The process of finding a new owner of the Broncos is approaching a crucial next step. 9News’ Mike Klis reports (on Twitter) that second-round bids for the franchise are due by Monday.
That places a firm deadline on the bidding process, which was expected to reach this stage in the near future. As Klis notes, four groups are expected to place a bid, with the lone exception amongst prospects previously reported as showing interest being the one led by media mogul Byron Allen. He was still considered to be in the running earlier this month, but the list of finalists would seem to no longer include his name.
That leaves the group led by Rob Walton at the top of said list; the Walmart heir has a personal value of more than $70MM, and has consistently been labelled as the frontrunner to win the bidding process. Among his competitors is the pairing of 76ers owner Josh Harris and Magic Johnson, the group involving Todd Boehly (which is in the process of purchasing English Premier League club Chelsea) and, the most recent addition to the mix, brothers Mat and Justin Ishbia.
In a follow-up, Klis details that if the group including Boehly were to be successful, he would be a “limited partner”. Instead, Jose Feliciano would be the lead owner, something which would satisfy the league’s desire for minority ownership in this process. While Klis further tweets that the trio involving Boehly, Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali would constitute surprise winners in the bidding process at this point, they remain in contention to make a second major purchase in a matter of weeks.
With the next round of bids – long expected to approach the $5B mark, which would comfortably set a new North American sports record – set to be made in the coming days, Klis reports that the sales process could be completed by late June or early July (Twitter link). That would stay in line with the overarching thought that a new owner would be in place in time for the 2022 campaign, and bring an end to one of the league’s top off-the-field storylines.
One good thing, the article does not include the name Montfort.
“Rob Walton has a personal value of more than $70 MM”? What does that mean? Walton is worth more than $60 billion.
Obviously, shareholders won’t approve the liquidation of Walmart stores to purchase a sports team but Rob’s personal wealth wouldn’t require that.
Agree with you j817. Every other site has Rob Walton’s worth at near $60 B…and he wouldn’t have to liquidate much of any of his Walmart stock to buy the team.
“Heir” is good work if you can get it.
Good thing pro sports is littered with people who had the business savvy to not die before other people gave them money and to never pay taxes.
Don’t hate the player hate the game man
Pretty easy to just hate both.
OK, Cheerleader on Their Knees…advice noted.
And ignored.
Where’s the moral outrage about Gabe Kapler “boycotting” the national anthem??!!
Ooops, I forgot. His melanin isn’t high enough on the outrage scale!
Probably on a different thread that has anything even slightly to do with it…?
Crazy that Byron Allen started out as a comedian and then moved into hosting interview shows and those weird comedian panel shows like Comics Unleashed. Then he bought the Weather Channel and then Fox Sports. Must have a lot of business sense because I never would have expected that dude who used to be on TV at like 2 AM to have that kind of money.
As long as nobody with football knowledge becomes an owner, the NFL will maintain the status quo and do just fine.
Get an owner that has real money. All these leveraged-to-the-hilt hedge fund and real estate moguls don’t have the liquid resources required by the NFL to make the long term player contract commitments. This ultimately restricts the choices available to your GM and thus potentially impacts the team put on the field.
I don’t think financial liquidity is a problem for owners and with regards to long term contracts they only need to cover signing bonus costs initially. I do agree though that the current cap structure is a mess leaving GMs with mostly bad options.
Don’t be fooled. Walton will be part of the next ownership group because he perfectly fits the typical owner profile. Even a blind person can see that without a crystal ball.
Let alone the licensing, commercial financial opportunities, and advantages. It’s all about worshiping the almighty buck.
Maybe Steve Cohen would like a football team too.