Broncos Roundtable: What's the most important aspect for the future of the team's stadium?

In less than a year after buying the Denver Broncos, the Walton-Penner ownership group has already dumped $100 million into upgrading Empower Field at Mile High.

And they appear to already have their sights set on more.

This offseason, the Broncos began a deep-dive about the future of the team’s stadium, from focus groups to sending surveys out to season ticket holders. The biggest takeaway is the team is gathering information about potentially significantly upgrading the current stadium, but also exploring the possibility of building a new stadium… somewhere in the Denver Metropolitan Area.

With so much uncertainty, and possibilities, what’s the single most important aspect for the future of the team’s stadium?

The DNVR Broncos Crew gives their take.

What’s the most important component for the Broncos’ stadium?

Zac: Dominant home-field advantage — When it comes to building a new stadium, or upgrading the current stadium, don’t forget what this is all about. It’s about winning football games. It’s about giving the team the best-possible home-field advantage that can exist.

Between the white lines, both teams are supposed to have an equal opportunity to compete. But the stadium surrounding the field should absolutely favor the home team. For decades, the Broncos have had a dominant home-field advantage, most famously thanks to the loud, and shaky, South Stands. Especially if the team builds a new stadium, the ownership group cannot lose this component among the new, shiny features.

While a new stadium would certainly be state-of-the art, there are things that can be done to make the new Mile High just as intimidating as the original. Build the seats extra vertical, like Seattle, so it makes it feel like the fans are on top of the players. Build it so the acoustics make it the loudest stadium in the league. Build it so the stands rattle extra loud. Bring the experience of the old South Stands to the new Mile High.

Don’t build a venue where football is occasionally played. Build a daunting stadium for the Denver Broncos.

RK: Location, location, location, location, location — I can’t stress this enough. In fact, it’s the only aspect of a new stadium that matters to me. Do whatever you want, just keep the Denver Broncos in Denver.

I’ve travelled to stadiums all across the country and each one has their own set of interesting charactaristics, but one thing has been unequivocally true in my experieces — stadiums that are in the city have an exponentially-better atmosphere on game day. There’s simply something special about going to a game heart of the city. You can feel the city, hear the city, smell the city, the game is a part of the city.

There’s the fans who live just down the street from the stadium, their family has had season tickets since the stadium opened. There’s the fans who roll in from the local dive bar, back in the day it was one of the few places that had the morning games on. There’s the fans who bike to the game from downtown, it’s the best way to dodge the traffic.

Denver Broncos games feel like Denver.

When you move to the suburbs, you lose all of that and end up with a cookie-cutter atmoshere to match the cookie-cutter houses its’ surrounded by.

Football in this city has soul. Please don’t sell it.

Hank: Keep it in Denver — The appeal of buying a bunch of land by the airport and building a “Broncoland” development is obvious; the team could own apartments, hotels, bars, restaurants and all the other workings of a state-of-the-art mini-city and reap the rewards.

The Walton-Penner Ownership Group has more than enough cash on hand to build a destination for out-of-state Bronco fans around their new stadium, which would likely steal the show from the Kroenkes’ SoFi Stadium. They’d get their Super Bowl and their Final Four.

But would Denverites actually flock to the boondocks on non-game days? I’m skeptical.

The Rockies hit a home run by building McGregor Square, which is a similar entertainment development to what the Broncos would likely build, but it’s confined to one block. More importantly, it’s in the heart of Downtown Denver, which means it doesn’t require the same hassle that maneuvering miles and to the east would.

As the Kroenkes build up The River Mile, which will stretch from Ball Arena to the land on which the Broncos’ stadium currently sits, they’re redefining the en vogue neighborhood of Denver; the 16th Street Mall is dead, but the stretch from Coors Field to Empower Field could rival the downtowns of any major city not named New York or Los Angeles.

At least… if the Broncos can find a way to stick in Denver.

The financial weight of a massive development near the airport will be overwhelming, but the Broncos are the keystone to Denver’s culture and they owe it to the city to stick around for the next era.