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Why hasn’t Denver ever hosted a Super Bowl? There are NFL requirements the Mile High City can’t meet

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Why hasn’t Denver ever hosted a Super Bowl? There are NFL requirements the Mile High City can’t meet


One of the most cherished moments in Denver Sports history happened on January 25, 1998. That’s when the Denver Broncos won their first championship 31-24 over the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII.

Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway proudly shows off the Lombardi Trophy after the Broncos 31-24 victory over the Packers in the Super Bowl XXXII at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on Jan. 25, 1998.

Anthony Neste/Getty Images

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The Broncos have captured the Lombardi Trophy three times in team history and each one was won outside the Mile High City.

Super Bowl XXXII-Green Bay Packers V Denver Broncos
Team Owner and President Pat Bowlen of the Denver Broncos raises the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the Super Bowl XXXII game between the Green Bay Packers v the Denver Broncos on January 25, 1998 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

Getty Images


So, what would it take for Denver to host the Super Bowl?

The NFL’s general requirements to host the Super Bowl include interest from the local football team, stadium quality, hotel inventory, a media center, corporate and community support, and approval from three-quarters of the league’s owners. There also need to be practice fields for both teams and it either needs to be warm enough or in a climate-controlled environment like a dome.

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The Broncos are certainly interested in hosting major NFL events. In 2018, the Broncos and the city of Denver made a bid to host the NFL Draft. Denver has hosted many major sporting events like Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in 1997 and 2021. Also, NHL’s All-Star Game in 2001 and the NBA’s All-Star Game in 2005.

All-Star Games are very profitable. According to Visit Denver, the economic impact of MLB’s All-Star Game in 2021 was $57 million.  

empower-field-at-mile-high.png

CBS


Then there is the stadium itself. Empower Field at Mile High opened in 2001, making it the 15th oldest stadium in the league. Two stadiums older than Mile High have hosted the Super Bowl. Everbank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida in 2005 and the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, which is set to host Super Bowl 59 next year. The reasons are simple, one stadium is in a warm climate and the other is in a dome.

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Which brings us to the final and maybe the most important reason why the city of Denver has not hosted the Super Bowl, the weather. The NFL required temperature in the month leading up to the Super Bowl is an average temperature of 50 degrees. Denver’s average is 30.7 degrees.

Cold weather cities like Minneapolis, Indianapolis, and Detroit have all hosted the Super Bowl in the past, but unlike Denver, those stadiums are in a dome.

And since Empower Field at Mile High isn’t in a climate-controlled environment like those, don’t expect to see the Super Bowl in Denver anytime soon. 



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Denver, CO

Family: Injured firefighter improving after deadly wrong‑way crash on I‑25 in Denver

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Family: Injured firefighter improving after deadly wrong‑way crash on I‑25 in Denver


DENVER — A lieutenant with Berthoud Fire who was injured after he was struck head-on by a wrong-way driver in Denver last month is making progress, according to a Tuesday update.

The wrong-way driver, identified as 25-year-old Kevem Dos Santos, was killed in the May 17 crash inside the barrier-separated HOV lanes on Interstate 25.

Ken Bradley, the Berthoud Fire lieutenant, was traveling to work when the crash occurred. He was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

The crash left Bradley with multiple fractures in both legs, fractures to his left arm, a dislocated right shoulder, several broken ribs, and a collapsed lung.

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Bradley’s family said he is now able to get in and out of his wheelchair on his own. But he faces additional surgeries this week to reconstruct his ankles and feet.

His family thanked the more than 800 donors who have contributed $85,000 to his GoFundMe and said he remains in good spirits.

Police have not said how Dos Santos managed to access the gate-controlled HOV lanes, leaving many questions unanswered.

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Denver City Council approves $15.5 million tax break for Rossonian Hotel development

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Denver City Council approves .5 million tax break for Rossonian Hotel development


Denver will reimburse developers working on reviving the Rossonian Hotel up to $15.5 million in sales and property taxes after the council approved the urban development proposal during its meeting Monday.

The decision comes after Denver Urban Renewal Authority found that the site was “blighted,” meaning there are unsafe living or working conditions and environmental contamination.

DURA recommended the city allow “tax increment financing,” or TIF, to remediate those problems and get the project off the ground.

“This tax increment financing is one of the final pieces that makes the Rossonian possible. Without it, this project does not happen,” said Paul Books, one of the owners of the building. “But with it, we are working through the last remaining steps to break ground this summer.”

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The project, in the Five Points neighborhood, is part of the Welton Corridor Urban Redevelopment Plan. The six-parcel property is in the namesake intersection of Welton, 27th and Washington streets.

The building, once called the Baxter Hotel, was a popular event space for jazz performances between the 1930s and 1950s. Performers such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday took the stage there. It is on the National Register of Historic Buildings. The building has been vacant since the 1990s.

Palisade Partners, who purchased the property in 2017, plan to build 126 hotel rooms, a restaurant and an event space. They will also construct a new 8-story building between the Rossonian and the Hooper building as part of the redevelopment.

“We’ve concluded that the project does require assistance in order for it to be delivered as it has been contemplated,” said Bill Pruter, executive director of DURA.

Tax-increment financing, which is essentially a tax break or subsidy, allows developers to freeze how much is paid in property or sales taxes at a base level for up to 25 years, and then reinvest what would be paid above that back into certain elements of their projects.

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For this project, the developers will be able to reinvest up to $15.5 million — which would otherwise go to the city’s bank account — into their project.

The city will reimburse the tax dollars for specific project costs mostly related to rehabilitation of the building. That includes up to $6.7 million on the plumbing and HVAC work in the new building and up to $2.3 million on the visible structure of the Rossonian Hotel.



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Broncos’ Salary Cap Picture Just Got a Lot Better

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Broncos’ Salary Cap Picture Just Got a Lot Better


A roster move the Denver Broncos made back in March to clear cap space has come to fruition, as linebacker Dre Greenlaw’s post-June 1 designation release has taken effect.

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As it turns out, the Broncos did gain more cap space with the move. While it appeared that the Greenlaw release had already been accounted for on sites such as Over The Cap, it actually had not.

Broncos’ Cap Space Grows

Instead, it turns out the $18.8 million in cap space the Broncos had prior to June 1 did not account for Greenlaw’s release. The Broncos now have more cap space than before, with $25.7 million available with his release in effect.

This means the Broncos have less need to cut players simply to create cap space. They can afford to keep the players they have on the roster until training camp starts, then make roster decisions based on what happens in the preseason.

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The additional cap space will also help with accommodating any extensions the Broncos decide to give to players with expiring contracts. Players such as wide receiver/returner Marvin Mims Jr. and cornerbacks Ja’Quan McMillan and Riley Moss are among the younger players who might be in line for extensions, depending on how the Broncos value them and what they are seeking in a new deal.

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Not to mention veterans, like backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham and left guard Ben Powers, both of whom are entering a contract year.

Potential for More Cap Carryover

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Denver Broncos GM George Paton and head coach Sean Payton. | Gabriel Christus/Denver Broncos

The cap space also helps with the potential for more salary-cap carryover heading into 2027. Right now, the Broncos are projected to have just $2 million in cap space, but that does not account for carryover.

If the Broncos are wise with how they manage the cap in the coming months, they could carry over a significant amount of cap space into 2027. That alone will help alleviate the team’s cap situation next year.

Some might wonder whether the Broncos try to make another big move before training camp, but doing so would mean giving up cap space or draft capital that could be useful when it comes to improving the roster in 2027. We can’t rule out a trade, of course, but the added cap space doesn’t guarantee a trade is coming.

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But the good news is the Broncos will be in a better cap position than before. We’ll see what moves come next and how that impacts cap space.

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