ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — When the Denver Broncos named Burnham Yard near the city’s downtown area as the preferred site for a new state-of-the-art stadium and entertainment district last year, it was an announcement that invited the team’s fans to daydream about what the project would look like in its final form.
But for the team’s ownership group — and numerous other stakeholders who would become involved in the massive, complex project — the Sept. 9, 2025 announcement signaled that the mountain of work required to make it all a reality was only beginning.
And the clock was already ticking.
“We knew, when we started focusing on this site specifically, that it was going to be more challenging,” Broncos co-owner Greg Penner said Tuesday inside the team’s sparkling new training facility that opened in July. “But we also really want to stay in Denver, if we can, and deliver a stadium in this market that is a vital part of the downtown. But if you’re doing a project in an area like that, it’s just harder. I think we went in with our eyes wide open about the challenges, and we’ll keep working through it.”
Burnham Yard, a historic railyard the Broncos plan to turn into a 150-acre mixed-use development, remains the preferred site as the team works toward an “aggressive” timeline to open before the 2031 season, Penner said. Significant progress has been made toward the goal of stripping that “preferred site” label and putting shovels in the ground sometime next year. The Broncos reached a roughly $46 million agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) in May to officially purchase 57 acres of land within the development’s blueprint. Another domino fell Monday when the team reached an agreement to purchase 10 acres of critical parcels within the development from SRM Concrete — a deal that cost the Broncos $55 million, according to The Denver Post. That was all on top of numerous private real estate purchases the team made before and since the preferred site announcement.
The team has also chosen Manica Architecture as the lead design firm for the stadium, a Kansas City-based outfit that counts the Las Vegas Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium among its portfolio of venues, and Denver-based Tryba Architects to lead the master planning of the mixed-use entertainment district. The Broncos recently released master-plan renderings of the district, designed by Tryba, featuring plans for four distinct neighborhood areas that will surround a retractable-roof stadium. Broncos president Damani Leech said earlier this month that renderings for the stadium itself “will be shared, probably, on a much-longer timeline.”
Renderings of the team’s planned entertainment district (Photos courtesy of the Denver Broncos)
“We’re making some progress, especially on some of the things that are really in our control,” Penner said Tuesday. “You all saw the (SRM) property we closed on yesterday, which was an important step. Really good progress with our architect and also the master plan, but this is a process, for some of these other steps, that we need a lot of collaboration with different groups. The CBA (community benefits agreement) process, Denver Water relocation, city approvals — there’s still a lot of work to do. … It’s a lot of moving pieces and it’s complex. Our focus is squarely on the 2031 opening and trying to get that done, but it’s not going to be easy.”
The Broncos, when announcing Burnham Yard as a preferred site for the new stadium last year, committed to a community benefits agreement with registered neighborhood organizations to be impacted by the redevelopment of the area. The master-plan renderings released earlier this month, the Broncos said, were designed based on feedback from meetings with community stakeholders. Still, there is significant work ahead as the Broncos seek to reach agreement on the CBA, a process that precedes construction the Broncos hope to begin next year.
“There are certain things we don’t control,” Leech said. “I think, as an example, the community benefits process is something that we can’t control. We’ve had a lot of initial great discussions with community representatives. 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 said many months ago, this is an ambitious timeline, so for that to happen, we need everybody to be involved. We can’t do it alone in order to get to 2031.”
The Broncos are also in the process of helping Denver Water, the public utility, move its Burnham Yard-area facilities to other locations in the city. Leech said he has a standing weekly meeting with Denver Water CEO Alan Salazar about the “complicated” process of moving their operations. It’s another critical item the Broncos must check off prior to pushing various elements of the project before Denver City Council for approval.
“Anytime you’re moving operations and moving to several locations, it’s complex, and so we’re doing everything we can to support them so that we can help them make that move on a timely basis,” Penner said.
The Broncos are one of a handful of teams with new stadium project plans underway. The Buffalo Bills opened their new $2.2 billion Highmark Stadium for a preseason contest last week. The Tennessee Titans are expected to move into their new stadium in Nashville in 2027. The Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers recently released renderings of their new stadium plans, all set to open within the next five years.
“I think it’s really exciting. There’s a lot of new projects in the league,” Penner said. “I think it’s really good for the NFL and our fans overall. We’re always closely watching what others are doing, but we’re really focused on our project here and getting that right.”
Even while dealing with the stadium project and its long list of daily demands, Penner and co-owner Carrie Walton Penner have been regular observers of Broncos training camp practices this summer. The franchise has come a long way from the group’s initial season in charge in 2022, when the Broncos went 5-12 and first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett was fired with two games left in the season. The Broncos have won 24 games the last two seasons and were perhaps a Bo Nix ankle injury away from being in the Super Bowl last season.
The expectation, Penner said, is to win a championship.
“Each season we come in and we’re more prepared and (have) a better roster and a more complete coaching staff,” said Penner, who signed general manager George Paton and head coach Sean Payton to contract extensions this offseason. “That’s how I feel about it now, and we can’t wait to get out there. We have all the pieces; we have the right culture; and we’re providing the right resources. You always need a little bit of luck, and then you just need to go out there and perform.”
