The Broncos are making a midseason change at Mile High, and it’s a big one: the team is replacing the entire playing surface for the second half of the season.
According to a report from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Denver announced the move after four regular-season games and with four still to play. Florio said the switch is part of a proactive push to make sure the Broncos have a high-quality surface underfoot.
That fits the way the organization has operated. Denver already invested heavily in upgrades to its training facility and locker room, with those changes debuting this summer. Players were impressed, and ownership is likely to get another boost when rating stories roll around about how players view those kinds of amenities.
There weren’t any complaints about the previous field, but the timing is notable. The change comes right after Denver’s narrow win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, a game in which footing was an occasional issue. Light rain fell during the contest, which may have been the basic cause, though coach Sean Payton is known to be demanding when field conditions affect play.
Florio has been pushing this issue since World Cup games were played at multiple NFL stadiums this summer. In those cases, several fields had to be ripped out to meet World Cup standards, and once those events ended, some teams returned to cheaper artificial turn fields that cost less but, per Florio, create a player safety issue.
That’s not the route Denver is taking. With Payton steering the team toward Super Bowl contention, Greg Penner’s ownership group is making a strong commitment to player safety.
The field project also fits into the Broncos’ broader stadium plans. The team has been working toward a new stadium at the Burnham Yards site in Denver, along with a multi-use commercial development around it that could be highly lucrative.
It’s a complicated process, though, and Denver has already run into the usual mix of municipal authorities and other groups wanting a say in how it all comes together. There’s still plenty of negotiating ahead, but Penner is fully behind the effort.
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