WARE, U.K. — Following the Broncos' recent announcement of Burnham Yard as the preferred site for a new stadium and mixed-use district, Owner & CEO Greg Penner emphasized the importance of engaging the local community throughout the process.
"It's really critical," Penner said Friday ahead of the Broncos' Week 6 game in London. "We've been overwhelmed by the support and interest and excitement that we've gotten since the preferred site announcement. Certainly, it's the first step in the process, we've got a long way to go. So, the next step is really engaging with community leaders [and] working on a small area plan. We've had a lot of outreach to city council members — talked with them on the phone. [Owner] Carrie [Walton Penner] has met with a number of them. We are 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 do something special, not just with the stadium, but the development around it, for the city of Denver and all of the fans."
Penner said the Broncos remain "in the early phases of design" for the proposed privately funded stadium and mixed-use district, but he reiterated that the Broncos' home-field advantage is the priority over hosting other events. Penner said while the Broncos would "certainly be excited" about hosting a Super Bowl at a proposed new stadium, that is "not what's driving the planning for the stadium or our timeline." Instead, the Broncos are emphasizing the experience for the team and its fans.
"As we're thinking about the stadium, our first and primary focus is on what's best for our team, our players and our fans," Penner said. "Then you get to the next step of, OK, we want to have some flexibility. It's the reason why we are looking at a retractable roof. Our intent is for our football games to be played with the roof open, in the elements — and the exception will be to close the roof. But it would give us the flexibility to host events like Super Bowls, concerts, other events, and that's something we'd be excited about."
The Broncos' game on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium provides a look at just one of the many stadiums that the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group has evaluated in recent years.
"Any stadium we play in, we look for things that we like and things that we don't like," Penner said. "Carrie and I actually came and toured Tottenham when we were here for our first trip a number of years ago, so that was one of the stadiums we looked at early on as we were thinking about different ideas. Tottenham has some really interesting elements, including the way they do the two fields. But any stadium that we visit, we are going to look for things we can learn from."
The Broncos' priorities, though, will be clear as the team aims to create a world-class venue.
"We really want an experience that is loud," Penner said. "We want it to be a place that opposing 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 look at. And then, we look for, again, ways that we can make the fan experience as great as it can possibly be."
