The three trustees tasked with choosing the Denver Broncos’ next controlling owner filed a new motion in Arapahoe County Court on July 1 to dismiss Bill Bowlen’s lawsuit, records show.
Bowlen, the younger brother of late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, has until July 22 to file his objection. The trustees then have a period of time to submit their reply brief before the judge rules.
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It’s possible the trigger for such a filing now — after an earlier motion to dismiss was denied and amid a months-long back-and-forth of court filings — was Pat Bowlen’s death. The longtime owner of the Broncos died June 13 following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease, and his passing was expected to incite some changes in the disputes over his estate and succession plan.
The first such dispute was Bill Bowlen’s 21-page petition, which he filed last October to have the trustees removed from power. Bowlen accused the trustees — Broncos president/CEO Joe Ellis, team counsel Rich Slivka and Denver attorney Mary Kelly — of failing to act in Pat Bowlen’s best interest and in good faith, of failing to preserve and implement Pat Bowlen’s estate and succession plan, and for holding a “dizzying array” of positions related to Pat Bowlen’s businesses and assets “without any accountability.”
Bill Bowlen also alleged the trustees refused to implement a succession plan that met Pat Bowlen’s desire of keeping the team within the family and under the control of his seven children.
The trustees responded to the lawsuit with a request for arbitration from the NFL with regard to five specific points related to the trust and the trustees’ authority to select the next controlling owner of the team. The league accepted arbitration between the trustees and Pat’s oldest daughters from his first marriage, Beth Bowlen Wallace and Amie Klemmer. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced earlier this year that Carmen Policy, an attorney and former 49ers executive, was designated to be the arbitrator. That process is ongoing and separate from Bill Bowlen’s lawsuit.
In the late 1990s, Pat Bowlen established the trust to both protect the franchise he bought in 1984 and to serve as a vehicle to one day transfer ownership to his seven children. Each child, ranging in age from 21-50, is expected to receive an equal stake in the team but only one, per NFL rules, can be appointed controlling owner and be the sole voice of the team at league functions.
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The task of selecting a child, or even selling the franchise if none became qualified for the job, was left to the trustees. In February 2015, the trustees sent Pat Bowlen’s children and then-wife Annabel a memo with suggested skills and traits required to become qualified for controlling ownership. The memo included a number of subjective items, such as integrity and sound judgment, as well as educational and work guidelines: a bachelor’s degree in business or economics, or a bachelor’s degree paired with an advanced business-related degree or J.D. Also required are at least five years of “senior management” experience with the NFL, the Broncos or the Stadium Management Company that oversees the team’s Denver facility.
The memo clearly stated that meeting the guidelines didn’t guarantee a child controlling ownership. Per the trustees, Pat Bowlen relayed to them that he was not anointing any child and that he understood it would take a number of years before they would have the knowledge and experience to be capable of assuming the position.
In May 2018, Wallace publicly disclosed her interest in becoming the controlling owner, but the trustees quickly denied her eligibility. Wallace, 48, earned her law degree from the University of Denver in 2016 and worked with the team for about three years as a director of special projects. When she announced her desire to take over as controlling owner, she received the public backing of Bill Bowlen.
“My brother’s wish was to have one of his children run this team,” said Bill Bowlen, who helped his brother purchase the team in 1984 but sold back his interest around 2002-03. “She has a plan to take over as a managing owner now, and in the future allow the other children to mature and learn and grow into a position, keeping this team in the family and in Denver, where it belongs.”
The preferred candidate of the trustees is believed to be 29-year-old Brittany Bowlen, who earned her MBA from Duke and is currently an associate at McKinsey & Company consulting firm in Denver. Brittany spent two years in the NFL’s rotational program and a season with the Broncos as a business analyst. In October, days before Bill Bowlen filed his petition, she announced for the first time publicly her desire to become qualified for controlling ownership.
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At the NFL’s owners meetings in March, Ellis said Brittany Bowlen was expected to return to the franchise in a senior management role within the year.
When Pat Bowlen died last month, one thing changed immediately: The children, who were shielded from viewing the trust documents while their father was living, were granted permission to review them.
Ellis said at the time of Bowlen’s passing that little else had changed with the ongoing legal disputes and the trustee’s search for his successor.
But in the ensuing weeks and months, as Bill Bowlen’s lawsuit continued in court and arbitration continued to play out with the league, it was likely more changes would come.
“Pat prepared himself for this day, planned ahead for this day,” Ellis said four days after Bowlen’s death. “The trustees are going to follow Pat’s plan. I’m going to carry out what Pat asked me to do and honor what he asked me to do, and that’s really as much as I would say at this time.”
(Photo: Ric Tapia / Getty Images)