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Broncos' stadium with a retractable roof will help draw Super Bowls to Denver
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- Broncos' stadium with a retractable roof will help draw Super Bowls to Denver
The Denver Broncos broke news on Tuesday of plans to build a new stadium at Burnham Yard in downtown Denver . In a letter to Broncos Country , the Walton-Penner ownership group, as well as the governor of Colorado and mayor of Denver, announced plans for a "world-class retractable roof stadium."
While it will be hard to get used to after having two open-air stadiums since their inception, the Broncos ' plans for a stadium with a retractable roof could open up the possibility of hosting a Super Bowl in the future.
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Super Bowls are typically hosted in warm-climate locations or in indoor or roofed stadiums, with the last cold-weather location to host a Super Bowl being in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings' stadium has a roof.
In concept, the stadium could be designed similarly to the Arizona Cardinals ' State Farm Stadium , which also has a retractable roof and a grass surface to play on. State Farm Stadium has hosted three Super Bowls (2008, 2015 and 2023) since becoming the home of the Cardinals.
On a separate note, Las Vegas also has an indoor stadium with a grass field. Both Arizona and Las Vegas have retractable fields. The Raiders ' natural grass rests on a concrete slab outside the stadium for natural sunlight and growth, and that grass tray is retracted into the stadium for game days (see the video below). The Broncos might consider a similar concept.
The average in-person attendance for a Super Bowl is around 70,000 fans, with the largest attendance ever coming in at 103,985 (in 1980 at the Rose Bowl). Those numbers are about on par with State Farm Stadium, and in line with newer stadiums that have hosted the Big Game, but it is less than what Empower Field at Mile High currently holds (76,125). If the Broncos want to maximize attendance, they might consider surpassing Empower Field's capacity with their next stadium.
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Denver hopes to have the new stadium completed in time for the 2031 season , but as the Denver Gazette 's Chris Tomasson noted on Twitter/X , the NFL typically waits until a stadium's second season before awarding it a Super Bowl. So that could put the Broncos in line to potentially host a Super Bowl in the 2032 season (in February 2033). A new stadium could also position Denver to host events like the Final Four, the NFL draft and more.
What do you think of the team's decision to include a retractable roof on their upcoming stadium? Share your take with us on Broncos Wire 's Facebook and Twitter/X pages!
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Denver Broncos: Retractable roof will help team host Super Bowls
