{"id":857829,"date":"2026-04-07T00:12:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T00:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/857829\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T00:12:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T00:12:22","slug":"broncos-country-needs-to-brace-for-stadium-psl-costs-bills-fans-have-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/857829\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos Country needs to brace for stadium PSL costs. Bills fans have tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

You can\u2019t spell \u201chopeless\u201d without P-S-L. And that\u2019s sort of how Mary Hayes feels when she thinks about all her friends who\u2019ve got Broncos tickets right now.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, personally, it speaks about the rich getting richer, and (everyone else) has to absorb the cost of everything,\u201d Hayes sighed when I reached her by phone on Monday. \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t know how you get around that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary is a Josh Allen gal in Bo Nix territory, a Bills Mafia transplant, a Rochester, N.Y., native who\u2019s lived in Boulder County for eight or nine years now. When she hears talk about the Burnham Yard stadium site and the Walton-Penner Group, or when folks start whispering about \u201cPersonal Seat Licenses,\u201d or PSLs, in Denver,<\/a> she circles back to her ex-father-in-law.<\/p>\n

Almost every adult Broncomaniac has met somebody like Mike from upstate New York at some point. He had Bills season tickets for five decades. He was a combat veteran who served in Vietnam, was awarded a Purple Heart, and became a true Don of Bills Mafia. Now in his 70s, Mike recently elected to give up his tickets rather than pony up for a PSL \u2014 an annual fee paid by customers of some NFL franchises to gain the right to purchase season tickets. In essence, it\u2019s a cover charge for a cover charge.<\/p>\n

Major pro franchises that agree to foot the bill for privately financed stadiums these days often seek to defray at least some of those costs by adding PSL fees to their customers\u2019 bills. The Walton-Penner Group is working on a privately financed stadium and entertainment district for the Burnham Yard area near I-25, with an estimated $ 4 billion price tag. It\u2019s not hard to do the math on the possibility of PSLs landing here.<\/p>\n

The Bills announced last December that it had sold out its PSLs \u2014\u00a0reportedly more than 53,000 \u2014\u00a0for the team\u2019s net revenue <\/a>of roughly $259 million.<\/a> The average annual cost of a PSL at its new Highmark Stadium ranged from a reported $750 to $50,000 per seat, depending on location. Just to give you a ballpark figure, literally, of what might be coming down the pike for Broncos Country. And why she thinks of Mike.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd those are the people who are behind the scenes, with personal stories,\u201d Hayes continued. \u201cGrowing up a Bills fan, to me, that was all about family. I remember watching games with my dad on the couch on Sunday afternoons. And him taking us to games that we could afford \u2026 it\u2019s just become this thing, now, where that (tradition) is getting lost in everything. To me, that\u2019s the heart of being a Bills fan or a Broncos fan, is generational memories. And its connection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose were the people that want it and need it the most, that are struggling to make ends meet every day. And now you\u2019re taking away the one thing that they look forward to year-round.\u201d<\/p>\n

That one thing \u2014 the Broncos \u2014 is more than a line item on a tax return. It\u2019s fathers and daughters, mothers and sons. It\u2019s woven into the fabric, baked in the blood. It\u2019s passed on, like a grandfather clock, from generation to generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re winning now,\u201d chuckled Lori Hosmer of Rochester, N.Y., child of two massive Bills fans and a Buffalo season-ticket holder since 2010. \u201cWe have to pay up. If you want Josh Allen, you\u2019ve got to pay Josh Allen. If you want James Cook, you\u2019ve got to pay James Cook.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bills are not a perfect comp, granted. For one thing, the new Highmark is jointly funded by public and private sources, with at least $850 million coming from New York taxpayers. For another, the Bills\u2019 home upgrade is estimated to feature about 10,000 fewer seats (62,000) than the current version\u2019s reported 71,608. Empower Field features a capacity of 76,125 for football.<\/p>\n

But in terms of passion, devotion, organization, loyalty, national presence and a blue-collar ethos, Broncos Country and the Mafia are cousins cut from the same AFL cloth. And the ones in upstate New York have some advice for Denverites on the fabric of PSL life:<\/p>\n

1. Do your homework<\/p>\n

If you treat PSLs sales like Black Friday at Walmart and storm through the doors at midnight, you might get your bank account trampled, Hosmer noted. Have a plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstand what your budget is before you walk in, so you don\u2019t get excited about the hype,\u201d she said. \u201cYour experience depends on who your rep is \u2026 we had some (fans) who felt very pressured (initially).\u201d<\/p>\n

Hosmer\u2019s old seats were above one of the Bills\u2019 tunnel entrances, but that section wasn\u2019t offered to her in the new Highmark.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very good idea to have written down what you can actually want to afford and what you can afford, and what you actually want to spend on (seats),\u201d Hosmer said, \u201cbefore going forward. It\u2019s a big commitment. It\u2019s easy to get caught up in that (sales pitch).<\/p>\n

\u201cOur rep said, \u2018Guys, no pressure, but all these other people are going to have a chance to (have these seats) the next couple weeks, I\u2019m not sure where you\u2019ll land.’\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Be patient and prepared to change seats<\/p>\n

Hosmer described the PSL selection and confirmation process as \u201cvery long\u201d and \u201cvery confusing, because you had no idea when you\u2019d be called \u2026 that was just an odd thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another layer of odd? Her PSL \u2018rep\u2019 was not the same person as her season-ticket rep.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy understanding is that every team does it how they want to do it,\u201d she stressed, \u201cbut (Buffalo) was not based on seniority, because seniority didn\u2019t matter. People spending the most money got first dibs. That makes sense. It\u2019s a business.\u201d<\/p>\n

While preaching patience, Hosmer also would advise Broncos fans to \u201cbe prepared to change seats.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone who was sitting next to me (for years) was like, \u2018I\u2019m not paying $2,500, I\u2019m not paying $3,000 (for this),\u2019 so he ended up in a different (section),\u201d she said. \u201cHe said, \u2018I wanted to be in the new stadium, but it was too much of a (financial) ask. It was just too much.’\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Brace for sticker shock<\/p>\n

Hosmer\u2019s end-zone seats cost $450 a head in 2010. The ones she\u2019ll be getting this fall landed at $1,895 \u2014 and that\u2019s before parking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf (a Broncos fan) is not sure (about a purchase), you make sure you find out before you sign any paperwork,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople in our group were really mad to find out afterwards, after we signed our (contract), that the Bills were actually going to go in and out at the end of the half and at the end of the game by their bench and not by (the end zone).\u201d<\/p>\n

The community hand-wringing picked up when the Bills began charging $8,000-$50,000 annually per patron on PSLs for club seats. Late last year, Bills ownership introduced a $1,000 PSL cost for an upper-deck seat, and some higher-up end zone seats were offered at a three-figure level \u2014 $500-750 per patron.<\/p>\n

In all cases, Hosmer said, financing options were made available, \u201cso it\u2019s not killer .. you have to have a credit card, you have to put down a deposit.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recalled being offered a six-year plan to pay off her PSL at an interest rate of around 8.7%. Hosmer was also told she couldn\u2019t sell her PSLs until at least a year after its purchase, and that there were restrictions as to how those licenses could be resold, and to whom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard fans complain about the (lack of stadium giveaways and bobbleheads) here,\u201d she said, \u201cand I\u2019m like, \u2018You don\u2019t get that, but you get Victory Mondays.\u2019 Take your pick. Do you want cheap sunglasses, or do you want AFC Championships? I know what I\u2019m choosing. Every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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