NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters during his annual Super Bowl Week news conference Wednesday that he and his staff have previously met with media mogul Byron Allen, who announced his interest in buying the Broncos earlier this week.
“He is not the only individual that is interested in buying an NFL team that is Black,” Goodell said in Los Angeles. “We’ve worked hard to make sure we have as many candidates possible (and) to put them in a position to succeed, explaining our policies, our ownership rules, what we can do to make sure they are best-prepared to enter into the process of acquiring a franchise and have a full understanding of what it will take to do that, both financially and from a policy standpoint.”
If Allen can secure the financing to buy at least 30% of the Broncos to meet a league requirement for the largest share-holder, he would become the league’s first Black majority owner. , Allen, 60, has a net worth of $450 million.
The Broncos are expected to set a North American record for a sale price with a tag that could approach or exceed $4 billion and it is believed the trustees, led by president/CEO Joe Ellis, have the fiduciary duty to select the highest bid.
A sports industry source told The Denver Post last week the anticipation is the new owner will buy “100% or a lion’s share,” of the Broncos, citing the full-share purchases of the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers.
Goodell reiterated the timetable announced by Ellis last week that the goal is to have a new owner in place by the start of September’s regular season.
Asked about the Broncos, Goodell said: “We would love to see a diverse owner of the team, whether thatap a person of color, a female, or a Black man. We think that would be a really positive step for us and something we’ve encouraged and one of the reasons why we’ve reached out to find candidates.
“We’ll be very clear and we have been already with the Broncos that (diversity) is something we certainly seek to have in the ownership group and we’ll certainly try to encourage that as the process goes along.”
