Everything we know about the Denver Broncos' new uniforms

The Denver Broncos are getting new uniforms.

“It will be happening sometime in the next few weeks,” team president Damani Leech told reporters at the NFL’s annual owners meeting on Monday.

“I would say, quite honestly, it’s good and a bit of a relief to let the fans know and confirm we will have new uniforms next season. It’s been a great process across the organization between staff and ownership, particularly [Owner] Carrie [Walton Penner], who has really driven this process. [There has been] player involvement and fan involvement. We are really excited to finally move in that direction.”

New uniforms have been rumored since the Walton-Penner Ownership assumed control of the Denver Broncos ahead of the 2022 season. The Broncos’ uniforms have remained largely the same since 1997, when they were introduced.

Those uniforms, featuring a prominent stripe down the sides, were game-changers. UniWatch.com calls the set the “most radical uniform in NFL history.” It’s influence is obvious, with high schools and college across the country borrowing the basic concept.

“I think part of the process that we went through was talking about what’s important to the Broncos and what’s important in the Broncos fan base,” Leech said. “Wanting to evolve and be new and different, but also being respectful of our history and traditions and understanding our surroundings. I think from a geographic standpoint, there’ll be nods to that. I think people will be really excited about it.”

A nod to local geography could mean a mountain-like design somewhere on the uniform.

Hard information about the Broncos’ new look is scarce. Leech said the Broncos’ color scheme—Broncos Navy and Broncos Orange—will stay the same. He said the primary logo—which debuted in 1997—will also stay the same. The team will have multiple helmets available.

The uniform will feature a “full redesign.”

Leech said that the Broncos wanted to stay true to the fans while designing their new look.

“We had over 10,000 survey responses from our fans, which was great,” he said. “Most of them—three quarters—wanted new uniforms and most of them wanted to keep the same colors and logo.”

By keeping the same colors and logo, the Broncos were able to expedite the process. A new uniform is a one-year process. The league requires a two-year process to change colors or logo.

The Broncos notified the league of their plan to rebrand in January 2023. A couple of months later, a team that included Leech and Carrie Walton Penner visited Nike headquarters in Beaverton, OR to begin the design process.

“Nike takes you through sort of a design, vision and process of what’s important to you and what are you trying to accomplish. On a scale of one to 10, how much change are you looking for? [It’s] a bunch of different things, and then you sort of start iterating from a design standpoint. Then you have to move into production, because is this something that can actually be built? I think I came into it thinking, ‘Oh, this will be simple. This will be quick and easy.’ But once you get into it, you understand production, manufacturing and design takes a while.”

The Broncos included their players in the process. Players were given a similar survey to the one that fans filled out. Some saw a larger role as the process continued.

“Throughout the process over the course of the last two years, a small group of them—basically our captains—we tried to keep them involved,” Leech said. “As we’ve iterated, we tried to share a few different ideas and concepts with them for feedback as well.”

“I think there is a sense of freshness. This is important for our fans, but it’s also important for our players. We want them to feel good and be inspired. We talked about them being super suits when they go out on the field.”

The uniforms should be released before the NFL Draft in late April.

“It’s been over a year, really, for us to think about who we are and who we want to be. It’s something our players are excited about,” Leech said. “I think everyone will see and be proud of what we have.”