DENVER — With new Denver Broncos ownership came the conversation about a new stadium. And as we inch closer to 2030 — the last year of the current lease between the team and the Metropolitan Football Stadium District — many fans are wondering what will become of Empower Field at Mile High.
“It's a really good venue, easy to get to from downtown, which is nice, you know, versus like New York, where you're like a state away from where the Jets and the Giants pretend to play football," said Seth Howard, who has lived in Denver for nearly a decade after moving from New York City.
Howard has been to a handful of Broncos games at Empower Field, along with a few concerts. He does not believe moving the stadium to a new location would be in the best interest of fans.
"If I can't walk there or take one subway or one train or RTD or whatever, I'm not going to travel. I'll just sit at a local bar and watch the game or skip it all together," said Howard.
Darrin Duber-Smith is a senior lecturer at Metropolitan State University Denver and specializes in sports marketing. He explained some of the issues with the current stadium.
“It's old. It doesn't seem old by some metrics, but in stadium years, it's very old. And it's not an indoor stadium. We don't have the retractable roof. The weather is a little rough. It's difficult to get other events beyond football," said Duber-Smith. “When the new ownership came in, they basically said they will build a new stadium."
Duber-Smith said now the question is if a new stadium will be built on the same property or moved to another part of the metropolitan area. He said it's more common to see a new stadium built in the same area as the previous one, but acknowledged it's possible the Broncos are considering new locations.
“Stadiums in the 70s and 80s were built in outlying areas because people didn't want to be in the cities anymore. They were just too trashed. So, we've seen this movie before," said Duber-Smith. “It's unfortunate, but Denver isn't the draw that it used to be. It's a very expensive place to live, and the city itself isn't a destination spot the way it used to be. And so, I think that there's some benefits, maybe, to moving it away.”
Ownership of Empower Field is split between the Walton-Penner Group and the City of Denver.
Duber-Smith believes moving the stadium would be an attractive idea from the private sector perspective in order to have total control of the stadium.
"Maybe get a good tax break, maybe get some guarantees and some perks for creating jobs, and maybe get out of the city," said Duber-Smith.
No matter what location is potentially selected, Duber-Smith is confident taxpayers would not foot the bill.
A spokesperson with the Broncos declined to comment on what new locations, if any, are being considered for Empower Field.
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