Late Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen had a succession plan in place, and a recent piece of news has re-paved the way for his plan.
When the late Pat Bowlen stepped away from the Denver Broncos as owner and the one in charge of daily operations in 2014, he put a board of trustees in charge of an ownership succession plan.
According to Mike Klis of 9News, a lawsuit from Bill Bowlen attempting to remove certain members from the trust has been ‘dismissed in its entirety’.
This report clears the way for Bowlen’s original succession plan, which was for the board of trustees to appoint the most qualified of Bowlen’s children at the time they determined appropriate.
Here’s the official report from Klis, as well as others in the media:
Ownership news out of Denver: Bill Bowlen's lawsuit attempting to remove Joe Ellis and other trustees from Pat Bowlen's trust has been dismissed in its entirety. This clears the way for Pat Bowlen's ownership succession plans.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 29, 2019
Per source, Bill Bowlen expected the suit to be dismissed after Pat's death in June. At the heart of the lawsuit were his allegations that the trustees failed to act loyally and in Pat's best interest.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 29, 2019
So, we have some very significant movement on this front for the first time in a few months.
Once Pat Bowlen passed away earlier in 2019, it was rumored that the death of their father unified the Bowlen children, perhaps clearing away some of the confusion and perhaps even ‘competition’ for the role of ‘most deserving’.
At this point, it seems the Ownership Trust is very clearly moving down the path of making Brittany Bowlen the successor to her father Pat.
Brittany will reportedly begin working with the team later this year and begin her grooming as the owner and leader of an NFL team before the age of 30.
The dismissal of Bill Bowlen’s lawsuit gives Brittany a little bit of room to grow without a major distraction and also, for the time being, brings some peace to the situation.
But I’m sure this won’t be the end of it either. Nothing like this is a done deal until it’s a done deal, so we can expect to continue hearing more about this until the Broncos’ ownership trust officially announces Brittany as the heir.