Brittany Bowlen the clear favorite as next Denver Broncos owner?

Recent reports seem to indicate that the favorite to become the Denver Broncos’ next owner is 29-year old Brittany Bowlen.

The passing of Pat Bowlen certainly brought forth memories of his incredible reign as owner of the Denver Broncos, but it also raised the question of what comes next?

Bowlen left an undeniable mark on the NFL and the city of Denver, and that legacy will now be carried on by someone, but who? It was Mr. B’s wish that one of his seven children would own the team and the heir to his throne will be picked by a trust, led by Broncos president and CEO Joe Ellis.

Although this situation is anything but simple, it appears the early front-runner to become the next owner of the Broncos is Bowlen’s daughter Brittany, who is 29 years old and will join the franchise later this year to begin a ‘senior management’ position which should ultimately be step number one towards her eventual ownership of the team.

In 2018, Mike Klis wrote that the Trust and Bowlen family sources — including Pat himself — thought Brittany would have the best chance to eventually take over the team.

One year later, Klis writes that the ownership trustees have been ‘clearly grooming’ Brittany for the role, and there’s been no secret made about that.

Shortly after Mr. Bowlen’s passing, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Brittany was the one of Bowlen’s children who had been chosen as the successor.

As a matter of fact, Rap Sheet says that Brittany is the successor that the Broncos have picked.

Again, this comes as no surprise, but we’re piecing a number of things together here because it was clear that Mr. B put the decision in the hands of the ownership trust, and while there is an ongoing legal battle here, any of Bowlen’s children who want to contend with the decision of the ownership trust are going to have to fight against the specific wishes of Pat himself.

John Elway was also recently stopped by TMZ Sports and was asked about how Brittany Bowlen would ‘fare’ now that she’s been rumored as the successor to her father. Elway responded by saying, “She’ll do great.”

Klis is about as connected as anyone (and probably more so than anyone else) in the media to this ownership situation, so the fact that he’s saying what he is is telling enough. Rapoport has been on this story since midway through the 2018 season as well.

Of course, no one is more connected than John Elway, and this is really the first time I believe he’s publicly acknowledged the possibility of Brittany being the specific Bowlen child to succeed Pat in ownership.

Klis believes there will be no official change until at least 2021 when there will be a possible work stoppage in the NFL. Brittany will work with the team starting later this year and begin to acclimate herself to the rigors of being an NFL owner, so we can probably expect her to work closely with Joe Ellis.

It should also be noted that Brittany herself has expressed interest in becoming the owner of the team. She admitted in 2018 that it was a role she was not yet ready for, but that she felt she would be someday.

While the legal situation with Beth Bowlen-Wallace and Pat’s brother seems like it’s not going away anytime soon, it also seems it will be a fruitless endeavor as Brittany is clearly the favorite for the position at this point in time.