As a fan, I demand they win at least 60% of their home games….

I think the magic will return over time. It takes decades to build a mystique and I think that by the time Jay Cutler retires, the magic will be a significant part of our fandom again.

Then again, perhaps the cash cow ways of the NFL has already ruined it for all time…only time will tell I guess.

As much as I hate the loss to the faiders I have to force myself to remember we lost all our starting running backs, and all our starting linebackers this year. We still have a lot of tallent—but they are young and learning on the run.

This may lead to a continued roller coaster the rest of the season—but as I’ve said before—when I ride a roller coaster I keep my hands in the air the entire ride.

I’m as die-hard a Broncos fan as they come, but I just simply don’t have the money to afford tickets to these games. For a decent seat, hot dogs, and some drinks a single ticket is upwards of $150. I’ve been to exactly 1 game at Invesco (that fateful Atlanta game in 2004) and I’d go to as many as I could if tickets were more affordable.

But with that being said: If you can’t beat the Raiders at home, then I don’t want to pay wads of cash to see players giving up in the 3rd quarter.

I think once they get some real consistency in winning, then the noise will rise. Right now we are just one game better than a .500 team. That’s not consistent football.

Hey, we lost games to Jacksonville and Oakland….2 VERY average teams, and to Miami, who are better, but who we have as much talent as. We had the talent to beat them NO QUESTION.
I have only been to 2 games at Invesco, but there is ALWAYS empty seats…even right behind the bench, and it seems to me that it is more a day out, or a trendy thing to do, than actually fans that REALLY support the Broncos. SOme people are coming into the game WELL after it has started.
It is a combination of things:
1/ Prices driving out the working man who are the REAL fans of the Broncos.
2/ Issues on the team from players to coaches.
3/ A good % of people that can afford to go to the game not being REAL fans.
4/ A lack of atmosphere in the stadium. It is a generally cold and empty stadium to many I have visited through out the world.

Nice post

and you could feel the floating stands tremble when the thousands of fans would stand and stomp. I think some of the mile high magic had to do with the duct taped together multi-generational construction that brought the stadium into the ’90s. All of the construction struck me as an afterthought, like the apartment above a suburban garage. All of the mismatched stands seemed to create an amplification of vibration. Think of how often the cameras used to shake during the tense moments of Denver games. In my opinion the new stadium is too well built to continue providing the advantage of playing in a hooptie.

I also buy into the idea that they have simply priced themselves out of a solid attending fan base. Maybe its time to start piping in noise.

These days teams are better conditioned so altitude is not a factor, the QB and defenses get to wear headsets so play calling is not an issue with noise, and the new stadium just isn’t as loud as the old because the layout, the seats are more spread out and not as many seats as close to the field.

That being said, I think after the Super Bowl victory the feeling of fans changed, we were vindicated, we were now an elite team that would win on our talent, not home field advantage, so there has been no urgency from the fans, unless prompted by the PA to get loud. The old Mile High fans knew when to crank it up because they had a stronger emotional investment in how the team did, now that investment has been lost because so many are the casual fans who are there to be seen and show they have money. Want majic, bring back the urgency and passion of the old fans, kick out the guys selling their tickets on Stubhub and Ebay, open up more game day tickets, especially in the south stands.

When I last sat in the south stands I was surrounded by New England Patriots fans who had gotten their tickets on Stubhub, that would never happen at the old Mile High. When I saw the AFC Championship game that year and all the Pittsburgh fans, that was shameful. The season ticket policy has got to change, if you have season tickets you need to show up, not just sell them to make money.

I worked for the Public Policy Institute at UCD at the time Invesco was approved. My job was to conduct polling across the state on the stadium bond issue, and the polling was used to gauge interest for the stadium proposal before putting it to a vote.

I have no major revelations but I did notice that people outside the taxing district were far more sanguine about the idea of raising taxes than those within it — hardly surprising since those outside the district weren’t going to pay for the stadium project.

One of the rationales behind building the new stadium was an economic one — fans coming in from outside the Denver area would spend money and thus enrich the local economy. The problem with that theory is the fact that it justifies any stadium but not necessarily a new one. Fans spent money at Mile High, too, and many of them had more to spend then since the increase in ticket prices at Invesco took a bigger chunk of their budget, leaving less for purchases from local merchants.

Arguments for building new stadiums cite a quasi-free market reasoning, as in — build a better stadium or we’ll lose our competitive edge to other teams that do build new stadiums. Of course, those stadiums are often built with the aid of public financing, too. One exception I’m aware of, however, is Lucas Field in Indianapolis. Opposition to the stadium bond issue cited numerous reasons for their objection to building a new stadium. One that sticks in my memory is the effect on the average fan, who was being ‘priced out’ as the cost of ticket to a game rose to the point that fewer people of ordinary means could afford to attend.

Some of the mystique of Mile High disappeared with the move to Invesco. I wouldn’t attempt to argue that on-the-field results have nothing to do with it, but the national trend towards building newer, higher priced stadiums, complete with luxurious box seats, may have distanced much of the fan base from the teams they supported. It’s a contentious argument, for sure, but the chemistry between the fans and the team has changed with the move, and it’s not something that can be easily reclaimed.

I don’t have a solution to the problem, moreover, many fans are more than willing to vote for anything related to the Broncos even though they themselves can’t, or don’t, attend games — motivated by a vicarious thrill, perhaps.

My personal feeling is that the name “Invesco Field at Mile High” was a slap in the face to the many fans who voted to retain the old name and, hopefully, thus continue the the Mile High mystique. Invesco has never invoked the positive feelings in me that Mile High Stadium did, and I can’t help but wonder if others share my attitude. Restoring the MIle High mystique is going to be hard, and I don’t know if it actually can be done. One thing that would help is fielding a better team, and I’m all for that.

Home field is only as good as the team you have and over the last three seasons, we’ve been a mediocre squad. When we complete this rebuilding project, then we can analyze whether our stadium is to blame for our weakened record at home.

I understand that the home crowd pumps up the players, but after a while, when that adrenaline wears off, I don’t think they hear it at all and if they do, they are not paying attention to their jobs. I don’t want our Defense thinking “man I hope the crowd is loud for us now so I can really try my best” Noooo, you better be trying your best all the time. Regardless of what state or stadium you’re in.

I think the reason teams do well at home is because it’s comfortable and familiar, they get to sleep in their own beds with their own families. Don’t forget about the expectation factor, people expect you to win at home and usually you follow what you expect to happen.

I have been to both stadiums, love em both. Our passion for the Broncos goes so much deeper than a field. I would scream for Denver if they played on the moon as I think all of you would.

If you tackle, catch, block, pass and catch without mistakes, you will win, where you are playing is immaterial to me. Focus, preperation and hard work are what seperates the game from the truth. The Raiders have talent out the whaazzooo, but they lack focus, discipline, consistancy.

Why doesn’t it matter where Tiger Woods plays? Why do the big crowds he draws spook other players but he doesn’t care one bit? Focus, concentration and discipline.

Great post Nick, very thought provoking! Thanks.

I’m a season ticket holder. I don’t make a ton of money. I save up every year for my season tickets that cost $2,100.00 That’s 2 tickets to all of the home games, including preseason.

I know $2,000 is a lot of money to a lot of people, but I’m not less of a fan than someone who can’t afford it.

I know CEOs and founders of companies that are die hard Broncos fans. Just because they wear Boss shirts and Seven jeans doesn’t make them any less of a fan that some dude in orange coveralls drenched in Budweiser.

Most tickets run somewhere between $60-$150 bucks. Most Broncos fans get to a game or two a year. Please don’t complain about ticket prices.

$60 bucks in NOTHING at a pro sporting event. I know that a hot dog’s gonna run around $4. Beers are $6.50 and up. Yeah, you better have about $40 bucks to spend as a fan.

Monthly, most of us pay around $60 a month for cable and a lot of us pay much more than that. You pay for more premium product. Just like Broncos tickets.

I grew up with season tickets and when I saved up enough money as an adult, I made teh decision that I wanted to be a season ticket holder, so I made it happen.

Lower earning people are NOT better fans. There is ZERO correlation between people that don’t earn the median income level and a higher level of fan participation.

Because some of them cannot afford tickets regularly, it doesn’t equate to “worse fans” or “less of a home field advantage”. When the Broncos are really good, it gets really loud, regardless of venue.

In 2005, when Champ picked off Brady and streaked down the sideline, it was freaking deafening. When Pittsburgh got the ball on their first drive of the 2005 AFC Championship, there’s NO WAY his receivers heard the snap.

I’ve been to a countless number of Broncos games in the early 1980’s until current. My grandfather had season tickets. The stadium seemed louder in the mid-late 80’s and in the late 90’s. I bet it’s because the Broncos were better.

What is that building next to Invesco? I went to a night game a few years ago and don’t remember seeing that.

to throw some fuel on the fire concerning the current debate about Invesco Field.

I am wondering is there, or could there, be a way to price tickets with regards to the records of the teams playing, the importance of the game etc.
For example, if Denver is 11-1 and we are playing the 1-11 Raiders then the tickets for that game would be reduced price due to the poor record of the Riaders.
Not sure if it would work….just an idea.
For those trying for a link try justin.tv.
It is a live web service and most times you will find all the games on there. Quality goes from good to bad, but it is better than nothing at all.

If the team doesn’t make money then the business goes away. Do you think that our government would “Bail out” the NFL, after they reduce tickets to twenty bucks and hot dogs to 50 cents? I doubt it. Instead they give a hundred Billion to some financial institution called WHO?

I really don’t care who goes to the game. I can see more at my sports bar on tv then anyone can see at the game. Because I don’t have season tickets and don’t go to the games, does that make me less of a fan? NO WAY! It just makes me a fan who sees more.

Home Field Advantage is based upon the play of the team, and that is it, period. When we are winning, I don’t care who we are as fans, or what we do for a living, WE GET FIRED UP!!!
 

One of my patients had season tickets and he once offered to pay me with them. Having a pulse, I immediately took him up on it. The arrangement lasted for years.

I loved the stadium. All the above points came into why – I knew those around me and they knew me. They also knew football. The stands seemed as it they would come down around us anytime we cheered and hammered our feet, which was nearly constantly (Recent posts have reminded me that this was neearly true), but the decibel level was deafening and enthused.

All life is change. There will be times when the Mile Hi Magic is back. It may never have the non-stop decibel level (Certainly not of the old South Stands), and folks may not know each other quite the same way. Barrel Man has had to hang it up and I haven’t seen the Broncos Leprechaun recently, although I hear he’s still around. Perhaps over time new faces will take up the torch and lead us in the cheers that those to inspired and required, but it’s not right now. And I do wonder if it helped the players when we shrieked our lungs out in that chill and thin air. I’ve always believed that it did, and the recent lack of home dominance? Well, part of me understand that thing go in cycles

And part of me suspects that it’s the team’s karma for selling the danged name to Invesco.

Super7, I salute you for your dedication. None of this is personal to me. I’m not even sure that the higher prices ($30 a seat?!!) are the culprit. But I do know that some of the toughest, most dedicated fans in the country lost their seats and their community when the stadium changed. And I’m pretty sure that few of the voters knew that they were voting for that.

I LOVE these discussions. We all get to learn a thing or two, regardless of our opinions, and most importantly, go BRONCOS. We need a BIG win today.