Source: Josh Harris would have paid $5 billion for the Broncos, if he knew that would get the deal done

Posted by Mike Florio on June 8, 2022, 11:53 AM EDT
San Antonio Spurs v Philadelphia 76ers
Getty Images

The Broncos will sell for $4.65 billion. Some in league circles thought it would go for $5 billion.

So why didn’t it go for $5 billion?

Per a source with knowledge of the dynamics, 76ers co-owner Josh Harris made it clear to those involved in the process that his group would pay $5 billion for the team, if they knew that $5 billion would get the deal done. However, Harris was not given that assurance.

His concern was that the Walton-Penner group would trump the bid, and would continue to do so until it secured the team. That’s one of the basic realities of an auction, whether it’s for an NFL franchise or JFK’s golf clubs.

So why didn’t Harris go to $5 billion and force Walton-Penner to go higher? Harris, we’re told, intends to pursue another NFL franchise. Thus, there was no reason to drive up the price of the Broncos, when that becomes the precedent for the next transaction.

The bottom line is that Harris is ready to pay $5 billion to buy an NFL franchise. He didn’t officially offer $5 billion for the Broncos because they couldn’t guaranteed it would have gotten him the team. If another team wants to sell to Harris for $5 billion, now’s the time to give him a call.

Permalink 37 Comments Feed for comments Back to top

37 responses to “Source: Josh Harris would have paid $5 billion for the Broncos, if he knew that would get the deal done”

  2. By most accounts there could be 3 perhaps 4 NFL franchises for sale in the not too distant future.

  3. There you go “Mr Snyder”. Your franchise will get you a cool $5 billion. Get out before you get thrown out. And take Goodell down with you, on the way out the door

  4. The higher the bids go the more likely the NFL will want to expand and sell the right$ to 2-4 more franchises

  7. People are having trouble feeding themselves and filling up their gas tank and this guy is like, oh, $5 BILLION would have been worth it? Why should we go to one more game, buy one more overpriced jersey, just to give these rich people MORE money? Entertainment, sure, but never again from me.

  8. I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to have that kind of wealth. I mean $5Billion could sustain 1000 families for generations. Think about that. I know money can’t buy happiness, but like Blake Shelton says, It can buy me a boat!

  9. I’m thinking there are more than a few Browns fans out there hoping Haslam would just take the ROI and get out of ownership.

  13. Congratulations dufus! With this announcement you just succeeded in driving the price of the next franchise sold higher even though that is what you were trying to avoid! SMH

  14. Keep this in mind: Anyone who purchases anything from a Walmart is providing the money to buy the Broncos.

  15. It brings to mind a quote attributed to the late, great U.S. Senator from Illinois Everett Dirksen: “a billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking real money”.

  16. Most NFL owners are capitalists, they will not want a socialist owner (Harris) among them.

  18. If he really wanted to get the deal done then he would have pushed the bid to his top dollar, but since he didn’t pursue it then he must not really want to own an NFL team. There’s no guarantee another team is going to be put up for sale unless of course He has inside information that one is about to become available, so why stop bidding if you truly wanna be an owner? Obviously he’s been told there’s another team about to be put on the bidding block, and we all know which franchise that must be don’t we?

  19. In this age of wealth inequality and billionaires making more and more during pandemics, periods of inflation or whatever, it should surprise nobody that sports teams, the ultimate toy, will shoot up in value.

  22. Seems like sour grapes. I could of bought it if I wanted to. Yeah well then bid.

  23. I heard yesterday that John Elway was offered the chance years ago to buy 20% of the Broncos for $36 million, and Elway passed. If he had made that purchase, it would be worth $900 Million with new ownership purchasing the Broncos. Talk about a Miss.

  26. For 5 billion you could have the Braves, the Jaguars, and throw in the Pelicans for good measure.

  27. Browns fan here, hoping with all hope that Haslam cashes in and sells the team to this guy. If Haslam stays, I’m done.

  30. Well, I wouldn’t assume that EVERY franchise is worth $5B. The Broncos rank as one of the NFL marquee brands.I can name off the top of my head a half dozen franchises that are only 50-75% of the marquee and market value of the Denver Broncos.

    Just because a Porsche goes for 6 figures does not justify a 6 figure Subaru.

  31. The Broncos sale price is yet another example why a $200 million salary cap is a joke. The owners just laugh at the fans who are suckered at every turn and the players who sacrifice their bodies for a small piece of the action.

  32. 90% of league would take $5B in a heartbeat. The story rings hollow. Just bid the $5B and be done, if someone goes higher, consider it money saved.

  34. Why settle for one franchise when you can buy a whole league.? For that kind of money he could get the whole CFL (Canadian Football League).

  35. In 1963 the Ford family took full ownership of the Lions for $4.5 million. Has anyone else noticed that pretty much everything is way over priced.

  36. Josh Harris should focus on getting the Sixers beyond the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to leave a comment. Not a member? Register now!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.