Walton-Penner Group to call Broncos tune

Article posted by Coliseum, August 16^th, 2022

Image: Denver Broncos

The Walton-Penner Group officially owns the National Football League (NFL) team Denver Broncos (US).

‘CPR News’ stated that the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, announced recently that NFL owners unanimously approved the sale. The vote required at least 24 of the 32 owners to approve the sale before it could become final.

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference.

The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver, US. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference West division.

The 76,125-capacity Empower Field at Mile High is an American football stadium in Denver, Colorado, United States. The primary tenant is the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). It opened in 2001 to replace the Broncos’ original home, the old Mile High Stadium.

Said Rob Walton, “It’s been a great process. And I want to extend thanks to all of the owners who we’ve been involved with. Their warm greeting and support as we’ve met them along the way has been good. It’s a very wonderful group to become associated with.”

‘CPR News’ further stated that in June, the Walton-Penner Group entered into a purchase agreement to acquire the franchise. The group is led by Rob Walton, an heir to the Walmart fortune, as well as Carol Walton Penner, Walton’s daughter, and Greg Penner, her husband. The group will pay $4.65 billion to take over the team. Last month, the NFL Finance Committee reviewed and unanimously recommended that the NFL owners approve the sale.

Stated Greg Penner, “It’s also a responsibility and a privilege. The Broncos are an iconic franchise. That means a lot to Colorado and the whole Rocky Mountain region. We have enormous respect for Pat Bowlen and what he meant both to the Broncos and the NFL.”

Pat Bowlen, owner of the team since 1984, died in 2019. Under his ownership, the Broncos won three Super Bowls. The Bowlen Trust, which assumed ownership in the same year Bowlen died, announced in February that the team was up for sale.

Added Rob Walton, “Putting a winning team on the field is our number one priority. We can’t wait to get to Denver, join our new colleagues and get to work.”

The Broncos franchise went through a major overhaul during the offseason. George Paton was hired as General Manager in January, and team President of Football Operations and Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway turned over day-to-day responsibilities to him. Nathaniel Hackett was hired as Head Coach, replacing Vic Fangio. In March, quarterback Russell Wilson was acquired via trade from the NFL team Seattle Seahawks.

The new owners also say discussions of whether the Broncos will get a new stadium are premature.

Said Greg Penner, “I’ll say that Empower Field at Mile High is a world-class facility. It’s hosted obviously football games, terrific other sporting events and entertainment events. We’ve got a good partnership with the Metropolitan Football Stadium District and fortunately have almost 10 years left on our lease. We’ll evaluate all of our options and really dig in and understand the situation before making any decision.”

The ownership group also has added some big names in recent weeks: Ariel Investments head honcho and President Mellody Hobson, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and seven-time Formula One Champion Sir Lewis Hamilton was named limited partners.

Rob Walton talked about the diversity of the ownership group at a presser held recently -“We think diversity is important. We think diverse organizations are more successful organizations and we’re looking forward to working with them. They’re off traveling and doing other things right now, but we’ll all be together – except Lewis is in the middle of a season.”

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