Somewhere along a walk through the Broncos’ new training center and headquarters, the thought starts to percolate.
Perhaps itap in the business offices on the third floor, with copious natural light, soaring, exposed wood beams and ceiling, a large outdoor patio overlooking the practice fields and even a golf simulator.
Or perhaps itap down on the players’ first floor, in the cavernous locker room, a weight room that will make leg day seem like a good idea or a state-of-the-art training and rehabilitation area that is filled with cutting-edge technology and design detail down to the exact size of the drawers.
All-Pro right guard Quinn Meinerz parked underground in the players’ lot for the first time and realized his truck wouldn’t be “150 degrees” after a long training camp day baking in the Front Range sun.
Then he walked into the building and, right through the doors, found paths to the locker room, weight room and cafeteria.
“In the previous building, the weight room, you have to walk,” he said. “It sounds so spoiled, but you have to walk a little bit to go to the weight room. Right now, the weight room is connected to the locker room pretty much, so everything is so close.
“Those little minutes of time do add up throughout the day, so it’ll be nice to just have a really good flow of traffic and everything.”
Somewhere along the way, itap natural to wonder: Is there such a thing as too nice?
Broncos owner and CEO Greg Penner has thought about that question and has at least one antidote.
“Well, I think you’ve met our head coach,” he said with a smile during a recent news conference in the atrium of the Broncos’ new building, which opened for business in July.
Sean Payton didn’t laugh when relayed the comment, but he made it clear that the new digs had been part of his opening message to the 2026 Broncos when they reported for training camp this summer.
His message: Itap very possible to have a team that stinks residing in a building that shines.
“There have been a ton of new facilities with teams that have had success and a ton of new facilities with teams that haven’t,” Payton said. “I don’t think there’s any story or correlation. Itap about the guys in the room, what we do on the field. If we’re not successful, itap going to be because we didn’t do a good enough job coaching, we didn’t execute well enough. Itap not going to be because of the new digs. If we are successful, itap going to be because we did the stuff needed. Itap not going to be because of the new digs.”
Building the best to be the best
Thatap mostly true. A new building can’t give Payton and offensive coordinator Davis Webb better ideas for third-and-short. It won’t make a game-saving tackle or force a fumble at a critical moment.
What the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group is betting on, though, is that over time the building will make a difference in football and business.
The bells and whistles are part of that equation, to be sure. Having the best in training and rehab tools won’t prevent all injuries, but if it prevents one or two per year, thatap real, on-the-field value. If having nearly all business employees relocated from the stadium to the new HQ leads to better ideas, thatap good for the bottom line, too.
“Itap a testament to ownership, to Greg and Carrie, the investment they’ve made into football, football first, but also our business to bring nearly 100 business staff into the building to create culture, to design a building with football in mind,” president Damani Leech said. “The spaces are really well thought of. Very intentional layout. The player path of travel was really, really important.
“I love coming to work every day, and I think everybody else does too.”
But there’s another element, slightly less tangible, that might not be apparent on a quick tour of the building but undoubtedly can be felt by players and employees who show up to work there every day.
You’ve got the best of the best. No stone is left unturned.
Leech put it flat-out in early August: “There’s really nothing that we didn’t get. Nothing.”
The result: There is really no excuse for not performing.
“Any time we’re going to — whether itap this facility, a new stadium — we’re trying to raise the expectations,” Penner said. “And our expectation is that we want to win championships.
“We’re going to do everything it takes and provide the resources that are necessary to do it.”
What two mixed-use districts in Atlanta reveal about Broncos’ Burnham Yard plans
Now four years into owning the team, Penner and Carrie Walton-Penner increasingly see their vision coming to fruition. They’ve solidified the top of their football operation with coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton, extending each of their contracts this spring with deals of equal length. They’ve got a quarterback in place in Bo Nix. They’ve been to an AFC Championship Game. They’ve designed and built a new home base for the franchise and are in the process of attempting to do the same with a stadium and mixed-use district at Burnham Yard. They’ve overhauled the club’s foundation and community efforts.
The Penners had high expectations from the start in August 2022, to be sure. They showed they weren’t afraid of change when they fired Nathaniel Hackett after 15 games and took on a record $85 million in dead salary cap a year later by releasing Russell Wilson.
With each passing year and each additional project, though, the room for excuses dwindles further.
That doesn’t mean the Broncos must win Super Bowls every year or else. Penner said recently he’s wary of “binary answers” when it comes to what defines success in a particular season.
Still, at this point, the expectations set from the corner offices in the club’s new building are high. And they’re not coming down any time soon.
“I’m excited,” Penner said. “I feel like each season we come in and we’re more prepared and a better roster and a more complete coaching staff and all the pieces are there since the first season. Thatap how I feel about it now. We can’t wait to get out there. We have all the pieces, and we have the right culture.
“Again, we’re providing the right resources. You always need a little bit of luck. And you just have to go out and perform.”
