Building a new stadium is the surest way for an NFL franchise to land a coveted Super Bowl. A new facility could attract other national events, such as the NCAA’s Final Four.
There’s rising speculation that the new Denver Broncos owners could build a billion-dollar football palace to replace Empower Field at Mile High.
A group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton paid a record $4.65 billion for the Broncos in June. That was the most expensive purchase ever of an NFL Team.
The “number one decision” facing the new owners is whether to build a new facility to replace the 21-year-old Empower Field.
Whatever they decide, Denver mayor Michael Hancock wants the team to remain in his city, not bolt for the suburbs as other NFL clubs have done.
“As we’ve talked, I’ve made it very clear that my hope is that, one, we will keep open lines of communication with regards to the stadium, and the future stadium, and hopefully, that it remains in Denver, Colorado,” Hancock told the local CBS News affiliate.
Over the past decade, the owners of the Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants/Jets, Minnesota Vikings, Houston Texans, and Atlanta Falcons were rewarded with Super Bowls for building state-of-the-art new stadiums.
The talk in Denver is that a new stadium could feature a retractable roof to deal with inclement Rocky Mountain weather.
In the meantime, the new Walton-Penner ownership is planning a $100 million refurbishment of Empower Field, according to sources cited by SportsBusiness Journal.
For $400.7 million, Empower Field opened in August 2001, only a few feet from the site of storied Mile High Stadium, home of the Broncos from 1960 to 2000.
