Denver mayoral candidates divided over public funding for new Broncos stadium
May 17, 2023, 1:02 PM
Ballots are now out for the 2023 Municipal Run-Off Election in Denver, with one of the big votes being for mayor of the Mile High City.
Denverites will decide on June 6 between democrats Mike Johnston, a former state senator, and Kelly Brough, the former Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce CEO and former chief of staff to then-mayor John Hickenlooper. They’re replacing term-limited Michael Hancock, who has been in office since 2011.
Johnston and Brough both moved forward to the runoff from the first vote where the former collected 24.5% of the votes and the latter got 20%. Now the two are in a tight race for the job and one of the issues is Empower Field at Mile High or a possible replacement for the 22-year-old stadium.
While the Broncos are currently spending $100 million to class up the stadium, including new details that were unveiled on Wednesday, ownership seems to be making progress on a new stadium. The Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group has conducted surveys on the next steps as well as every detail from a possible dome, to location and what could be around that area.
But even if a new stadium doesn’t come to be the lease on Empower Field is up in 2030, meaning this next mayor will have a big impact on that as well.
On Wednesday, Axios published some notes about how the two mayoral candidates differ when it comes to where the Broncos play. According to Axios, Brough is fine with a new stadium within city limits.
“It’s not Denver without the Broncos, and it’s not the Broncos without Denver,” she said to the outlet. Importantly Brough would consider the use of taxpayer money or initiatives to keep the team in the city. “I’m open to what might work for the city and the Broncos,” Brough told Axios.
Meanwhile, Johnston wants the stadium to stay on the West side of Denver and has now made it clear that he wants the Walton-Penner group to pay for any possible new stadium themselves.
“The No. 1 priority is to keep them in Denver. But I think in addition to that, the priority would be to keep them in West Denver,” Johnston told Axios. “I think the economy and identity of the West side is so connected to that.”
Johnston did previously say he would be open to government subsidies for the Broncos in building a new stadium, but after looking at how other stadiums have been built, he believes it’s better for ownership to take care of it without the help of public funds.
“Structures are much more solid without requiring taxpayer incentives,” he said to Axios.
Taxpayers across the Denver metro covered 75% of the cost to build this stadium in the 1990s, extending initiatives that helped build Coors Field and attract the Colorado Rockies.
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