Magic Johnson joins Sixers’ owner Josh Harris’ bid to buy Denver Broncos

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Magic Johnson may be getting into the NFL game. The Denver Broncos are up for sale with at least five bidders for the team, and a new report says Magic Johnson has joined one of them. Magic has teamed up with 76ers owner Josh Harris in his bid, reports Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams at Sportico.

The former NBA star has joined the bid group being led by Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Josh Harris, according to the person, who was granted anonymity because the details are private. Adding a high-profile African American investor, one of Johnson’s stature no less, could help make the group more attractive as bidding intensifies in the coming weeks and months.

As noted by Mike Florio at NBC’s ProFootball Talk, the NFL has made a very public push to increase minority representation among team ownership. Magic brings name recognition along with his financial stake in the team.

Johnson currently owns part of the Los Angeles Dodgers as well as the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. With the Dodgers, his financial contribution was not huge by percentage (a reported $50 million of the $2 billion sale price at the time) but he played a significant role as a public face for the ownership group.

Johnson formerly owned a piece of his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, but in 2010 sold his share to Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong (Magic did come back as President of Basketball Operations for a couple of years last decade and still serves as an unofficial consultant to owner Jeanie Buss).

The bidding for the Broncos is just getting underway. The Bowlen family, who have owned and operated the Broncos for 38 years, put the team up for sale. The final sale price is expected to exceed $4 billion.