bring more racial diversity into ownership groups, front offices and coaching staffs. With more than one-third of the ownership share belonging to either women or minorities, the Broncos will have by far the most diverse group in the NFL.

The Pat Bowlen Trust ran the franchise after Bowlen stepped back from day-to-day duties in 2014 because of Alzheimer’s disease. He died in 2019, one month before his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Penner said informal discussions with Bowlen regarding a sale took place as far back as about 10 years ago, right before his health began to decline. This was the only sports franchise, Walton said, the family would have considered buying.

Bowlen wanted one of his children to take over the team and Brittany Bowlen, now 32, was the trustees’ selected successor. Not all of her siblings supported that choice, so the club was put up for sale. Brittany Bowlen stepped down as the team’s vice president of strategy after the Walton-Penner group was awarded the franchise with their winning bid.

Only one other NFL club has been sold in the past 10 years: the Carolina Panthers from Jerry Richardson to David Tepper for what was then a record $2.2 billion.

Bowlen bought the Broncos in 1984 for $78 million.