The Denver Broncos may have become synonymous with Mile High, regardless of its rotating sponsorship associations, but that era may be coming to end with the confirmation that the franchise is looking to join assorted rivals in moving to a new venue in the coming years.

Located just a mile away from their current home, the Broncos last month identified a former railyard as the preferred site of the new build, and are now embarking on a detailed consultation with the communities surrounding the area in order to fully incorporate as much feedback into future decisions on a project with a planned completion date of 2031.

“Together, we are pleased to announce historic Burnham Yard in the heart of Denver as the preferred site for a world-class retractable roof stadium anchoring a dynamic mixed-use district,” team owners Greg Penner and Carrie Walton said in an open letter penned with mayor Mike Johnston and governor Jared Polis a matter of weeks ago. “Once a vital railyard that played a key role in Denver’s past, Burnham Yard now represents a transformational opportunity to reimagine the future with deep respect for the rich history of the area.

“In the spirit of a true civic partnership, the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group will privately fund this investment and work with the community, city and state to reconnect historic neighbourhoods — with no new taxes. These shared public improvements will ensure benefits extend far beyond gamedays with better accessibility, connectivity and multimodal transit options.

While this is an exciting milestone, we recognize there is much more work to be done. Today is not yet a celebration but rather a meaningful checkpoint reflecting years of research, collaboration and planning as well as necessary land agreements and feasibility studies.

Most importantly, this announcement marks the beginning of a much deeper and transparent phase of broader engagement with our neighbours. … Our goal for this ambitious project is to build a community that connects fans, neighbours and future generations across Colorado.”

With an eye on not just providing a modern new home for a Broncos team currently thriving under the coaching leadership of Sean Payton, but also a venue for other premier entertainment events in ‘a one-of-a-kind year-round destination’.

Having clearly stated that ‘every step of the way, our approach will be guided by humility, respect and a shared commitment to the city of Denver, state of Colorado and all of Broncos Country’, Penner reinforced the importance of engaging the local community throughout the planning process during a press session ahead of this weekend’s International Series game in London.

“It’s really critical,” Penner told members of the media during a planned availability at the team’s UK base in Ware. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the support and interest and excitement that we’ve gotten since the preferred site announcement. 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, either talking with them on the phone or Carrie meeting with a number of them, and 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.”

While designs for the proposed mixed-use district remain in the very early stages, Penner insisted that the gameday experience for the team and its fans — rather than thoughts of hosting a Super Bowl — would be the driving force behind the final concept.

“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 confirmed. “Then you get to the next step of, ‘Okay, we want to have some flexibility’. It’s the reason why we are looking at a retractable roof. Our intent is for football games to be played with the roof open, in the elements, 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.”

Penner’s comments come ahead of the Broncos’ overseas game against the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, one of the venues that the ownership group has taken a long look at while considering what might be possible at Burnham Yard.

“Any stadium we play in, we look for things that we like and things that we don’t like,” Penner said. “We 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.”

Penner and the rest of the planning group clearly took heed of the noise generated in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the crowd is closer to the sidelines than at Wembley and many current NFL venues.

“We really want an experience that is loud,” he 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’d look at. “

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As part of their trip to the UK, Penner and Walton welcomed members of the Leicester Panthers to one of their practice sessions in Hertfordshire, and surprised them with brand-new Riddell Axiom helmets and other equipment. The Panthers have an historic link with current Broncos head coach Sean Payton after the under-sized quarterback was tempted over to the nascent British gridiron scene following a record-breaking spell at the University of Eastern Illinois (10,665 passing yards put him third all-time in NCAA Division I history) was followed by time spent with the Arena Football League’s Chicago Bruisers, Canadian league side Ottawa Roughriders and a brief stint as a strike-breaker with the Chicago Bears. The 1988 Leicester Panthers may have fallen at the first postseason hurdle, but gave Payton a first taste of coaching as he marshalled the team’s offense. He’s done alright since.

*Read more on Payton’s time in Leicester via Peter Carline’s excellent article for The Athletic.