DENVER — The Broncos are still planning to build their new stadium at the Burnham Yard site in the heart of Denver in time for the 2031 season, but team president Damani Leech acknowledged the project faces challenges.
Leech told reporters over the weekend that goal would require breaking ground sometime next spring or early summer. But, he also admitted to some “concern” the timeline won’t be met.
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“I've got to be honest, I wish we were further along in some areas than we are now,” Leech said.
Several details need to be ironed out before construction can start, including a deal allowing Denver Water to relocate some of its facilities from the Burnham Yard area to other parts of the city.
Specifically, however, Leech pointed to conversations over a community benefits agreement (CBA) between the team and neighbors in the La Alma Lincoln Park neighborhood. Some in the blue-collar community are concerned a new stadium will mean unbearable traffic, plus rising rent and property taxes that push longtime residents and local businesses out.
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“The community benefits process is something that we can't control, and we've had a lot of initial great discussions with community representatives,” Leech said. “More recently here it's been on more of a staff level. We're eager to engage with those community members directly, understand what they're looking for, what needs and interests they have on the development, things like that. We have to continue to progress… We can't do it alone to get to 2031.”
Leech added La Alma Lincoln Park is “a neighborhood of people who have jobs every day.”
“[Stadium negotiations] is not what they do every day, and you know they've hired consultants to help guide them through that process,” Leech said. “Most of our interface has been with those consultants. We'd much rather engage with the staff directly and on a much quicker pace.”
The community group negotiating the CBA with the Broncos told the Denver Post it has been waiting on the team to respond to questions about the development.
“Burnham Yard Community Action, the coalition of organizations working on the Community Benefits Agreement, has twice sent detailed questions to the ownership group and is still awaiting substantive answers. We proposed a meeting more than four weeks ago and only heard yesterday that ownership wants to move forward.
“BYCA is actively developing priorities for the CBA, work that depends on development information the ownership group has not yet provided. We continue to look forward to working with the Broncos ownership group to achieve our shared goals for this project.”
“Burnham Yard Community Action, the coalition of organizations working on the Community Benefits Agreement, has twice sent detailed questions to the ownership group and is still awaiting substantive answers. We proposed a meeting more than four weeks ago and only heard yesterday that ownership wants to move forward. “BYCA is actively developing priorities for the CBA, work that depends on development information the ownership group has not yet provided. We continue to look forward to working with the Broncos ownership group to achieve our shared goals for this project.”
Burnham Yard Community Action and a spokesperson for Denver mayor Mike Johnston did not respond to requests for comment or an interview Monday.
Denver7 spoke with fans braving the heat at Broncos training camp on Monday, who hope the Burnham Yard stadium plan does not have to change.
“I would love for it to stay in Denver,” said fan Jackie Pollard. “It'll bring more notoriety to the city, bring more revenue as we'll be getting more events… [Hosting] Super Bowls, concerts, things like that, and it'll be great for us fans to be in a state-of-the-art stadium.”
Logan Beaumont agrees.
“I think it's really ridiculous when teams have a name of a city, but then they're 30 miles away,” he said. “The spot seems like a good spot. It's still close to downtown. It's still in the middle of things. I'm sure residents around there aren't going to be happy about it. But I mean, someone's going to be upset at the end of the day.”
But they also hope passionate Broncos fans are not priced out of the new stadium. In his weekend comments, Leech suggested the new stadium would include the sale of personal seat licenses (PSL), upfront fees ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars for the right to buy season tickets.
“I think every stadium in the last 10-plus years that's been built, there have been PSLs issued,” Leech said. “So it seems like it's a pretty likely thing to happen. But we haven't made any formal decisions on that.”
Despite no decision or details yet, fans are not thrilled with the idea.
“I hate it,” Beaumont said. “Like a lot of season ticket holders, it's been in their family for generations… I prefer to go to a game where everyone is like a real diehard fan. And a lot of times those people don't have a lot of money, rather than it just be kind of an event for the more wealthy people. So I'm not a big fan of it at all.”
“I have family members who are season ticket holders, and no one's really that happy about it,” said Sean Gautier. “It feels more like in the past it's like diehard Broncos fans, and now it's feeling like that might change.”
Fans and neighbors will have a chance to weigh in at the next community open house, scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 12 at La Alma Recreation Center.
