This just in: Winning is good for business.
The Broncos’ run to AFC’s top seed and eventually the conference championship game not only stamped Sean Payton’s team as a true title contender, it also translated into record demand ahead of the 2026 season.
The club’s season ticket renewal window closed recently with a 99.5% renewal rate, team president Damani Leech told The Post this week, the highest mark on record for the Broncos.
“Thatap an all-time record for the Broncos, which is great,” Leech told The Post. “We expect that to put us near the tops of the league. We’re consistently in the top five, so we certainly expect that. More deeply, itap just one more reflection of the strength of our fanbase. apountry is an incredible fanbase. Winning helps, it also says. But I talked with our staff after the season ended and said, this is about us being prepared for on-field success. When you do all the other things around fans — ingress and egress appropriately, you’re providing good food and beverages, you’re providing great game entertainment experience, that on top of winning football leads to season-ticket renewals like we had this year.”
The Broncos are no strangers to strong renewal rates. They hit 98% a year ago and, since 2016, have averaged 97.7% renewals, according to data provided by the club.
The record renewal rate comes despite the club raising season-ticket prices by an average of 9% for the 2026 season. That increase is in line with the league average and slightly below the average increase of postseason teams a year ago.
Leech said the club consistently has an eye on affordability throughout the ticket pricing process and the season-ticket renewal process.
“Itap a real part of our analysis,” Leech said. “One, philosophically, you understand that our fanbase is pretty diverse across a lot of different spectrums, one of which is going to be income. We want to provide experiences for fans across a variety of income levels. When we’re going through our pricing exercises as we plan for season-ticket renewals, we definitely think about that. We’ll ask ourselves questions: How much is it for a family of four? How many seats are priced below a certain level? What percentage of the bowl is that? Those sorts of things are part of our analysis.”
Demand for Broncos tickets has been strong across the board. In addition to the record renewal rate, the average secondary market price for tickets last year was about 50% above face value. The club has a season-ticket wait list that currently stands at 107,000. Pick a metric and itap likely to show fans want more.
“Itap certainly the strongest demand that I’ve seen,” said Leech, who was hired as the team’s president in August 2022 as the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group finalized purchasing the Broncos. “(Season-ticket renewal) is one of the leading indicators of that. Your season-ticket members, the people who say ‘I’m committed to this experience year in and year out’ — how often are they saying that they want more of that next year? When you see that at 99.5%, that is a really, really strong indicator of success and the strength of your fanbase.”
The Broncos are set to host eight regular-season games and two preseason games in 2026. Those years are sometimes not as attractive as the alternating years when AFC teams host nine regular-season games and one preseason, but Denver’s regular-season home slate is strong. In addition to AFC West division foes Kansas City, the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas, Denver hosts Miami and then four 2025 playoff teams in Buffalo, Jacksonville, the Los Angeles Rams and Super Bowl champion Seattle.
“It’s a really good home slate,” Leech said. “It should make for some exciting games.”
