Robson Walton, one of the favorite candidates to own the Denver Broncos’ franchise, was at the team’s headquarters at Dove Valley on Monday, NFL sources told The Gazette.

The Gazette reported Thursday that Walton, who sources claim is one of the frontrunners to buy the Broncos, would come to Denver this week.

The former CEO of Walmart, who Forbes claims is one of the richest Americans with a worth of $65 billion, becomes the second bidder in the Broncos’ auction to visit the complex, the facilities and the stadium and meet with Broncos CEO Joe Ellis and other top officials of the Broncos.

“Rob’’ Walton owns a compound of three homes in Scottsdale, Ariz., and another home in Aspen.

Walton is a cousin-by-marriage to Stan Kroenke, whose family owns the Nuggets, the Avalanche, the Rapids and the Mammoth locally and is owner of the NFL’s Rams and the English Premier League’s Arsenal franchise in London.

The 77-year-old Walton never has owned a professional sports franchise, but is a collector of rare automobiles (more than two dozen) and an amateur driver who wrecked a $15 million Shelby Dayton Coupe on a California track in 2013. He was uninjured after the car veered off course.

According to sources close to the Broncos auction, Walton is one of five remaining applicants, reduced from the original 10, who will participate in the second round of bidding before the end of May. Multiple sources told The Gazette that he is one of two favorites. Other sources have said that there are three favorites, including Joshua Harris, who visited the Broncos for two days at the end of last week. Harris is the managing general partner of the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils.

Magic Johnson joined Harris’ group, which includes two other partners in the NBA and NHL franchises, last week. Peyton Manning also has been approached by Harris to be involved as a minor shareholder.

The third known potential owner is Todd Boehly, who is the leader of an international consortium which agreed Friday to purchase Chelsea F.C. of the English Premier League for approximately $5 billion. Boehly is a co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and recently bought 27% of the Los Angeles Lakers

The other two groups of the five have not been revealed publicly.

The auction of the Broncos, who were valued by Forbes at $3.75 billion, had a reported established starting bid of $4 billion. Sources state that the bidding could exceed $4.5 billion and possibly reach as high as $5 billion.

The last NFL franchise to be sold was in 2018 to hedge fund billionaire David Tepper for a league record $2.2 billion.