The Denver Broncos have begun the initial process of planning a new stadium with the goal of having it completed in time for the 2031 NFL season. The initial design concepts include a retractable roof, which would allow Denver to host Super Bowls without building a permanently closed-dome stadium.
So, had the stadium been ready for last week’s AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots, would the Broncos have left it open? During his end-of-season press conference on Wednesday, team owner and CEO Greg Penner noted that the league has regulations for postseason games, and a retractable roof likely would have been closed.
“The NFL does have guidelines, or rules … so we’d obviously comply with that,” Penner said. “In this case, we would have likely closed it ahead of time given both the temperature and the potential precipitation.”
The kickoff temperature for the AFC title game was 26 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of 16 degrees. A snowstorm hit in the second half and clearly impacted the game, but Penner didn’t say it ultimately decided the game’s outcome.
“Who knows if that would have had any outcome on the game either way,” Penner said. “This would have been more around just what was going to be good for the fans. So it was pretty rough.”
#BroncosCountry LIVE: Owner & CEO Greg Penner meets the media at our end-of-season press conference https://t.co/MHmZV7xOSU
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) January 28, 2026
Fans who love football played in the elements still have five more seasons to enjoy the Broncos playing at Empower Field at Mile High, and there may be future playoff games played in the snow before the new stadium is ready. Once that new stadium is completed, though, it sounds like the roof might be closed for cold postseason games.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL: Broncos will close future stadium roof for ‘rough’ weather games
