Earlier this month, a group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton completed a $4.65 billion purchase of the Denver Broncos.
The team was put up for sale earlier this year, but Walton and his son-in-law, Greg Penner, had been eyeing them up for a decade. At the time, the team wasn’t for sale. There were opportunities to buy other sports teams over the last decade, but Walton and Penner remained focused on the Broncos.
“We contemplated the idea of other sports franchise but if we were going to do something, this was going to be it,” Penner said at an introductory press conference on Aug. 10. “We live and work in Colorado. The NFL is just an incredible platform and the Broncos with what they mean to this region and the success that they have had. If we were going to buy any team, this was the team.”
The group had to be patient, but when the opportunity did arise to buy the team, they acted quickly.
“The Broncos are the one sports franchise that we would have considered buying,” Walton said on Aug. 9. “Greg, as he mentioned, started a conversation some 10 years ago about it. Then the team actually announced it was for sale early this year, and we got in the middle of it first thing.
“We had been talking about it, and we have connections. Greg and Carrie live in Colorado, and I’ve been going to Colorado and have had a home there for long, long time. [I have] other family members there. [It’s] a great connection for us, and we’re really, really excited about it. It’s a terrific team and terrific fan base.”
The team’s new ownership group has plenty of resources to pour into the team, but they’ll take a hands off approach with roster decisions. Walton is the majority owner but Penner, the new CEO, will handle the team’s day-to-day ownership duties. Penner will allow general manager George Paton to run football operations, which is a smart decision.
Penner will handle the business side while Paton handles the football side, a partnership that fans in Denver hope will lead to on-field success.
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