The mess that is the Denver Broncos’ ownership situation is finally starting to clear up.
On Tuesday, a Denver judge ruled that the heirs of former Broncos owner Edgar Kaiser Jr. cannot buy back any portion of the team as part of a right to first refusal agreement. Now that this decision has been made, the franchise can go forward with their decision to transition team ownership.
The Broncos are currently owned by the Pat Bowen Trust. Pat Bowen, the longtime team owner, stepped away from his day-to-day roles in 2014 and passed away in 2019. The franchise is expected to go on with the sale after the Bowen children could not decide on a successor.
This won’t be the only major change for the Denver organization. Earlier this week, the team fired head coach Vic Fangio — opening up a new coaching search.
“We’re glad to put this issue behind us and move closer to transitioning ownership of the Broncos,” Broncos CEO Joe Ellis said in a statement on Tuesday. “While our focus is on our head coaching search, we plan to make an announcement regarding ownership shortly after that hire is completed.”
Officially: A big win for the #Broncos today in court, paving the way for new ownership. No obstacles remain pic.twitter.com/4iwmroy20k
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 11, 2022
The rumor mill regarding future ownership prospects has been churning for quite some time now. Denver legends John Elway and Peyton Manning have each expressed interest in being a part of potential ownership groups.
The Broncos are currently valued at just under $4 billion, per ESPN. A majority owner (at least 30%) would have to control at least $1.2 billion.
“Out of respect for the court” Ellis would not give a timetable on the ownership transition earlier this week. But now that the court filing has cleared, a better idea of when this sale will go down could be on the horizon.
The post Look: 1 NFL Team Could Have New Owners By 2022 Season appeared first on The Spun.
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