The Denver Broncos ownership situation is close to being finalized, and it could happen sooner rather than later.
It’s clear that the trust that the franchise is currently in will be putting the team up for sale and it will go to a single billionaire or group that the NFL approves. There have been reports that the Broncos will go up for an “auction,” but there’s a little more to that story than what’s being reported.
The trust that the Broncos are in is led by franchise CEO Joe Ellis, the team’s general counsel Rich Slivka, and attorney Mary Kelly. That three-person group will decide who they want to purchase the team. Once that decision is made, likely to the highest bidder, they will pass that info on to the other 31 NFL owners for a vote that needs at least 24 votes to be approved.
If the owners decide they would like a different person or group to buy the team they will make sure that happens. For instance, if the trust says that they want a local billionaire from Colorado to purchase the team, but the owners are leaning more towards a group led by a notable front-man — someone like Peyton Manning — they might tell the Manning group to come up with a little more cash and they’ll vote for that group to get the team.
There’s a lot of political jockeying going on in the NFL.
In recent days, John Elway made calls to a few sports writers around town and said that he would like to be part of the winning ownership group so that he could stay on and be connected with the team and have a similar advisory role to what he has now. Elway doesn’t necessarily want to be the face of the ownership group, but wants to give some input when called upon. For example, Elway and Ellis are joining the head coaching interviews that are going on right now via zoom.
According to a source I talked to, Elway isn’t in a group currently, but has been talking to multiple groups and is linked to those groups. Eventually one will have his name connected to it. Elway doesn’t have the money to be a majority owner of a team, but he might have enough to possibly buy just one percent of the team — that could go for around $40 million if the team is sold for $4 billion.
Another former Broncos Super Bowl winning quarterback is also interested in buying part of the Broncos. That person is fan favorite Peyton Manning. According to a source, Manning is already connected to group that consists of a minority partner in an NBA franchise.
Woody Paige tweeted out that there are six candidates to bid for the franchise.
One more name to watch is Brittany Bowlen. There is still a small chance that she can still pull some strings and possibly join a group to purchase the Broncos and keep the Bowlen name connected for years to come.
Buckle up, it’s going to be a wild ride for the Broncos over the next few months.
More from The Woody Paige Sports Network:
- Woody Paige: That time I played blackjack with Michael Jordan in Monte Carlo
- John Elway’s 7 best moments as General Manager of the Denver Broncos
- Woody Paige: Ranking the Denver Broncos head coaching candidates
- Woody Paige: A tribute to the legendary John Madden