The Penner Sports Group, the family entity of Broncos CEO Greg Penner and co-owner Carrie Penner, announced Friday morning that it has acquired the largest minority ownership stake in the Colorado Rockies, with MLB approval already in hand. The Monfort family retains majority control, with Dick and Charlie Monfort staying in their current roles and Walker Monfort running day-to-day operations.
Why Broncos fans should care:
For a Rockies franchise coming off one of the worst seasons in modern baseball history (43-119 in 2025, with a run differential not seen since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders), the Penner investment might be the most significant thing to happen to the organization in years and not because of the money, but because of the blueprint.
When the Walton-Penner group took over the Broncos in August 2022, Denver had missed the playoffs six straight years. Greg Penner's ownership philosophy of adding the right people, high expectations, necessary resources, accountability totally flipped the culture. The Broncos made the playoffs within two years, won the AFC West in 2025, and are now built as legitimate Super Bowl contenders heading into 2026.
The Rockies are where the Broncos were. Arguably worse. They've already started making structural changes by hiring Paul DePodesta as president of baseball operations and poaching Josh Byrnes from the Dodgers as GM... the first time since 1999 the club went outside the organization for a top baseball executive. But the Monfort ownership has been the constant through three decades of mostly losing baseball, and fans have been begging for change at the top for years.
This isn't that. Dick Monfort isn't selling. But having Greg and Carrie Penner as the largest minority owners, with their track record of demanding excellence and their stated commitment to competing at the highest level, could be the kind of behind-the-scenes influence that nudges a historically rudderless franchise in the right direction. The Penners said their focus remains on the Broncos, but added they're looking forward to being "supportive, long-term partners" of the Rockies.
For long-suffering Rockies fans who also bleed orange and blue, the logic is simple: Penners made the Broncos good. Maybe, just maybe, some of that rubs off at 20th and Blake.
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