The Denver Broncos have been in limbo since former team owner, the legendary Pat Bowlen, passed away. After a long court dispute, a Denver judge has greenlit the sale. What's next?

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The Legacy Of Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen

The late great Pat Bowlen, along with his two brothers, John and Bill Bowlen, and sister, Marybeth Bowlen, purchased the majority ownership of a struggling Denver Broncos Franchise in 1984 from Edgar Kaiser. Kaiser had only owned the team for 3 years and tripled his investment. He bought it for $29 million. Yes, million. And sold 60% to the Bowlen's for $78 million just 3 years later. Considering the team is with almost $4 billion now, the Bowlen's got a real steal almost 40 years ago.

Pat Bowlen
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Pat Bowlen was the Denver Broncos President and majority owner from 1984 when he bought the team to 2014 when he had to step down as the team's President due to health issues and relinquished the team to Joe Ellis. Under Pat's reign, the Broncos had their most successful run in the team's history. Until just recently, under Pat's leadership, the Denver Broncos had been to more Super Bowl's, seven, than the team had losing seasons. The Broncos won three of those seven Super Bowl appearances. Back to back in Super Bowl's 32 and 33, and just six years ago at Super Bowl 50. Pat sadly wasn't able to attend the team's last Super Bowl victory due to progression from Alzheimer's, which also led to his passing, on June 13th, 2019 at the age of 75. Who's next to run this great team?

Denver Broncos Are For Sale

As seen in the tweet above from Broncos Insider Mike Klis, Denver Judge Shelley Gilman ruled in favor of the trust that is overseeing the Broncos. The final hurdle is gone, freeing up the team for a potential new owner. Aside from the dispute with the former Broncos owner, Edgar Kaiser's family over having first right of refusal in the team's sale, the Bowlen "children" have also been slowing the sale process. Since there wasn't an agreement on who would take over the team, the trust is moving forward with the sale.

Who Will The Denver Broncos New Owner Be?

Now that the team is "clear" for sale, names are starting to pop as potential new owners of the team. Obviously, John Elway wants the team, but apparently, the other Broncos Hall Of Fame Quarterback Peyton Manning wants in on the action as well. Longtime Colorado journalist and Broncos insider reported Woody Paige tweeted the following.

Even though John Elway and Peyton Manning have done quite well for themselves,  neither quite have the $3.75 billion to cover the team's valued sale price so this could quickly turn into a battle of the billionaires between Elway and Manning's potential partners. It's going to get very interesting as we head into this next season as we have the potential for a new owner and a new star QB to go along with the new Head Coach that the Broncos are currently interviewing for. It's all uphill from here, we're ready to get back to Pat Bowlen's winning ways in Denver. Go Broncos.

Who Will The Broncos Next Coach Be? Top 10 Candidates For the Job

The Denver Broncos' next Head Coach will have a lot of eyes on him as the pressure of turning this legendary franchise around is as big as it gets. It's important to pick the right guy for the job, so here are 10 available coaches right now that could potentially fill the void in Denver.

 

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