The Denver Broncos are drafting plans to build a new stadium, but they're also getting pushback obout the specifics.
For owners, the pot of gold at the end of the NFL rainbow is getting that shiny new stadium and having most of it paid for by public funding. Greg Penner of the Denver Broncos is no exception, and the publicity surrounding the Broncos set for season-ticket renewals is part of the push for a new venue.
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk via Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post, the Broncos had a season-ticket renewal rate of 99.5 percent, which is the highest in franchise history, despite the fact that the team increased the price of season tickets by nine percent, Florio added.
That’s a gaudy stat for any owner, and the Broncos want to capitalize on it. Their home opponents this year will include the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The stadium is going to be built in the Burnham Yard area, according to Gabriel and Luca Evans. Burnham Yard sits on a site once inhabited by the Ute and Cheyenne tribes, and representatives from those groups were part of a recent meeting of the Small Area Plan community advisory that recently took place.
A prayer for peace was part of the proceedings initially, but after that the negotiations surrounding the plans quickly grew contentious. The Broncos have submitted an infrastructure plan that expands a critical artery to three lanes, and there was some pushback from several members who weren’t quite as enamored of the idea.
“It’s like, 'how would you like your displacement to look?'” one neighborhood-association member commented.
The area includes the usual plans for an “entertainment zone” as well as parking and a “tailgate park” that typically come with an NFL stadium, and the Broncos issued a statement to smooth the road to their plan coming to fruition.
“The initial submission of our Infrastructure Master Plan in March represents an early step in a collaborative, ongoing process with the city and community,” said Broncos chief communications officer Patrick Smyth. “As we shape this vision at Burnham Yard together, the plan will continue to evolve to best integrate with the surrounding neighborhoods and reflect community needs.”
The stadium itself will take up just 30-35 acres of the 150 involved in the proposal, so there’s a bit of the NFL version of eminent domain happening here. There’s also an “Entertainment Zone” that will doubtless enhance the Broncos’ revenue stream significantly, and part of the idea is to use the season-ticket renewal stats to pump up inevitability of success.
Expect the clash between different neighborhoods around the Burnham Yard area to be ongoing, but it would be shocking if the Broncos and the NFL didn’t ultimately win out. The league has a successful track record doing this sort of thing, especially when the team involved is winning and season tickets are a highly-valued commodity.