Broncos family bucking in fight over Denver NFL team

Two daughters of deceased Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen have filed a lawsuit in an effort to gain control of the team valued at $2.5 billion.

Beth Wallace and Amie Klemmer filed a lawsuit Friday to challenge the validity of Bowlen’s trust, The Associated Press reported. The trust is tasked with picking the Broncos’ next controlling owner.

The daughters alleged that their father lacked the mental capacity when he signed his estate planning documents in 2009.

The challenge puts the women at risk of being disinherited by the trust because of a no-contest clause in Bowlen’s will, according to the report.

Bowlen, who died in June at age 75, had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Another lawsuit related to the ongoing dispute stated that Bowlen began showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s as early as 2006, The Denver Post reported.

Dan Reilly, a lawyer who represents the trust, told the AP that the lawsuit was “the latest effort in their public campaign to circumvent Pat Bowlen’s wishes.”

Bowlen turned over control of the team to three trustees in 2014, according to a New York Times report. The trustees set criteria that Bowlen’s seven children would need to meet in order to become the team’s controlling owner, and they have disagreed with Wallace’s claim that she has qualified.

Wallace has previously held a position with the Broncos, and two of Bowlen’s brothers have supported her bid for control, the Times reported.

But she isn’t alone in seeking to be the team’s next controlling owner. Her younger sister Brittany Bowlen, a daughter Pat Bowlen had with his second wife, also has ambition to take over, according to the report.

NFL arbitration proceedings are due to begin in November, the Post reported.

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