What's next for the Denver Broncos stadium under new ownership
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.

The Denver Broncos horse statue seen above Empower Field at Mile High. Photo: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images
The Denver Broncos' 21-year-old stadium needs a facelift — but to what extent and who will cover the cost remain up for debate.
Driving the news: The record-setting purchase of the team by Walmart heir Rob Walton and his family is spurring talk about a fresh stadium on the horizon.
- Team president Joe Ellis teased the idea of a rebuild in March, and experts expect plans for a bigger venue to host the Super Bowl for the first time in Denver.
Details: If green-lit, a new home for the Broncos would likely include a retractable roof and exceed $2 billion in cost — nearly five times as much as the current stadium, Front Office Sports reports.
- Whether it would stay at its current address or relocate remains an open question, with some sports pundits suggesting a move somewhere in the suburbs or near the airport.
What they're saying: A top-tier stadium "enhances the community it's in, creates jobs, creates more of a focal point for the community and brings national recognition," Irwin Kishner, with the sports law group at Herrick, Feinstein LLP, tells Axios Denver.
- "It's a definite benefit to any city that's fortunate enough to have an NFL team."
The intrigue: Financing a new arena is likely to come with controversy — just as it did in the late 1990s, when voters chose to replace the old Mile High Stadium using municipal bonds.
- Adam Estroff, a city council candidate, said the new stadium should be a 2023 municipal election issue. He told Axios Denver that he would not support "bonding or otherwise using taxpayer money for another arena" even though he said he loves the team.
- "If the new owners want to build a new stadium with their own money, that's their choice. Not a penny of public funds should go toward this, including tax breaks," reader Gene Drumm, a Denver resident, added.
Of note: Many Denver voters share Drumm's skepticism. Last fall, voters rejected Mayor Michael Hancock's proposal to build a "state of the art," 10,000-seat arena on the National Western Campus using municipal bonds.
The big picture: The NFL is pushing for the development and modernization of stadiums nationwide to help raise revenue and ultimately compete with the 80-inch screens in people's living rooms.
- Many developers are now combining new arenas with revenue-generating retail, dining and residential properties to help fund venue development.
- By 2030, teams across the country could invest more than $10 billion for development, CNBC reports.

