Broncos fans will have plenty of chances to see the team in action this summer during training camp.
The club on Tuesday announced 14 practice dates open to the public, beginning Friday, July 31 and running through Aug. 19.
Rookies report to Sean Payton’s fourth training camp in Denver on July 22, followed by veterans on July 28. The team is likely to hold a couple of closed ramp-up practices July 29-30, followed by its first two open sessions Friday and Saturday as part of the NFL’s “Back Together” weekend.
Then the slog starts for Payton’s team.
The Broncos are on the field in front of fans Monday through Saturday, Aug. 3-8, making for Payton’s only true six-straight-day practice run.
Denver will also have practice open to fans Monday through Wednesday each of the following two weeks — Aug. 10-12 and Aug. 17-19 — before its first two preseason games, which are at Atlanta (Aug. 14) and home against Green Bay (Aug. 21), respectively.
All open practices begin at 10 a.m. Parking opens at 8 a.m. and gates open at 9 a.m. Practices are free for fans to attend but a ticket is required for entry. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster beginning 9 a.m. Wednesday for season-ticket holders and 10 a.m. for the general public.
The Broncos once again will have their fan experience modified due to construction, but more fans will be able to attend each practice this summer and the club is beefing up its fan hospitality compared to last summer.
The team will be moved into its new headquarters and training facility when training camp begins and eventually is planning on rebuilding the grass berm that was a staple of training camps past — the dirt was saved and kept behind the Broncos’ construction project — on the East side of the practice fields.
The outgoing facility, however, will not be torn down and removed in time for training camp this summer. The Broncos will be able to install more temporary bleachers, however, and bump up their daily capacity from about 800 last year to 1,000 this summer. The bleachers are located on the North end of the practice fields this summer instead of the South end like they were last year. The club said, too, that the bleachers will be shaded for the first time.
Because the new practice facility also includes underground parking for players and team employees, the club is using what used to be the player parking lot as space for fan hospitality.
Denver’s 14 open practices are expected to be at or near the top of the NFL, the team said.
One feature of training camps past that will not be part of the equation this year: Joint practices. Payton made it clear during the team’s offseason program that he thought the Broncos’ deep playoff run and limited number of days on the field during OTAs and minicamp meant that his team needs as many days on the field just with their players as possible.
“When you do have a joint practice, you miss maybe two days of installation,” Payton said. “So this year we know we have the preseason games, but we’re not going to have a joint practice.”
