The Broncos are down to five potential owners. Another of those groups became known Wednesday night. Brothers Mat and Justin Ishbia front a group that remains in contention to acquire the AFC West franchise, Mike Klis of 9News reports.
Mat Ishbia was a member of Michigan State’s national championship-winning 1999-2000 basketball team. He has since become quite successful in the mortgage business. The Ishbias toured the Broncos’ facility and met with team executives recently, Klis adds, noting Mat would be the controlling owner if this group makes the top bid. Mat Ishbia played three seasons with the Spartans, being on the Tom Izzo-coached team from 1999-2002. Yahoo Finance lists his net worth at around $11 billion.
This group joins the ones headed by Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris and Magic Johnson, Walmart’s Rob Walton and longtime media mogul Byron Allen. Dodgers and Los Angeles Sparks part-owner Todd Boehly has been connected to this pursuit, but Klis notes it is not certain if he remains in the mix. Boehly has been in Europe finalizing his most recent high-profile acquisition, English Premier League club Chelsea. Allen has also yet to visit the Denver facility, but he remains in play to buy the team.
Walton was previously mentioned as the favorite here, while Harris’ group received the first tour. The team must accept the highest bid, one that is expected to approach or surpass $5 billion — a mark that would shatter the American professional sports record. Second-round bids for the Broncos have yet to take place, per Klis, but those offerings appear to be coming soon.
The Broncos need a true billionaire as an owner, not one of these fully-leveraged wanna-bes. When you don’t have real money you can’t make the financial committments needed to keep your team’s salary situation working smoothly.
Uh yeah, who wants one of these “wanna-bes” only worth over $11,000,000,000.00?
Sorry dude – but assets do not equal real money.
Straight up screw Mat Ishbia. He treats his employees like sweatshop workers and overspends on idiotic things instead of giving the people who work at UWM a livable wage. His wife left him for the dude that was giving her Ju Jitsu lessons for the same reason that many employees leave UWM. The dude has had his whole life given to him on a god damn sliver plater (daddy give him UWM). He brags about having no lay offs, but instead, he fires employees non stop instead of giving them severance packages. I feel bad for broncos fans if they have to get this egotistic scumbag as a owner. If I ever get the chance to see this dude in person again, I’m giving him the middle finger.