HARROW, UK — Before flying across half a continent and the entire Atlantic Ocean, a disturbing trend developed at home.
Broncos fans attending games at Empower Field at Mile High were leaving early. As in, the game is close, the outcome remains in doubt, but let’s-get-out-of-here-anyway early. Broncos’ newly hired team president Damani Leech may not have say on football matters. But he does oversee the fans experience with the team.
No-shows aren’t really the problem. Not like in recent years. Yes, the no-show count did approach 6,000 Sunday against the Jets, and is going up, but compared to the rest of the league, Broncos tickets are used way more than most other NFL markets.
What’s been startling about the new habit of Broncos fans is they’re not only heading for the exits, but leaving while the game’s outcome is very much in doubt.
Three weeks ago in a Thursday night game against Indianapolis, a mass exodus occurred as the game was going into overtime, tied, 9-9. Granted, the pathetic offensive performance by both teams set the NFL back to the leather-helmet era. But the stadium empties when the game is tied?
Broncos fans also exited en masse this past Sunday after the Jets took a 16-9 lead with 4:35 to play. The Broncos had two more possessions to try and tie the game.
Hey, listen, go get ‘em, Broncos. But if it’s all the same to you, I’ll let Dave Logan bring me on home.
Geez, Damani, what about all those early exits?
“First of all, I think we have an incredible fan base,’’ Leech said in a sit-down interview with 9NEWS. “We’re incredibly blessed. As we look across the league we’ve got a great fan base. They show up. They’re loud. They cheer. Certainly nobody likes to see fans leaving before the game is over. I take that as part of my responsibility. I think about, driveway to driveway what’s that fan’s experience? What are we doing to keep them in the stadium, keep them engaged and we focus on it week-in and week-out.’’
Traffic was a problem for fans getting to the Thursday night game. Maybe, they didn’t want to sit in a jammed parking lot for another hour while trying to get home.
“There are practical realities, right?’’ Leech said. “People have jobs and families to get home to. We can’t control that but we try to control as much as we can in and around the stadium.”
As for the Broncos’ trip across the pond, playing a game on foreign soil (and semi-artificial turf) is one of Leech’s specialties. Prior to getting his top executive position with the Broncos, Leech was the league’s International Chief Operating Officer for nearly 3 ½ years.
He knows London well.
“I love London,’’ Leech said. “In my previous role, I had an opportunity to come out here quite a bit. We have a staff here, an office here. The fans here are great. There’s probably more here than the average NFL fans thinks. There’s a lot of NFL fans, a lot of Broncos fans. You saw them at the airport (Tuesday) which is great. I met one at the hotel gym yesterday afternoon. There’s a lot of fans here which is great.”
He has noticed that every couple years or so, the fans are more knowledgeable with football and not futbol – or soccer, England’s national sport.
“I think you notice that on game day,’’ Leech said. “Early on you had that constant murmur where they sort of talked through it like it was soccer. Now people understand when to cheer, when to be quiet.”
“I think you also notice it with the jerseys the fans wear. It’s still a big coming together, sort of a convention of football fans because there’s so few games. But you do notice more jerseys of the team that’s playing in the game.”
As for the Broncos, their game here Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium marks their first international trip in 12 years. They played, and lost, at Wembley Stadium to the San Francisco 49ers in 2010.
After their game here Sunday, it won’t take so long for the Broncos to play internationally again. All teams now have to play at least one international game every seven years. For the Broncos, it only makes sense for them to play their next international game in Mexico City, where their fan base is significant.
“You’ll start to see us do more and more in Mexico,’’ Leech said. “I’d love for us to play a game in Mexico.”
Wembley Stadium opened in 2007 on the same land parcel old Wembley Stadium was demolished. The new Wembley is considered a sports palace in England and all of Europe, although America has the state of the art football venues in Las Vegas (Allegiant) and Los Angeles (SoFi) – stadiums where the Broncos lost their last two road games.
When Leech visits those stadiums, does he get any ideas for either Empower Field renovations or a new Broncos stadium in the future?
“Rob, Greg and Carrie will give us the direction on that,’’ Leech said, referring to the Broncos’ new ownership group of Rob Walton, Greg Penner and Carrie Walton-Penner. “I think having the chance to see Vegas and SoFi this season for me -- I get there quite a bit early and walk around those stadiums, and talking to the staff -- our stadium now is a great stadium for today but you’re also thinking about what the stadium tomorrow is going to look like. Those are great stadiums. Tottenham (Hotspur) Stadium here in London where the NFL has played games, I was involved in that, it’s a beautiful stadium. Definitely looking to see what’s around the corner.”
As the team president, Leech said he frequently interacts with the owners.
“Multiple times a day,’’ he said.
And he also meets with general manager George Paton. Even though Leech, who oversees team business, and Paton, who is in charge of all football operations, are side-by-side just below Chief Executive Officer Greg Penner on the Broncos’ organizational ladder, their mutually exclusive leadership roles do intersect at the heart of the franchise – the fans.
And if the fans are leaving early, then Leech and Paton have a common problem. They do meet.
“Quite a bit,’’ Leech said. “Both informally – our offices are right down the hall from each other, so we see each other every day – but also we meet formally on a fairly regular basis sharing, ‘What’s going on in his world? What’s going on in my world?'”
“Those things intersect. It’s little things like, ‘Hey, are we playing the right music pregame for the players to get pumped up about?’ All those little things we’re looking to do to make things better.’’
When Leech was hired for his prominent Broncos’ position in August, he said one reason for the move from league to team executive is he wanted the feeling of winning and losing again. A former All-Ivy League defensive back, Leech wanted to compete on Sundays, not just observe.
“It’s everything I thought it would be and more,’’ Leech said of his new gig. “Probably the biggest surprise is being noticed. I’ll got to King Soopers and do some shopping and a couple times people have stopped me and said, ‘Welcome to Denver.” Which is both nice, and also reminds you people care, people know and they definitely want to see things get better.”
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