Official: Rob Walton to buy Broncos

[Winder23]

The old boy network just got older. Broncos should be well represented and have endless resources. My guess is they really splurge in the beginning. Vanity will require a new luxurious stadium. The Dove Valley headquarters will remain first class. The team should have no problem paying the bills. 

[AnAngryAmerican]

The press conference at the owner's meetings that just wrapped up was very perfunctory, a lot of "we want to have the best team" and that kind of stuff. Robson Walton and Greg Penner equated themselves well, Carrie Walton on the other hand was clearly quite nervous, stumbling over her words and saying even less of substance than the other two. I'm not saying that bodes badly or anything, just an observation I had. The group seems pleased with George/Hackett/the roster, mentioning Russ specficially. 

I really want to see what the leadership structure is going to look like - who will be the CEO, how will powers be shared, are any/some/all of the smaller stake owners just going to be silent partners or will they have voting power commensurate with their share of ownership, things like that. 

The early reports are that Robson Walton will serve as the chairman of the board type but that Greg Penner will be the CEO and day-to-day leader. I'm really curious as to how the power of decision making will rest. I also am anxious to here what, if any, role Peyton will have with the team. 

Hopefully they will announce some more details of the organizational structure at tomorrow's presser at Dove Valley. I did request a credential but I'm not sure they'll accept it as I haven't covered the NFL in a long time and have really stepped back from my journalism work. 

[AnAngryAmerican]

Well they’re good at marketing. 

 

[BroncoBruin]

Can’t say I was exactly blown away by any of them, but they’re worth 70+ billion and probably understand the need to delegate. As long as they aren’t cheap this should go well. 

I’m betting Peyton and TD will get some minority shares too. 

[BroncoBruin]

I think Penner is going to be the one running the show. To me this was Rob giving his daughter and son-in-law the best Christmas present of all time. 

[AnAngryAmerican]

Presser today was interesting, a lot more informative than yesterday. 

Greg Penner, as most of us assumed, is where the power will lie, he will be CEO. Penner also said they are going to hire a Team President from outside the ownership group and speculation is already rampant that that person is going to be Peyton Manning. They also said they will not be adding to the ownership group - the sextet of Walton, Greg, Carrie, Dr Rice, Hobson and Sir Hamilton - will be an informal board of directors but that won’t be codifying that in a formal perspective. 

They said the right things, Penner said he will let George, his staff and the coaches make the football decisions. They obfuscated on the new stadium, could be playing it safe from a legal perspective since they still have 10 years on their lease with the MSSD. 

Greg Penner is now the guy, gents. He seems well prepared and is saying all the right things and saying them well. This could have been a lot worse. Time will tell but I think we’re in good hands. 

I do really, REALLY want to see who is named Team President. If it’s Peyton, I’ll be 100% on board with this group until something changes my mind. They bring in someone with ties to New England or some sleazy corporate CEO with no football experience, I’ll jump the heck off this ship. 

[AnAngryAmerican]

Well, so much for Team President Peyton Manning.

I don’t know too much about this guy, seems to have a ton of experience. NCAA worries me because of the rampant corruption, but you can’t hold that at Leech’s feet. 

The good news is that it seems Leech and George are co-equals in the organization with both reporting directly to Penner. 

I’m sure there is going to be a lot of insufferable PR stunts, business partnerships, corporate boot-licking and whatnot, but as long as they let George and his staff handle all things football, I’ll be able to stomach the noise. 

[AnAngryAmerican]

I cannot believe that more of you guys - lifelong fans who’ve been through the thick and thin and appreciate the details of the underpinnings of the franchise as whole - do not have more to thoughts to share. 

What’s happened the last few weeks are about as big as it gets. 

Edited August 12, 2022 by AnAngryAmerican

[grizmo78]

15 hours ago, AnAngryAmerican said:

I cannot believe that more of you guys - lifelong fans who’ve been through the thick and thin and appreciate the details of the underpinnings of the franchise as whole - do not have more to thoughts to share. 

What’s happened the last few weeks are about as big as it gets. 

I’m taking more of a watch and see approach. I’m hopeful the ownership team (Penner especially) is as present in the locker room and care about his players/staff as Pat did. What’s hard is how high of expectations Pat set that it’ll be nearly impossible for this or any group to live up to so also trying to temper expectations. They’re saying all the right things so far though.

Edited August 12, 2022 by grizmo78

[paul-mac]

18 hours ago, grizmo78 said:

I’m taking more of a watch and see approach. I’m hopeful the ownership team (Penner especially) is as present in the locker room and care about his players/staff as Pat did. What’s hard is how high of expectations Pat set that it’ll be nearly impossible for this or any group to live up to so also trying to temper expectations. They’re saying all the right things so far though.

Couldn’t have summed it up better. 
 

The role of ownership is somewhat limited from the day training camp begins to whenever our playing season ends, be it December, January, or (hopefully) February. Where the Walton-Penner group will earn their stripes is in the off-season, setting the culture to allow Paton and Hackett to thrive in their roles. I’m cautiously optimistic. If they’re even half as successful as Pat Bowlen was then we have a lot of wins to look forward to. 

[AnAngryAmerican]

1 hour ago, paul-mac said:

Couldn’t have summed it up better. 
 

The role of ownership is somewhat limited from the day training camp begins to whenever our playing season ends, be it December, January, or (hopefully) February. Where the Walton-Penner group will earn their stripes is in the off-season, setting the culture to allow Paton and Hackett to thrive in their roles. I’m cautiously optimistic. If they’re even half as successful as Pat Bowlen was then we have a lot of wins to look forward to. 

I’ll disagree with that.

I think Dan Snyder was making the cheerleaders get naked for corporate sponsors year round. 

I know Al Davis was telling Mike Shanahan what coaches he could hire and fire in-season. 

Jimmy Haslem was embezzling money from truck stops 12 months a year.

Jerry Jones makes decisions as to which players are active/inactive on game day. 

Now, do I think the WP group is going to act this way? Absolutely not. But to say the ownerships powers are limited in-season is 10000% incorrect. 

[BroncoBruin]

They passed the sniff test, doesn’t look like mad tyrants are coming to run the team. They know the football side is in great shape. Just need them to spend like the richest owners they are or at least close to it. They will focus on expanding the Broncos as a national and international brand and they should be able to. Definitely expect a new stadium in the next 10 years, something similar to Kroenke’s project. 

[paul-mac]

12 hours ago, AnAngryAmerican said:

I’ll disagree with that.

I think Dan Snyder was making the cheerleaders get naked for corporate sponsors year round. 

I know Al Davis was telling Mike Shanahan what coaches he could hire and fire in-season. 

Jimmy Haslem was embezzling money from truck stops 12 months a year.

Jerry Jones makes decisions as to which players are active/inactive on game day. 

Now, do I think the WP group is going to act this way? Absolutely not. But to say the ownerships powers are limited in-season is 10000% incorrect. 

All of the examples you give constitute unnecessary meddling during the season, though.

 

The best thing the owner can do during the playing season is shut up and let the football guys do their job. 

[broncos67]

I finally got around to watching the presser. I think we'll be fine with this ownership group because they'll be relatively hands off. Penner as CEO makes sense and I thought he sounded the part. Leech is an interesting hire for president. Candidly, I never thought Manning was a realistic fit for that role, nor would it be offered to him. I do think he'll have a different role somewhere in the organization if he wants it.

One thing that is somewhat clear to me is that this group might be more inclined to lean into the Broncos as a brand (especially given some of the experience of the ownership group). It will be fun to see what we evolve into, especially once we have more picks again. I sense we won't be afraid to spend money. I also think there's going to be a bunch of international games in the future for Denver.

All in all, I am happy with the direction of the team and I think as time goes on we're going to be at quite a competitive advantage from an ownership/GM perspective which is great news.

[AnAngryAmerican]

9 hours ago, broncos67 said:

I finally got around to watching the presser. I think we'll be fine with this ownership group because they'll be relatively hands off. Penner as CEO makes sense and I thought he sounded the part. Leech is an interesting hire for president. Candidly, I never thought Manning was a realistic fit for that role, nor would it be offered to him. I do think he'll have a different role somewhere in the organization if he wants it.

One thing that is somewhat clear to me is that this group might be more inclined to lean into the Broncos as a brand (especially given some of the experience of the ownership group). It will be fun to see what we evolve into, especially once we have more picks again. I sense we won't be afraid to spend money. I also think there's going to be a bunch of international games in the future for Denver.

All in all, I am happy with the direction of the team and I think as time goes on we're going to be at quite a competitive advantage from an ownership/GM perspective which is great news.

I think you’re 100% right Ben; the big picture, long term, international branding will be a key for this group. I think they are also savvy enough to understand their bread is buttered locally, and plenty will be done to keel the Denver/Colorado/Rocky Mountain region influence and appeal. 

I think there will be an awful lot of corporatism, masses-pleasing, I don’t even know the right terminology to use, but you get my drift. And I’m also sure, frankly, whatever you want to call it, will be hideously insufferable for many of us at times, as long as they let the football people make the football decisions and that “brand building” (or again whatever you want to call it) business stuff doesn’t impact the football decisions, things should be fine. The best way to make money with a NFL team is to win games.