The Broncos' New Stadium Could've Altered AFC Championship Game

For a quarter-century, Empower Field at Mile High Stadium has boasted one of the most unique home field advantages due to the frigid temperatures and low air pressure. But as the owners mull building a new stadium, they revealed a plan that might have changed the outcome of Sunday's AFC Championship Game.

Speaking to the media this week, Broncos owner Greg Penner said that the team is currently looking into retractable roof options. More to the point, Penner revealed that if the stadium had a retractable roof, it would have been closed for the AFC Championship Game.

“We’re evaluating retractable roof options,” Penner said, via ProFootballTalk. “In this case, you all saw the weather this year, it was fantastic until the last game. The NFL does have guidelines or rules around the home teams selecting or choosing what they’re going to do with their roof, and when they can open or close it, so, we’d obviously comply with that. In this case, we would’ve likely closed it ahead of time, given both the temperature and the potential precipitation. That being said, who knows if that would’ve had any outcome on the game. Either way, this would have been more around just what was going to be good for the fans, because it was pretty rough.”