Sean Payton couldn’t help but take a crack at his old division rival.
In Denver’s preseason opener at Atlanta, the Broncos head coach was on his way into the locker room when he stopped for a brief chat with 9News preseason sideline reporter Cynthia Frelund. He talked about the action for a minute, then was asked about being back in town to play the Falcons. He glanced around at a maybe-half-full Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“A lot of people dressed up as empty seats today,” Payton said with a smirk before jogging off.
The Broncos did not have the same issue in their two preseason home games.
Far from it, in fact.
The Broncos averaged 64,665 fans through the turnstiles — the actual raw data, not number of tickets sold that gets announced during games — over a loss to Green Bay and a win against Minnesota, marking the highest turnout for preseason games since 2016, when the club averaged 67,649. That summer, of course, Denver was coming off a Super Bowl 50 victory.
Since the NFL moved to a 17-game regular-season schedule, teams have either one or two preseason home games per summer.
Last year, Denver’s lone home preseason game had 60,009 through the turnstiles.
In 2024, the two preseason games averaged 57,684. That means this August saw an average of 6,981 more fans per home preseason game than two years ago.
For reference, the average announced attendance for the two home games this summer was 75,733.
That fan interest is the likely result of several factors. Naturally, going 14-3 in the regular season, coming within a game of the Super Bowl and entering 2026 with championship expectations drives interest. So, too, does playing a team with national appeal like Green Bay. Preseason games are also more affordable to get to than regular-season games, so for some fans, itap the easiest way to get to a game.
Ask Payton, though, and such robust attendance also comes with tangible benefits.
When his viral comments about the Falcons came up after that game, he mentioned that his mentor, Bill Parcells, liked playing preseason games in Green Bay, for example, because there was usually a mostly full house and a game-like environment in which to test his players.
Payton felt the same — albeit at home rather than in a more hostile road environment — over the two weeks late in August.
“It was great,” he said after the finale against Minnesota. “They played that little guess-the-attendance thing (on the scoreboard,). It doesn’t feel like a preseason game, so if I was an opponent, I’d want to kind of play here.
“You’re trying to get your players acclimated to what it would be like and I keep hearing about certain venues that are like that, but they were fantastic. It was good. Good environment.”
Here are the five highest turnstile numbers at Empower Field during the preseason over the past decade. Each of the years listed featured two home games.
2016 – 67,649
2026 – 64,665
2017 – 64,445
2018 – 61,388
2022 – 60,496
Jaleel McLaughlin lands in Cleveland
Former Bronco Jaleel McLaughlin has a new home.
The running back signed a practice squad deal with Cleveland on Tuesday, marking the first time he’s played for a franchise besides Denver in his professional career.
McLaughlin was waived Sunday and didn’t sign with Denver’s practice squad Monday, telegraphing the end of his tenure with the Broncos.
General manager George Paton on Sunday called waiving McLaughlin “really hard” because of the respect people in the building have for the back, who went undrafted in 2023 and played his college ball first in Division II and then FCS Youngstown State. Paton also said that choosing Tyler Badie as Denver’s fourth running back over McLaughlin was the last decision the Broncos made about their roster.
Marvin Mims still out with ‘bruise’ to foot
The Broncos practiced in full pads on Tuesday. Wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. (foot) remained out and was not spotted at practice. Payton said after Friday’s game that Mims just had “a bruise,” though he’s now not been seen at two practices since leaving that game in the first quarter.
Outside linebacker Que Robinson also remained limited to side field work, while inside linebacker Alex Singleton missed practice to attend to a personal matter. Tight end Adam Trautman was also absent.
