by The Denver Broncos are expected to be sold before the start of the 2022 season, and when that happens, whoever buys the team will have to shell out a record amount of money to make the purchase happen.
According to professional football talkThe Broncos’ asking price is now expected to reach $5 billion, and if that happens, it would not only break the NFL record, but could set the world record for the most money spent to buy a franchise. sporty.
The current world record was set last week when the Premier League team Chelsea FC was sold for $5.22 billion. The man who made that purchase, Todd Boehly, was also interested in buying the Broncos, but after spending more than $5 billion on Chelsea, he will almost certainly drop out of the race when it comes to buying the team in Denver.
After buying Chelsea, an NFL team is really the only thing missing from Boehly’s arsenal of sports teams. The billionaire already owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lakers and Sparks. Even with Boehly out, there are still plenty of financial heavyweights involved in the bidding, which is why the $5 billion sale price could actually happen.
According to 9news.com in Denver, there are basically four groups left in the bidding process. One of the groups is not actually a group; it’s just Rob Walton, who happens to be one of the richest men in the world. The Walmart heir has a net worth of $69.5 billion, making him the 19th richest person in the world, according to Forbes. If Walton wants to buy the team, there’s almost no way anyone can beat him.
Walton visited the team’s facility this week, becoming the second potential buyer to visit the site. Another finalist is 76ers co-owner Josh Harris, who is part of a group that also includes Magic Johnson. Harris has a net worth of just over $7 billion, so while he can afford the team, he couldn’t get into a bidding war with Walton.
The other two groups that bid on the team chose to remain anonymous, though they are unlikely to have the amount of resources that Walton will be able to bring to bear.
If the Broncos sell for $5 billion, they would break the American record for the most money paid for a sports team. The record is currently held by the Nets, who sold for $2.35 billion in August 2019. The most money ever paid by an NFL team came when David Tepper bought the Panthers for $2.275 billion in 2018which is notable because the sale of the Broncos will likely double that.
Recently, in early April, the Broncos they were expected to sell for just over $4 billion, but NFL teams are a hot commodity that don’t go on sale as often, which has likely helped drive up the price. The fact that Chelsea was being sold for more than $5 billion probably also helped push the price up to the astronomical number due to be finalized sometime in the next few months.
