The Denver Broncos might be for sale if the Bowlen family cannot unanimously approve a successor.
Broncos president and chief executive Joe Ellis announced on Monday that all seven of Pat Bowlen’s feuding children must support Brittany Bowlen in her plan to take over as controlling owner of the team.
“[Selling] is an option and we’ve told the beneficiaries that because if Brittany were to succeed and take over for her father, everybody else is going to have to sign off on that,” Ellis said during his end-of-season press conference. “That may not be a requirement, but it’s going to be necessary from the trustee viewpoint. That’s why a sale is a possibility given the circumstances we’re in.”
Brittany Bowlen-Kim, 29, recently took over as vice president of strategic initiatives for the Broncos. She announced her intention to become controlling owner of the team last fall.
“She has distinguished herself as the one child that we’re looking at to possibly take over her father’s role,” Ellis said. “Everything that people told me about Brittany, whether it was at NFL, at Duke or at McKinsey, her supervisors, her peer employees — it’s one month — a lot of work to be done, but so far everything’s true and I’m really pleased — really nice frankly to have her in the building.
“If they are all not going to agree to Brittany running the team, it seems to me that we’re headed for more battles and at that point, I know Pat would have preferred the team be sold.”
Ellis’ unofficial ultimatum will be challenging to meet in light of the family’s acrimonious past that is filled with legal woes.
Pat Bowlen first acquired the team in 1984 for $78 million. He stepped down from team operations five years ago and died last summer at the age of 75 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. In September, Forbes estimated the Broncos franchise to be worth approximately $3 billion, up 13 percent year-over-year.
Bowlen’s two oldest daughters from his first marriage to Sally Parker, Amie Bowlen Klemmer and Beth Bowlen Wallace, are currently suing the three trustees of their father’s trust. The pair filed their lawsuit in Arapaho County Court one day before their half sister Brittany Bowlen married Alex Kim in September.
“There is substantial and overwhelming evidence that Mr. Bowlen lacked the required capacity in 2009,” said Giovanni Ruscitti, co-counsel for Klemmer and Wallace. “As a result, Ms. Klemmer and Ms. Wallace have filed a petition asking the court to decide that issue, the related issue of whether the 2009 trust, which is the document under which the trustees have derived their power and authority, is valid, and whether Mr. Bowlen was subjected to undue influence.”
Ellis is one of the trustees, along with team general counsel Rich Slivka and family attorney Mary Kelly. They were appointed in 2013 as the family patriarch’s health waned, and have been running the team since 2014.
Wallace, 49, attempted to succeed her father last year, but the trustees deemed her “not capable or qualified.” The current legal challenge risks their inheritance and beneficiary status if they are found to be in violation of the trust’s no-contest clause. The civil trial is slated to take place in September 2020.
A separate lawsuit was filed in Arapahoe County by Bill Bowlen that sought to remove the trustees, claiming they had not been acting in good faith of his late brother’s interests. The suit was dismissed in August, and the trustees requested that the NFL arbitrate the matter. The league will not be at liberty to rule on Pat Bowlen’s mental capacity, and the arbitration will likely have to wait until the other lawsuit is resolved.