Why the Broncos $100 million investment into Empower Field at Mile High doesn’t rule out a new stadium in the future

DENVER — After investing $4.65 billion into purchasing the Denver Broncos in the summer, Greg Penner and the rest of the Broncos ownership made another significant investment shortly after.

On Wednesday, the team announced their plans to spend over $100 million into improving Empower Field at Mile High in the offseason to upgrade the fan experience.

“This significant investment in Empower Field at Mile High—the largest in the stadium’s history—demonstrates the deep commitment by the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group to immediately and continually provide the best possible experience for our fans,” Broncos team president Damani Leech said in a statement.

On Sunday, shortly before the Broncos-Cardinals game, Leech spoke to the media and made it clear that the upgrades to the stadium were one of the first things he was tasked with after he was hired in August.

“As soon as I started, we hit the ground running. The ownership group, Greg particularly, tasked us with what can we do immediately to enhance the experience for the fans at the stadium,” Leech said on Sunday. “It started with a list with just over 30 ideas, worked our way down, focused on the fan experience, operational enhancements, also what was feasible. It was important that we make these enhancements right away that impact the fan experience next year. So worked our way down to that group of six or seven enhancements to the stadium.”

The six improvements to the stadium will be to the videoboards, premium hospitality areas, technology, concessions, the Broncos Team Store and elevators. The most noticeable improvement will be the main scoreboard, which will expand by 70 percent.

With all of that being said, the $100 million improvements are not an indication of the future plans of the Broncos stadium or potential new stadium.

“We’re really viewing the long-term stadium future and this as two separate projects,” Leech stated, when asked if the improvements showed an intent for the team to stay at Empower Field at Mile High through the end of their 2030 lease. “So, again, the ownership, to their credit, was really committed to making an immediate impact on the fans as they come in here. This is about what we can do right away—right away is next season—but what we can do right away to enhance the experience for the fans.”

Since the Walton-Penner group bought the team, there has been a lot of talk and speculation that they will build a new stadium outside of the downtown area. When asked if the location of Empower Field at Mile High went into the decision to make the upgrades, Leech stated that had nothing to do with it.

“As I said, what we were focused on here was how do we enhance the fan experience in this stadium. When you’re talking about location of the stadium of the future, that’s a separate project,” Leech stated. “I think the owners have been clear about it. They want to be very deliberate and cast a wide net in terms of their understanding of all of the implications of the stadium situation, but that’s also just a separate project.”

All of the improvements will be done to the stadium by the start of the 2023 season. But that certainly won’t end the conversations surrounding the future of the stadium.