During the Broncos’ end-of-season press conference, president/CEO Joe Ellis indicated that if beneficiaries would not sign off on Brittany Bowlen eventually becoming the team’s next controlling owner, the franchise might be sold to a new owner outside of Pat Bowlen’s family.
Bowlen died last June after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The team is now under control of the trust that he set up in his name. Bowlen tasked the trust with passing down ownership of the team to one of his children when a qualified candidate emerged.
During his media availability on Wednesday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about the possibility of the Broncos being sold.
“It starts with what Pat Bowlen’s wishes were,” Goodell said, via The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala. “He established the trust to make sure there was an orderly transition of the franchise if something should happen to him. Unfortunately, that did, and Pat wanted to make sure the franchise was in good hands, in good management.”
Goodell didn’t have much new information to offer but he reiterated that the league aims to follow Bowlen’s plan.
“He wants his franchise, the Denver Broncos, to continue to have that success, and that’s why he set up the trust the way he did. For us, we want to make sure that his wishes are followed. I don’t think he’d be happy about the public disputes that are going on.”
The main dispute comes from Beth and Amie, two of Bowlen’s daughters, who are attempting to have the Pat Bowlen Trust removed from power through a lawsuit. The trust has previously said that Beth is not qualified or ready to take over as owner. Her sister, Brittany, is the most likely candidate to become the next owner.
“Unity is something that I think as an organization in the NFL, you have one person who makes a decision on behalf of an ownership group,” Goodell said. “That’s a vital and principal point in our ownership policy, and that is what Pat understood, he wanted that, and we need to have that in the case of all franchises. So that, at some point in time, will have to develop in the context of the Broncos.”
