The Broncos’ playing field has a new look

DENVER — It seems like everything is different this year. Right down to the Broncos’ playing field.

The latest addition to the dizzying whirlwind of change to hit the team over the last several months was a tweak to the field-paint scheme at Empower Field at Mile High.

Gone from the north and south end zones are the Broncos’ horse-head logos, which have been a regular presence on the team’s home field since the 1997 uniform and logo redesign. Instead, only the “BRONCOS” wordmark remains in each end zone, with the horse-head logo still at the 50-yard line, as it has been since the team moved to Empower Field at Mile High in 2001.

THE BRONCOS’ PLAYING FIELD PAINT DESIGN DOESN’T CHANGE OFTEN

With the unveiling of a revamped logo and uniforms in 1997, the Broncos began putting the then-new logo in both end zones alongside the “BRONCOS” wordmark, which was also created for that season.

When the team relocated to Empower Field, the team had “BRONCOS” painted in each end zone in white with orange borders. The logo was on one flank of the wordmark. In 2003, the team began using “BRONCOS” in orange letters with a white border, while the logo remained the same.

In 2009 and 2010, the team used diamond patterns in each end zone. Originally, the Broncos introduced that in October 2009 to commemorate the team’s 50th season. But they keep the diamond pattern into the 2010 campaign. For 2011, the team returned to the “BRONCOS” wordmark-and-horse-head design.

During some of the team’s games when it used the throwback “D” logo on a navy-blue helmet, the team painted the “D” logo in each end zone. In 2020, the Broncos also did this for some games with the horse-head logo on the helmet. But the basic idea — logo with wordmark — remained the same.

Until now.

There remains no end to the changes around the Broncos in this new era.
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