NFL's richest owner building new $4billion stadium as Nashville gets date to host its first-ever Super Bowl

Nashville has just got its Super Bowl, and Denver is watching closely.

The NFL awarded Nashville the 2030 Super Bowl LXIV to be played at the city’s brand-new Nissan Stadium, the first time Music City will ever host the league’s biggest game. But for Denver fans, that news hit differently. For the Broncos, a Super Bowl always seems to be out of reach, and a brand-new stadium could change that.

A $4billion bet on the future
The Denver Broncos have signed a formal purchase agreement with the state of Colorado for Burnham Yard, the 58-acre former rail yard the team has identified as the site for a new retractable-roof stadium and mixed-use entertainment district. The total cost of the project has not been officially released, but The Denver Post has published reports estimating it at least $4 billion.


The new stadium is expected to be ready for the 2031 season, when the Broncos’ current lease at Empower Field at Mile High expires. The surrounding mixed-use district is planned to include restaurants, retail, hotels, housing, and entertainment spaces, the kind of year-round destination that modern NFL ownership loves to build.

And the group that owns this vision is one of a kind in pro football.

The Walmart billionaire who writes the check
In 2022, the Denver Broncos were bought by the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group for $4.7 billion, the highest price ever paid for an NFL franchise at the time. Leading that group is Rob Walton, eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Rob Walton remains the richest owner in the NFL as of 2026, with a net worth of around $146 billion, largely tied to gains in Walmart stock.

For perspective, Walton is the only NFL owner to have a net worth exceeding $100 billion. He is worth more than the combined net worth of the nine wealthiest owners after him.

That is important here because the new stadium is being privately funded: no new taxes, no public bailout. That’s a notable and unusual departure from how most NFL stadium deals have played out in America.

Why Denver has never hosted a Super Bowl
Denver’s beloved Empower Field at Mile High is an open-air stadium located at an elevation of over 5,000 feet above sea level. And it's the cold, unpredictable weather, making Broncos games feel like raw, old-school football, that is the very reason the NFL won't bring its marquee event there. The league is very much pro domed or climate-controlled venues. Without a roof, Denver just hasn't been in the conversation.

Burnham Yard's retractable roof redefines everything.

The Nashville model and what it means for Denver
Nashville’s clear path to a Super Bowl is a blueprint. The NFL announced the Nashville Super Bowl about four years of lead time. If Denver’s new stadium opens in 2031 as planned, the Broncos could realistically be in Super Bowl contention as a host city around 2034, if the NFL follows a similar pattern.

There’s also the NFL Draft angle. Super Bowl run started with the landmark 2019 Draft for Nashville. The event attracted a record 600,000 fans over three days and broke viewership records on broadcast television. Denver has always wanted to host a Draft. If that happens first, a Super Bowl bid might be on the horizon.

It’s all happening at a really exciting time for the franchise on the field as well. The Broncos reached the AFC Championship Game last January, their first conference title game since their Super Bowl 50 run, but lost to the New England Patriots 10-7. Denver’s last Super Bowl win was in the 2015 season and the hunger to get back is at an all-time high.

What hosting the Super Bowl actually delivers
Cities love the Super Bowl pitch, and the economic case is always loudly made. But the truth is more complex. The NFL, both directly and indirectly, benefits most from the Super Bowl, according to NC State professor Mike Edwards, whose research examines the economic and social impact of mega sporting events. Host cities receive short-term boosts but also have significant costs.

West Virginia University economics professor Brad Humphreys noted that peer-reviewed academic research has found that hosting the Super Bowl has no tangible long-term economic impact on the host city and that the promise of hosting the game plays a large role in persuading cities to subsidize new stadium construction.

But for the Denver fan, none of that dampens the dream. NFL's richest owner privately finances new domed stadium; Nashville's new blueprint to follow Mile High City may finally be on the road to football's biggest stage.