Rob Walton, cousin by marriage of Stan Kroenke, prepare to bid on the Broncos

[profootballtalk.nbcsports.com] Rob Walton, cousin by marriage of Stan Kroenke, prepares to bid on the Broncos
Posted by Mike Florio on April 8, 2022, 7:02 PM EDT
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Coming this fall, it’s Oligarch in the Family.

S. Robson Walton, cousin by marriage of Rams owner Stan Kroenke, will be making a bid to buy the Denver Broncos, according to Josh Kosman of the New York Post.


Walton, the son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, served as the chairman of Walmart from 1992 through 2015.

The 77-year-old Walton was expected to submit a bid on Friday in excess of $4 billion. That’s the minimum price for buying the team, per the Post.

“A bid needs to have a four in front of it,” a source close to the process told the Post. At an estimated worth of $70 billion, Walton presumably can offer more than anyone else, which would be enough to secure the team. Although the league reportedly had hoped that the team would be sold to a group led by a minority, the Broncos currently are held in trust — and the trustees have a fiduciary duty to maximize the return.

The final price, per the Post, is expected to land between $4.5 billion and $5 billion.

Kroenke’s family owns two major-league sports teams in the Denver market, the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL and the Denver Nuggets of the NBA.

Walton, if he becomes the owner of the Broncos, would land at No. 3 on the Forbes list of the richest sports owners, knocking Panthers owner David Tepper (the only NFL owner on the list) from No. 8 to No. 9.

It’s a reminder that the only factor that matters when it comes to buying an NFL team is money. It doesn’t matter whether Walton knows anything about football or the Broncos, cares about football or the Broncos, or even likes football or the Broncos. It doesn’t matter whether he’ll be a good steward of the team. For him, it could simply be a buy-low-sell-high investment.

NFL franchises have become cash cows. Even at $5 billion, Walton will get a return on his investment — since the value of NFL franchises will only continue to go up and up and up.