Tag: Carrie Walton

Denver Broncos Foundation to sponsor training of service dog

This will be the third service dog the Denver Broncos Foundation will have sponsored and placed with a veteran.

November is a time when the NFL celebrates the brave men and women who serve and have served the United States in the armed forces.

Now, the Denver Broncos will look to give back to a veteran through its partnership with K9s for Warriors.

“The Denver Broncos Foundation, through the support of Owner and Board Chair Carrie Walton Penner and Head Coach Sean Payton, will sponsor the training of a new service dog in continuation of their partnership with K9s For Warriors,” the team said in a statement on Wednesday.

“K9s For Warriors is honored to once again partner with Coach Payton and the Denver Broncos Foundation,” said Lindsay Grayson, Chief Revenue Officer at K9s For Warriors. “The dog will kick off his training in Broncos Country, attending his first game and meeting fans. He will then go on to save a military veteran’s life. We want to thank the Broncos for believing in our mission of saving lives at both ends of the leash.”

Carrie Walton Penner and Sean Payton also spearheaded the team’s sponsoring of two service dogs last year. Those dogs, Bucky and Thunder, have since graduated the training program.

 “K9s For Warriors is a nonprofit organization that is committed to ending veteran suicide and provides highly trained service dogs to military veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other invisible wounds of war,” the Broncos said in a statement.

“Dedicated to saving not just one life, but two, K9s For Warriors rescues a majority of their dogs for its service dog program, allowing both the K9 and veteran to build an unwavering bond that facilitates their collective healing and recovery. On average, they pair up to 16 veterans with service dogs each month. To date, the organization has rescued more than 2,000 dogs and paired nearly 1,000 veterans with lifesaving service dogs.”

Well done, Broncos.

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Greg and Carrie Penner expected to handle Broncos’ day-to-day operations

Rob Walton will become the Broncos’ new majority owner, but Greg and Carrie Penner are expected to handle the team’s day-to-day operations.

The Denver Broncos will soon have a new majority owner: Walmart heir Rob Walton, a 77-year-old businessman. He’s the son of late Walmart founder Sam Walton.

Walton led a group that has agreed to purchase the team for $4.65 billion, pending NFL approval. As the controlling owner, Walton will pay at least 30% of the purchase price ($1.395 billion), and possibly more.

Walton’s daughter, Carrie Walton-Penner, and his son-in-law, Greg Penner, are also joining the team’s new ownership group as minority investors. Mellody Hobson is expected to join as well.

Carrie, 51, and Greg, 52, are “expected to be the top two day-to-day Broncos bosses,” according to a report from KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis. They currently live in California but the Penners have lived in Colorado in the past and they will presumably do so again as the team’s new day-to-day owners.

Greg has served as the chairman of Walmart since 2015, which is when Rob retired from that position.

Klis also reported that one or two of Rob Walton’s grandchildren could also be involved in ownership, a sign that the team will be a family business, just like Walmart.

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Pending new Broncos ownership group will include Mellody Hobson

Mellody Hobson, 53, is the co-CEO of Ariel Investments.

A group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton has agreed to buy the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion, pending NFL approval.

Walton will be the majority owner. His daughter, Carrie Walton Penner, and his son-in-law, Greg Penner, will become minority owners.

The Walton-Penner group announced Tuesday evening that Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson will also be joining ownership.

Hobson is a 53-year-old businesswoman with an impressive resume.

“Beyond her role at Ariel, Mellody is an influential leader in corporate and civic organizations across the nation,” Rob Walton said in a press release.

“Mellody currently serves as Chair of the Board of Starbucks Corporation and is also a director of JPMorgan Chase. We know she will bring her strategic acumen and leadership perspective to our team.”

After the Broncos announced they were going up for sale in February, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league wanted the team to sell to a diverse ownership group.

The team’s pending new ownership group includes two women in Carrie Walton Penner and Mellody Hobson, the latter a Black minority owner.

Hobson and her husband, George Lucas, live in California with their daughter, Everest.

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Rob Walton group agrees to buy Broncos for $4.65 billion

A group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton has agreed to purchase the Broncos for $4.65 billion. The sale is subject to NFL approval.

A group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the Denver Broncos, the team announced late Tuesday evening.

Walton, his daughter, Carrie, and his son-in-law, Greg Penner, are leading the ownership group. The Walton-Penner group has agreed to pay $4.65 billion, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. That marks the most expensive price ever paid for a U.S. sports team, more than doubling the $2.275 billion David Tepper paid for the Carolina Panthers in 2018.

The Walton-Penner group will also include “one or two” of Rob’s grandchildren, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis. The Walton-Penner group also announced Tuesday evening that Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson will join the team’s new ownership group as well.

Hobson is a Black businesswoman who serves as Chair of the Board of the Starbucks Corporation and as a director of JPMorgan Chase. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in February that the league had encouraged the Broncos to sell to a diverse ownership group.

Rob Walton will serve as the controller owner of the team but Greg and Carrie Penner will oversee day-to-day operations, according to Klis. There’s been no official word yet on if Peyton Manning might be involved.

While the two sides have agreed to the sale, it’s not yet official. The sale will have to be approved by the NFL’s finance committee and by a majority of league owners (at least 75%). The sale is also subject to the satisfaction of customary closing procedures. The process could take several weeks or perhaps even a few months to finalize, but the sale is expected to be approved.

Former Broncos owner Pat Bowlen bought the team from Edgar Kaiser for $78 million in 1984. When his health began to decline, Bowlen set up a trust — led by Joe Ellis, Rich Slivka and Mary Kelly — to run the team and ideally pass on ownership to one of his children when a qualified candidate emerged.

Bowlen stepped down from his day-to-day duties in 2014 due to his battle with Alzheimer’s disease, and he died in 2019. A three-time Super Bowl champion, Bowlen was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame less than two months after his death.

The Pat Bowlen Trust had been grooming one of Bowlen’s daughters, Brittany, to become the next owner, but not all of her siblings could agree on Brittany becoming the controlling owner. So the trust opted to sell the team, with each of Bowlen’s seven children set to receive about 11% of the sale price.

Ellis announced the team was going up for sale in February and the winning bid was accepted on June 7.

Broncos general manager George Paton and head coach Nathaniel Hackett will continue to run the team’s on-field operations.

Some of the first topics addressed by the new owners might include new (or at least revamped) uniforms and the possibility of a new stadium. Walton might want to build a modern new stadium to improve the feasibility of hosting a Super Bowl and other events in the future. As for the uniforms, Denver fans (and quarterback Russell Wilson) are partial to the team’s 1990s throwback look.

With a new owner, an energetic new coach and a new star quarterback, the future looks bright for the Broncos.

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