WARE, U.K. — The Broncos will try to run their winning streak to three games Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and build on what’s shaping up to be a promising season.
They’ve got plenty of building in the future back home, too.
Broncos CEO and owner Greg Penner, on Friday, spoke for the first time since the day the franchise announced Burnham Yard as its preferred site for a new stadium and said the planning and design for a state-of-the-art stadium and surrounding entertainment districts are in early stages.
“We’re still in the early phases of design,” Penner said as Sean Payton’s team worked through its Friday practice. “We’ve got a number of consultants we’re working with. We have not selected a contractor yet, but we’ve got world-class architects that we’re talking to. No hard date yet on when we’re going to hire those folks.”
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was among many the Broncos ownership group toured while gathering notes on what they like and don’t like for a potential new building. Penner said they saw it in the fall of 2022 when Denver played Jacksonville at Wembley Stadium.
One of the critical elements for a new stadium, among many, Penner said, will be designing it so that it provides a substantial home-field advantage.
“We really want an experience that’s loud,” Penner said. “We want it to be a place other teams don’t want to come play. We have some of that, obviously, with a competitive football team and playing at elevation. But if we can also make it really loud and imposing, that’s something we can look at. And we look for ways to make the fan experiences as great as they can possibly be.”
For now, the immediate focus is on a small area plan and community benefits agreement, processes that can take a year or more.
“It’s really critical. We’ve been overwhelmed with the support and interest and excitement we’ve got since the preferred site announcement,” Penner said of engaging with the community. “Certainly it’s the first step in the process, we’ve got a long way to go. The next step is engaging with community leaders, working on a small area plan. We’ve done a lot of outreach with city council members. We’ve talked with them on the phone, (owner Carrie Walton-Penner) has met with a number of them. We’re going to keep that going. Our goal is to be very open with the process and transparent.
“And we think we have a real opportunity to create something special, not just with the stadium but with the development around it for the city of Denver and for our fans.”
Penner said that the approval process for the stadium itself and the surrounding entertainment district will happen in tandem. The club plans to present the plan as a whole, but from there, the timelines would diverge.
“As it pertains to the development, it’ll be staged somewhat differently,” Penner said. “Obviously, the stadium has a hard date where we want to get it open and play games. Some of the development will be tied to that, but it will be a much longer timeline for that all to get done.”
Even six years before a stadium would open at Burnham Yard, a natural question that arises is whether — or perhaps when — it could host a Super Bowl. The earliest date after a 2031 season opening would be February of 2033.
“We’d certainly be excited about that,” Penner said. “As we’re thinking about the stadium, the first focus is on what’s best for our team, our players and our fans. Then you get to the next step of, OK, we want to have some flexibility. It’s why we’re looking at a retractable roof. Our intent is for our football games to be played with the roof open and in the elements. The exception will be to close the roof.
“But it would give us the flexibility to host events like Super Bowls, concerts, other events. That’s something we’d be excited about.”
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