The Denver Broncos are for sale. Perhaps not in the traditional sense but the team is being auctioned off to the highest bidder. 

Those bidders must pass through NFL security protocols and have, of course, the financial wherewithal to make an offer that is expected to approach $4 billion. Since the field was narrowed down to five actual bidding groups, we learned the name of two of them for certain: Walmart heir Rob Walton and Josh Harris. 

The names of another prospective group have come to the fore courtesy of 9NEWS' Mike Klis. Mat and Justin Ishbia, hailing from the mortgage industry, are in the running to win ownership of the Broncos and recently toured the UCHealth Training Center. 

Ishbia and his brother Justin are part of a group that have put together a strong enough financial proposal to catch the attention of those running the Broncos’ sale. The Ishbia brothers recently visited with Broncos executives and those involved with the team sale.

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Mat Ishbia is a former Michigan State basketball player who's since made a fortune by building a mortgage empire. Klis also reports that Byron Allen is still somehow in the mix with one of the finalist buying groups. 

Media mogul Byron Allen is also in the mix to bid on the Broncos, a source tells 9NEWS, although he has yet to visit the team.

Who comes out on top? We won't yet know for a while but anyone other than the 19th-richest man in the world, Walton, would be an upset. 

A source told 9NEWS three weeks ago the Broncos’ bidding process started with 10 investment groups that submitted first-round proposals, after which the field was narrowed to five groups. 

Because the Broncos’ sale is through the Bowlen trust, it has fiduciary responsibilities to the trust’s beneficiaries -- his seven children -- to get the highest price. Thus, the auction-like sale process.

Hopefully, the Broncos will have ownership resolution by the start of the 2022 regular season. 

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Chad Jensen is the Founder of Mile High Huddle and creator of the wildly popular Huddle Up Podcast. Chad has been on the Denver Broncos beat since 2012.