The Denver Broncos finally will be sold.
After years of the team being held in trust while the children of the late Pat Bowlen tried, unsuccessfully, to resolve their differences in a way that would allow one of them to take over, the league nudge the situation to resolution. And it has now nearly resolved.
The team and the Walton-Penner family announced late Tuesday that they have entered into a purchase and sale agreement. The agreement is subject to the approval of the league’s finance committee, the league’s owners (at least 24 must agree), and “the satisfaction of customary closing procedures.”
The group is led by Rob Walton, the son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. The primary ownership also includes his daughter, Carrie Welton Penner, and her husband, Greg Penner. Greg Penner has served as the chairman of Walmart since 2015. He succeeded his father-in-law in the position.
Mike Klis of 9News.com reports that the Walton-Penner family will pay $4.65 billion for the team. Some had said it would go for $4.5 billion. We’d heard that the price would start with a 5. Ultimately, the other three groups bidding for the team didn’t drive the auction price up as high as expected.
That will be viewed by other owners as a disappointment, since it suggests that their own teams may not be worth as much as they believed. Eventually, however, that price will keep going up and up and up.