(Reuters) – Seven-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has joined the ownership group of the National Football League’s Denver Broncos, the team announced on Tuesday.
Britain’s Hamilton, who drives for the Mercedes F1 team, is the latest to join the Broncos ownership after former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The Broncos and the Walton-Penner family, led by Walmart heir Rob Walton, in June entered into a purchase and sale agreement for the takeover of the team in a deal reportedly worth $4.65 billion, a record for an American sports franchise.
“He (Hamilton) is a champion competitor who knows what it takes to lead a winning team and a fierce advocate for global equality, including in his own sport,” Walton said in a statement on behalf of Walton-Penner family ownership group.
“His resilient spirit and standard of excellence will be an asset to the ownership group and the Broncos organization.”
The Broncos are three-times Super Bowl champions.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
