DENVER — In the coming days, the Denver Broncos will submit a variance request to the state of Colorado asking health officials to allow a limited number of fans inside the stadium for home games this fall.
The request details all of the safety precautions the team has taken to prepare for the possibility of fans. All bathrooms are now touchless. Concession stands won’t accept cash.
The team already had a mobile ticketing plan, eliminating a touchpoint for fans entering the stadium.
The plan requires fans to wear face masks and keep their distance from other people, according to a team employee with knowledge of the plan.
The goal of it would be to eliminate crowding both inside and outside of the stadium, which raises questions about whether tailgating in the parking lot would be allowed before games.
The plan, drafted by a task force led by Brittany Bowlen, is 25 pages long with more than 8,000 words. The team will send it to the state in the coming days, according to that team employee with knowledge of it.
“Any future actions will be dependent on the science, evidence and (epidemic) curve,” a spokesman from the state health department wrote in a statement to 9NEWS.
The department said it is still working with the Broncos and Colorado Rockies on safe plans to allow fans into the stadiums.
The Rockies did not respond to a request for their variance status on Wednesday.
The pandemic has the potential to change the way sports stadiums look for years to come.
"A lot of things are going to change," said Daniel Aizenman, a Boulder-based architect who helps design stadiums for the firm Stantec, which designed the new MacGregor Square development outside Coors Field.
“The faster people arrive at their destination the less touch points that exist,” he said, suggesting that more sports venues will provide people with more up to the date information about what is around their seat whether it be concession stands or a bathroom.
He said more and more stadiums will use touchless transactions both in ticketing and in concessions.
Aizenman said access to outdoor spaces will be a bigger priority in new stadiums after the pandemic, especially when it comes to getting people inside stadiums.
Space for people to spread out while waiting in line will be important.
SUGGESTED VIDEO: Full Episodes of Next with Kyle Clark