Another day, another announcement of a forthcoming NFL stadium.
Less than 24 hours after the Bears said they are committing to suburban Arlington Heights, Ill., as their preferred site for a new venue, the Broncos have made a similar pronouncement. The team said Tuesday it intends to build a retractable-roof stadium at Denver’s Burnham Yard. The privately financed stadium is aimed to be the centerpiece of a planned mixed-use development and entertainment district in a former railyard property just south of downtown Denver.
The concept around the Broncos’ proposed stadium is very similar to what teams such as the Bears, Browns, and Commanders are each planning and others such as the Eagles are considering, with a new venue anchoring a wave of new development around it and succeeding a prior, more out-of-date stadium.
The Broncos are targeting a 2031 opening for the stadium, similar to the Bears. It’s a year later than the projected date for the Commanders, and two years later than one for the Browns. That timing would coincide with the 2030 completion of the Broncos’ current lease at Empower Field at Mile High.
“It’s our goal to have world-class facilities for this team and for our fans, obviously, with the rich tradition and history at Mile High, and find something that the fans would love as a site that had proximity to that and Denver,” Broncos owner and CEO Greg Penner said in a statement. “We couldn’t be more excited about Burnham Yard as the preferred site to build a new stadium and an incredible year-round destination.”
The Broncos had been increasingly focused on Burnham Yard as a stadium site option, making a series of land purchases near the property in recent months. The team now has “conceptual agreements” to acquire the 58-acre parcel from the state of Colorado, as well as another 25 acres from Denver Water.
Along with the additional and prior property deals, the total land in consideration spans more than 100 acres, though that’s still less than a third of what the Bears own in Arlington Heights. A full cost for the Broncos stadium project has not yet been detailed, but a price tag of more than $4 billion is likely.
Mile-High Development
Denver is also on the cusp of multiple other major sports-related development projects, including a forthcoming stadium for an expansion NWSL team and a planned, large-scale redevelopment in and around Ball Arena, home of the NBA’s Nuggets and NHL’s Avalanche.
Penner, along with wife and Broncos co-owner Carrie Walton Penner, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, also issued a separate joint statement detailing the vision for the project.
“While this is an exciting milestone, we recognize there is much more work to be done ahead of a targeted stadium competition for the 2031 NFL season,” the group said. “Today is not yet a celebration, but rather a meaningful checkpoint reflecting years of research, collaboration, and planning, as well as necessary land agreements and feasibility studies. More important, this announcement marks the beginning of a much deeper and transparent phase of broader engagement with our neighbors.”
