Report: Rob Walton to submit bid on Broncos north of $4 billion

Rob Walton, of Walmart, intends to submit a huge bid on the Denver Broncos on Friday that will make him an immediate favorite to purchase the franchise.

The sale of the Denver Broncos is heating up with Walmart co-owner Rob Walton intending to submit a bid of more than $4 billion on Friday, according to a report from the New York Post. The bid would instantly make him a major contender to purchase the franchise and become the next owner of the Broncos.

Walton — worth more than $70 billion, according to Forbes — is expected to submit a Broncos bid on Friday worth more than $4 billion — the highest price ever paid for a professional sports team, according to sources close to the situation.

That would crush the previous record-breaking sale of an NFL franchise when the Carolina Panthers were purchased in 2018 for a mere $2.2 billion.

Earlier this week, Mike Klis of 9News had listed out nine potential candidates to buy the team and Walton was the the top.

• Rob Walton/Greg Penner
• Josh Harris
• Byron Allen Group
• Alec Gores, Dean Metropoulos, Mat Ishbia Group
• Behdad Eghbali, Jose E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones
• Todd Boehly
• Robert Smith
• Jeff Bezos
• Ye

Of the list, it would seem Jeff Bezos would be the only one to truly be able to contend with someone like Rob Walton on the net worth side of things. Robert Smith was a favorite early on, but with a net worth under $7 billion it might be difficult for him to get a winning bid without expanding into an ownership group.

While the NFL doesn’t always accept the highest bid for a team, the winning bid is usually in the ballpark of the highest bid. With that in mind, the NY Post also reported that any bid under $4 billion won’t even be considered.

The Broncos have set Friday as the deadline for opening bids and are only accepting offers that are for more than $4 billion, a source closely following the situation said.

“A bid needs to have a four in front of it,” according to a source close to the process — and insiders project that the final sale price will land somewhere between $4.5 billion and $5 billion.

That means we could see a doubling of the price over the Panthers sale just four years ago.

Of the confirmed and rumored candidates to buy the Denver Broncos from Klis’ list above, which would you prefer end up with the winning bid?