Denver Broncos sales price expected to reach unprecedented level

Aug 24, 2018; Landover, MD, USA; Denver Broncos executive vice president and general manager John Elway stands on the field during warm ups prior to the Broncos’ game against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Broncos are for sale, and the team is closing in on a new owner. The final sales price of the team is headed for unprecedented levels.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio wrote an article on Monday about prospective owner Rob Walton visiting the Broncos that day. Last week, Walton was reported to be the favorite to purchase the team.

The price for the Broncos was expected to exceed $4 billion. But Florio now says the price is expected to be above $5 billion.

Per source with knowledge of the dynamics of the process, the sale of the Broncos is now expected to generate at least $5 billion.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 10, 2022

Walton is the heir to the Walmart fortune and said to have an estimated net worth around $70 billion.

A $5 billion sales price for the franchise would be more than double the largest sale for a team in North American sports history. Steve Cohen set the record when he paid $2.4 billion for the New York Mets in 2020. A $5 billion figure would also dwarf the $2.275 billion David Tepper paid for the Carolina Panthers in 2018, which marked the last sale of an NFL team.

Other NFL owners must be salivating at the prospect of a $5 billion sales price and what that does to their franchise valuation.