In August 2010 Stan Kroenke exercised a right of first refusal for the late Georgia Frontiere’s 60% interest in the then-St. Louis Rams, giving him full ownership of the National Football League franchise, which in 2016 he would move to Los Angeles.
NFL owners unanimously approved his acquisition—on the condition that Kroenke comply with the league’s rule disallowing concurrent ownership of franchises in any of the other major professional sports—anywhere in the U.S.
In Kroenke’s case, this meant he had to withdraw from active involvement in the Denver-based franchises he owns—most notably the Nuggets in the National Basketball Association and the Avalanche of the National Hockey League.
His son Josh was named president of both, and in 2015 Stan Kroenke’s majority ownership stakes in both were transferred to his wife, Ann Walton Kroenke.
Three years later, NFL owners voted to rescind cross-ownership limitations, in part because the escalating sale prices of NFL franchises were reducing the pool of prospective buyers to many who already owned other pro sports franchises, such as Kroenke did.
Which brings us to the purchase of the Broncos in 2022 for $4.65 billion and why the same folks could own both Denver’s pro football and Major League Baseball teams.
In three-plus years the Walton-Penner Group, led by Greg and Carrie Walton Penner—yes, the same Walton family of which Ann Walton Kroenke is a member—has established itself as premier owners, returning the Broncos to Super Bowl contenders, investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Broncos Park, and undertaking the construction of a new stadium at Burnham Yard—along with now owning the largest minority share of the Rockies
Greg Penner and Carrie Walton Penner alone seriously outrank the collection of minority owners they are supplanting—the remaining minority shares can’t be very large if Dick Monfort still holds controlling interest in the franchise. (Walmart, of which Greg Penner is chairman, is the world’s largest company by revenue and the largest private employer in the world, with 2.1 million employees.)
That makes them very desirable new members of MLB’s owner class.
Greg Penner’s business background far outdistances Dick Monfort’s.
Penner majored in international economics at Georgetown (where he met is future wife) then earned his MBA at Stanford. With all due respect to the University of Northern Colorado, from which Dick Monfort received his only college degree, a BA in business management, it doesn’t pretend to have a reputation on par with either Georgetown or Stanford.
Penner’s first significant job was working as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs. He founded the investment firm Madrone Capital Partners. And he worked his way up at Walmart from store employee to Chief Financial Officer of Walmart Japan before eventually succeeding his father-in-law, Rob Walton, as Walmart chairman.
Carrie Walton Penner, granddaughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, is an impressive person in her own right. Greg’s classmate at both Georgetown and Stanford, she’s been a leader in the charter school movement, as well as the mother of four.
By comparison, prior to his involvement with the Rockies, Monfort held a variety of positions in the cattle business. He’s also involved in real estate development and ownership and in restaurants—all profitable and respectable ventures but, also, not in Penner’s league.
Financially, Penner and his wife dwarf Dick Monfort, who is wealthy but not MLB-rich, by today’s standards. It explains why the Rockies have not been able to compete for many top free agents.
Rockies fans want to know what the news of the Penners’ acquisition of 40% interest in the ball club means for them and the future of their team.
The press release announcing the transaction made it clear that the Penners would not have a say in the club’s operation. Which might be so at the outset.
But as a highly successful business friend of mine who is familiar with big-money investments said to me after hearing this news, people who put up that kind of money don’t leave it to others to look after it. At least not for long.
I see the Penners playing the long game.
The day will come when they make their senior partner an offer he can’t refuse, to either trade places in the ownership hierarchy—thus preserving some stake in the Rockies for his sons—or relinquish all involvement and bestow wealth upon those sons.
Either way, that would enable the Penners to transform the Rockies as they have the Broncos. Their original investment eliminated the burden of existing debt the Rockies were carrying.
Can it really happen?
Dick Monfort, who seems likely to play a major role in upcoming negotiations between MLB and the Player Association over a new collective bargaining agreement, is already on record decrying the current uncontrolled salaries of top players.
If talks over some sort of salary cap fail entirely or significantly delay the start of the 2027—or if this likely impasse eliminates the season entirely—Monfort could be moved to abandon baseball ownership in frustration.
That could put the Penners in the perfect position to take over.
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Denny Dressman writes a weekly sports column for The Villager. You can write to Denny at dennydressman@comcast.net.