Denver, CO
Denver welcomes national Democrats for 2028 convention site visit, starting with a trip on the A-Line
Denver will welcome representatives from the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday for a three-day show-and-tell highlighting the city as Mayor Mike Johnston tries to woo the party’s leaders into hosting their 2028 convention in the West.
If he’s successful, it will mean 50,000 people will pour into Denver for four days in August of that year.
“It’s kind of like four Super Bowls in a row,” Johnston said in an interview with Denver Post journalists in advance of the delegation’s site visit.
Throughout the visit, much of which could happen during a spring snowstorm, Denver city leaders will attempt to demonstrate the city’s logistical, financial and merriment potential.
Denver is the only one of five finalist cities that is located west of the Mississippi River. The other options are Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago. DNC leaders, including chair Ken Martin, have already visited Atlanta and Philadelphia.
The competition between the rival cities has already begun.
Atlanta’s mayor recently called out most of the other bidding cities, saying, “Boston is history. Philadelphia is played out. Denver is nostalgia. Atlanta is now,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Johnston responded to that, saying: “Of all the disses, I thought ours was actually the best.” It refers to the city’s much-lauded hosting of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, where then-Sen. Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination on his way to becoming the nation’s first Black president.
Denver’s plan is to focus on what the city has to offer instead of attacking the others, Johnston added. He did take a few jabs throughout the conversation, though.
“(Denver) is cool in the summertime and it’s not 110 degrees in August, like it is in some other places that I won’t name,” he said.
Talking about some of the criteria the DNC will consider in the decision, he said: “It’s very much like, you either have a 20,000-person arena or you don’t. Atlanta does not.”
The visit plan
During the site visit, Johnston and other city leaders will try to infuse “little moments of joy” while also showing off the city’s infrastructure. That will include visits to some of the city’s best restaurants and bars, along with a tour of Rockmount Ranch Wear in Lower Downtown.
If Denver wins the bid, the city plans to host excursions for the delegates in two years. While they’re in the city, visitors are likely to have downtime to explore the region. For their entertainment, Denver will offer things like craft beer tours, history courses on neighborhoods like Five Points and a trip to the city’s mountain parks, Johnston said.
Different bars would be dedicated to delegates from each state — including miniature versions of Denver’s big blue bear in front of each, with a painted flag from their state.
This week’s site visit won’t all be about bid leaders’ ideas for fun, though.
Johnston’s team will also have to show that hosting the convention in Denver will make things easier on the event planners.
After the representatives land at Denver International Airport, Denver officials will show them how to use the A-Line train to travel into the heart of the city — an option that didn’t exist in 2008. Once there, they will lead them on a short walk to some of the nearby hotels.
Johnston said that when he’s spoken to other delegates about past conventions, their biggest complaints have been mostly logistical, such as long commutes between venues. Ball Arena’s easy proximity to downtown is a strong suit of the bid.
Beyond logistical concerns, Denver’s bid team will talk about the city’s hotel offerings, space available for the convention, security options and parking spots. The city’s recent expansion of the Colorado Convention Center is also a major selling point, he said.
Another important focus will be the city’s fundraising capabilities, though officials haven’t cited a specific dollar figure they’re aiming for or disclosed their progress in securing commitments.
“I actually feel very confident about our path. … We are ahead of our projection for what we can raise,” Johnston said.
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The return of Denver Broncos football is getting closer.
In addition to facing their AFC West rivals at home and on the road, the Broncos will also face the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, conference rival Buffalo Bills and the title-contending Los Angeles Rams at home in 2026. On the road, Denver’s opponents include the contending San Francisco 49ers and conference-rival New England Patriots.
The NFL has given Denver three prime-time games this season, with national spotlights on Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football in 2026. SNF and MNF will be available to stream on FuboTV, and TNF is available to stream on Prime. In addition to those prime-time slots, the Broncos will also play in standalone windows on Black Friday and Christmas Day.
View the team’s complete schedule with dates and times below. Note that networks for nationally televised/streamed games are in bold.
- Week 1: Monday, Sept. 14, at Chiefs (MNF), 6:15 p.m. MT, ESPN
- Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 20, at Jaguars, 2:05 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 27, vs. Rams (SNF), 6:20 p.m. MT, NBC
- Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 4, at 49ers, 2:25 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 11, at Chargers, 2:05 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 6: Thursday, Oct. 15, vs. Seahawks (TNF), 6:15 p.m. MT, Prime
- Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 25, at Cardinals, 2:05 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 8: Sunday, Nov. 1, vs. Chiefs, 2:25 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 8, at Panthers, 11:00 a.m. MT, CBS
- Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 15, Bye Week
- Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 22, vs. Raiders, 2:25 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 12: Friday, Nov. 27, vs. Steelers (Black Friday), 1:00 p.m. MT, Prime
- Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 6, vs. Dolphins, 2:05 p.m. MT, Fox
- Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 13, at Jets, 11:00 a.m. MT, CBS
- Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 20, at Raiders, 2:25 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 16: Friday, Dec. 25, vs. Bills (Christmas), 2:30 p.m. MT, Netflix
- Week 17: Sat/Sun, Jan. 2/3, at Patriots, TBD, TBD
- Week 18: Sat/Sun, Jan. 9/10, vs. Chargers, TBD, TBD
The team’s Week 17 showdown in New England is one of four candidates to be played in a Saturday window. Additionally, dates, times and TV networks for Week 18 will be announced following Week 17. The league will schedule two Saturday games and a Sunday Night Football matchup for the final week of the regular season.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
Legend has it that there are space aliens and lizard people living in the underground tunnels at Denver International Airport (DEN). But if it’s true (and why not?), the reptilian and otherworldly beings will soon need to find a new place to hang out.
That’s because DEN airport is planning to repurpose some of its subterranean real estate into pedestrian walkways that can serve as alternatives to, and backups for, the airport’s troubled train system.
At DEN airport, trains connect the main Jeppesen Terminal to concourses A, B and C.
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Passengers may skip the train and instead stroll or ride moving walkways from the main terminal to Concourse A. But the train — officially called the Automated Guideway Transit System — is the only transportation option for getting between concourses A and B and between concourses B and C.
The original circa-1995 train system is currently undergoing a much-needed $75 million upgrade as part of the DEN’s “Vision 100” strategic plan to serve 100 million annual passengers in the next several years.
Improvements include 16 new train cars and the replacement of aging infrastructure that is prone to malfunctions. The glitches sometimes last just a few minutes, but as recently as May 2026, mechanical problems with trains forced the airport to deploy shuttle buses to move passengers between concourses.
Train to the Gates Updates: Crews have repaired the mechanical issue and trains are now fully operational. Shuttle buses from Concourse A to Concourses C are also running to help move passengers while the train operation returns to normal service. https://t.co/BZRJheqi7V
— Denver Int’l Airport (@DENAirport) May 6, 2026
Although DEN’s records show that the airport trains run glitch-free more than 99% of the time, even short outages create stress, platform gridlock and missed flights “simply because we have so many people going through our airport,” Jim Starling, DEN’s chief construction and infrastructure officer, told TPG.
Finding an alternative to DEN’s trains
Installing ziplines between concourses as alternatives to the train sounds fun but is sadly impractical. Connecting all the concourses with bridges was considered but rejected due to time and cost.
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Instead, during planning workshops, airline and DEN officials determined that the best solution was to repurpose portions of the airport’s existing underground baggage tunnels into pedestrian walkways. Those tunnels were originally built for the airport’s ill-fated automated baggage system, whose technical failures delayed DEN’s planned 1993 opening by 16 months and left sections of the tunnel network largely unused for decades.
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In a statement announcing the underground walkway plan, Denver mayor Mike Johnston called it “a big win for Denver’s travelers.” The tunnel transformation also got thumbs up from United Airlines (Denver’s largest airline customer), American Airlines and Southwest Airlines (which counts DEN as its largest operation in terms of flights).
“The addition of pedestrian walkways at DEN is a significant investment and will give our customers more options for their connecting flights,” Jonna McGrath, United’s vice president of airport operations, said.
Lisa Hingson, vice president of customer experience and innovation at Southwest, said the new pedestrian walkways would be “a tremendous addition” to recent enhancements such as TSA PreCheck Touchless ID and Touchless ID self-bag drop. “The addition of pedestrian walkways adds flexibility and reliability for our customers and improves operational resilience,” Amanda Zhang, American Airlines’ vice president of corporate real estate, said.
Making it happen
The tunnels to be converted are wide enough for two-way pedestrian traffic and currently contain some of the equipment from the old, abandoned baggage system. So that will need to come out.
“If you go down there today, what you’ll see is a lot of concrete,” Starling said. “And that’s not the environment we’d want to have for people to walk through.”
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Making pedestrian walkways out of tunnels built to move baggage would entail upgrading the floors, adding walls and appropriate HVAC systems, and possibly installing moving walkways, Starling added.
And then there’s the challenge of what Starling termed “vertical circulation” — the tricky job of getting passengers down to the tunnels from one concourse and then back up at another.
Timeline and budget
DEN airport estimates the cost of creating pedestrian tunnels at DEN to be between $300 and $700 million.
“That’s a wide range,” Starling said, “but it reflects the fact that we are at the concept level.” Once design plans are finalized, construction of the tunnels could begin as early as 2027.
And what about the lizard people?
Over the years, DEN has neither confirmed nor denied rumors of secret Illuminati, outer space aliens and, yes, lizard people making their homes in the airport’s underground tunnels. Instead, the airport has good-naturedly leaned into the mysteries and conspiracy theories with exhibitions such as “Conspiracy Theories Uncovered.”
Johnston is happy to play along. In the announcement of plans for the pedestrian walkways at DEN, he said: “And who knows… maybe along the way, travelers will finally get a closer look at the underground tunnels and decide for themselves what’s fact and what’s fiction.”
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