Rich Slivka, Broncos’ longtime general counsel, dies at 81

Slivka handled the Broncos’ legal affairs, including the transfer of ownership from the Pat Bowlen Trust to the Walton-Penner group, for 22 years.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Whether he was representing the Denver Broncos in a legal matter or navigating a Colorado 14er, Rich Slivka was determined to earn a favorable result.

Slivka, the Broncos’ general counsel for 22 years and a longtime confidante of late owner Pat Bowlen, died earlier this week after a battle with cancer. He was 81.

Slivka was an invaluable counsel to Bowlen, assisting him in multiple business and legal affairs. Along with then-Broncos President & CEO Joe Ellis and attorney Mary Kelly, Slivka served as a Trustee to the Patrick D. Bowlen Trust which oversaw all of Mr. B’s family and business affairs including ownership of the Denver Broncos.

The PDB Trust sold the team to the Walton-Penner group in 2022, at which point Slivka retired as general counsel, a position he held since 2000.

“Rich was a terrific guy, a kind soul,” Ellis said. “Everybody who touched him, loved him. No one was a more loyal confidante to Pat Bowlen than Rich Slivka. We will miss him.”

Slivka was born in Bridgeport, Conn. and earned his law degree from George Washington University in 1969. He was working for a private practice that handled tax, criminal and corporate litigation matters in the Denver area in 1987 when Bowlen walked into his office. Mr. B had a problem. He was invested in a bank that was failing and Slivka helped him reach a favorable settlement with the government.

A business and personal relationship was formed. By the late 1990s, Slivka was representing Bowlen and the Broncos in just about every legal matter. With the team about to move into a new stadium at the turn of the century, Bowlen hired Slivka full-time as the team’s general counsel.

Not only was Slivka responsible for all the team’s legal matters, he oversaw the human resource, finance and information technology departments. He was instrumental in Bowlen’s internal family ownership transactions which left Mr. B with an 80% majority stake in the team at the time of his death in 2019.

Slivka was a member of several boards throughout his career, including the Denver Broncos Charities which he helped start in 1993. Slivka and his wife Terri raised two daughters Julie and Kelly, in the Denver area. An avid outdoorsman, Slivka reached the summit of all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks.