Businessman Sean O’Brien has his sights set on buying the Denver Broncos after he created a ‘BuyTheBroncos’ decentralizer autonomous organization (DAO), which aims to raise $4 billion in cryptocurrency for bidding to purchase the NFL franchise.
CNBC’s Mackenzie Sigalos reported Saturday the group of “crypto enthusiasts” already include attorneys, accountants, software developers and pro athletes ahead of the DAO’s launch which is scheduled for March:
“We know it sounds a bit crazy, but it’s also a bit badass,” O’Brien told CNBC. “The purpose essentially is to establish an infrastructure so that fans from all walks of life can be owners of the Denver Broncos.”
The Pat Bowlen Trust Feb. 1 the Broncos were being put up for sale by the family following Bowlen’s death in June 2019.
“BuyTheBroncos” organizers told CNBC they’ll initially try to raise the entire $4 billion, with a backup plan of raising a percentage of the funds and then joining an established, more conventional group to become a stakeholder in a joint bid.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he’s intrigued by the idea and would be willing to help organizers get involved in the sale process, though he can’t influence the Bowlen Trust’s final decision.
“I can’t play favorites,” Polis told CNBC. “Obviously, whoever buys the team, we’re totally—as a state, we want to have a good owner—but this would be really noteworthy for Colorado if they could pull this off.”
O’Brien is hopeful the bid, even if it’s unsuccessful, brings more attention to the DAO space, which he believes can make a “tangible connection between this web3 life and the real world.”
“While having a fan-owned Denver Broncos in a DAO-based system would be amazing, that isn’t our final goal,” he told CNBC. “… Our thought is that it accelerates DAO adoption for solving real-world problems such as food scarcity or unhoused peoples.”
The heavy fluctuation of crypto prices could also be a factor. One Bitcoin, the most prominent cryptocurrency, is worth just over $38,200 as of Sunday morning. That’s a 44.6 percent drop from its all-time high of $68,990 in November—just four months ago.
