Mind your game-day manners, Broncos fans, or face the consequences: a personal-conduct class.
Any fan ejected from Sports Authority Field at Mile High for hooligan-like behavior must pay to take a decorum class before he or she can attend a future game, according to a new National Football League policy recently adopted by the Broncos.
Last year, about 7,000 people were ejected from NFL stadiums for bad behavior. Denver police could not immediately produce the number of arrests made at Mile High last year.
According to the NFL, the four-hour online course fans bounced from the stadium must take is focused on alcohol abuse, anger management and unruly, crude behavior.
Completion of the course will be certified and the information forwarded to the team, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
“It is up to the club to grant the fan access to the stadium,” McCarthy said.
Course author and psychotherapist Ari Novick said when fans are ejected, their information is taken by security. They will then receive a letter in the mail outlining the requirements to be admitted back into the stadium. Some venues may also require a written apology, he said.
“If they choose not to take the test and return anyway, they may be arrested and charged with trespassing,” said Novick, an expert in the management of anger and stress.
It is the team’s prerogative to ban a fan for the season or indefinitely should the test not be taken, McCarthy said. The policy will apply to season-ticket and walk-up-ticket holders. The cost of the course is determined by the team, according to the NFL. Denver’s price has not been set yet, but other teams charge $50 to $100 for the class.
This addition is part of a 2008 league-policy change that marked the beginning of an NFL crackdown on out-of-control fans.
Broncos spokesman Erich Schubert said the team is still working out the specifics of the policy, which will be in place by the home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 9.
The program debuted in 2010 at MetLife Stadium, where the New York Giants and New York Jets play, and Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., where the New England Patriots play, Novick said. All 32 teams will be using the course this season, he said.
“This is not meant to be punitive,” Novick said, “but rather to educate fans so they can learn how to better handle themselves in the future.”
There have yet to be any repeat test-takers, Novick said.
While not mandatory, the ejection/decorum course is considered a best practice, McCarthy said, meaning the NFL suggests all teams participate.
Ryan Parker: 303-954-2409, rparker@denverpost.com or
