Records set to be broken as NFL's Denver Broncos go on sale for first time in almost 40 years

The Denver Broncos are looking for a new NFL owner in what is expected to be the most expensive team sale in US sports history.

The Pat D Bowlen Trust announced on Tuesday it was in the «beginning of a sale process» for a franchise valued at $US4 billion ($5.6 billion) and was expected to draw heavy bidding that could push the sale price well beyond that figure.

The highest price paid for a US sports franchise is the $US2.35 billion that Alibaba Group co-founder and Canadian billionaire Joe Tsai paid for the Brooklyn Nets in 2019.

The last NFL team that went on the market was the Carolina Panthers, bought for $US2.275b by David Tepper in 2018.

Broncos president and CEO Joe Ellis said the trustees who ran the franchise hoped to have a new owner by the start of next season.

«Selling an NFL team is a complex process involving numerous parties and league approval procedures. Nonetheless, the trustees hope to have the sale completed by the start of the 2022 NFL season,» Ellis said in a statement.

NFL franchise values have skyrocketed amid new broadcast deals and the league embracing sports betting.

And teams rarely go on sale.

The Broncos are a regional team with a great record, including three Super Bowl titles, seven Super Bowl appearances and 21 play-off berths since Pat Bowlen purchased the team from Edgar Kaiser in 1984.

The team has an up-and-coming roster and last week hired Nathaniel Hackett as head coach, replacing Vic Fangio.

Bowlen died in 2019, a month shy of his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, after a long bout with Alzheimer's disease.

Several years earlier, he appointed a three-person trust to determine the future of the franchise.

AP