Since Pat Bowlen stepped down and for the majority of John Elway's tenure as general manager, the Denver Broncos have been operating without a conventional owner. Lawsuits and legal battles have permeated the path to an owner.
Will the team be sold? If so, who will be the bidders? Here's an update on the status of the team's ownership.
Are the Denver Broncos for sale?
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If the team is not officially up for sale at the moment, it will be very soon. With the lawsuit wrapped up, the team will likely be going to the highest bidder, assuming the Bowlen family cannot agree on a majority owner in the near future.
According to Front Office Sports, Broncos CEO Joe Ellis says this is "unlikely." As such, the team will be sold in the coming months.
Fans will be hoping for a resolution before the start of the 2022 season and this could be a realistic goal for the organization. However, until the process has played out, one can only wait for further news to break.
Potential bidders for Denver Broncos
Bidders are prepping to make offers. There are currently six groups prepared to make an offer for the team. John Elway is a part of one team of bidders, while Peyton Manning is a part of another.
The two groups will face off in an effort to reclaim their former team.
The value of the team is reported to be roughly $4 billion. As such, not many people can afford the team. Based on the information in the report, it seems that every group has multiple parties.
The bidding war between the two former quarterbacks feels like the culmination of a storyline that trails back to the 1980s, when Elway was first signed.
From player to retired to general manager and now potential part owner of the franchise, Elway's growth in the organization has been building to this moment for 40 years.
His biggest obstacle is the quarterback he chose to bring to Denver in one of his first big moves as general manager. Elway chose Manning and now he has to beat him to own his NFL alma mater.
Who will get the team? Fans are rooting for one or the other, but potential remains for one of the other groups of bidders to get the team. As it stands, at face value, there is a 33 percent chance the next owner of the team will be an ex-player.
The next owner remains a mystery, but the wait may finally be nearing an end.
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