Empower Field at Mile High: Home of the Broncos

The stadium on the western edge of downtown Denver sits at exactly five thousand two hundred and eighty feet above sea level, one mile high, and that altitude is not incidental. It has been part of the Denver Broncos' identity and their advantage for more than six decades. Visiting teams arrive and discover, usually in the third quarter, that the thin air at a mile of elevation affects them differently than it affects players who train here.

The current stadium opened in two thousand one, replacing the old Mile High Stadium, which had stood on the same site since nineteen forty-eight and had hosted the Broncos from nineteen sixty onward. It holds seventy-six thousand one hundred and twenty-five fans across five levels and was known as Invesco Field, then Sports Authority Field, before becoming Empower Field at Mile High in two thousand nineteen. Whatever the name on the facade, locals simply call it Mile High.

The Denver Broncos were founded in nineteen fifty-nine as one of the original teams of the American Football League, playing in mustard yellow and brown uniforms that their own fans called ugly. The team converted to the orange and blue color scheme in nineteen sixty-eight, and the shade of orange became one of the most recognizable colors in professional sports.

The franchise's first great era came in nineteen seventy-seven, when the Orange Crush defense, one of the most dominant units in that decade's NFL, led Denver to its first Super Bowl appearance. They lost to the Dallas Cowboys, but the city was forever hooked.

John Elway arrived as a quarterback in nineteen eighty-three and spent sixteen seasons in Denver, reaching five Super Bowls and winning back-to-back championships in nineteen ninety-seven and nineteen ninety-eight. When Elway retired, he became the franchise's general manager and built a third championship team around Peyton Manning, who set NFL records for passing yards and touchdowns in twenty thirteen and won Super Bowl Fifty in twenty fifteen over the Carolina Panthers.

Three Super Bowl trophies. One of professional football's most loyal fan bases. And the thinning air that keeps the home field advantage real.