ARTICLES :: There's no place like (Invesco) home :: Costs reined at Broncos' new stable :: Invesco Field documentary relies heavily on Mile High :: More elbow, leg room? Invesco has it :: Cheerleaders corral Grade A locker room :: Goal posts will frame name of famous Bronco :: Pittsburgh stadium's reviews underwhelming :: NFL stadiums planned or under construction :: Mile High Stadium won't go out with a bang :: Sports Hall of Fame honors state's greatest :: Stadium project links companies :: Traffic, parking changes in store for Invesco Field :: Stadium milestones :: Field's TVs: All that's missing is the recliner :: Turnstiles turn back counterfeiters :: A park instead of a parking lot :: Broncos fans to be wired into the latest NFL data :: Broncos football will be tastefully done :: New south stands are plush :: From kegs to toilets, stadium flush with funky accouterments :: Invesco field one tough turf :: 'It's beautiful' seems to be consensus of Broncos fans :: Longmont family grew with Broncos :: A palace of parts :: Broncos big fans of Raiders stadium :: Stealing 'Rocky Mountain Thunder' :: Horse whisperers :: Krieger: Do you Denver, take this stadium? :: Crowd pleaser :: More food, higher prices at Invesco STADIUM UPDATES, BY DATE Follow the construction progress of the stadium with our semi-monthly updates. Select an update here ---- 2001 ---- Jan. 6 Jan. 20 Feb. 3 Feb 17 March 3 March 17 April 1 April 14 April 30 May 16 May 29 June 9 June 25 July 9 July 16 July 23 July 30 Aug. 6 ---- 2000 ---- Feb. 12 Feb. 26 March 18 April 1 April 15 April 29 June 3 June 17 July 1 Aug. 5 Aug. 19 Sept. 2 Sept. 16 Sept. 30 Oct. 14 Oct. 28 Nov. 12 Nov. 25 Dec. 10 Dec. 23 :: Click here for recent stadium stories

Stealing 'Rocky Mountain Thunder'

Steel -- lots of it -- will bring noise to Invesco

Fans in the upper bowl of Invesco Field at Mile High complained that they couldn't hear during the stadium's inaugural event, an Eagles concert Aug. 11.

Well, the Denver Broncos are hoping to hear that same complaint from the visiting National Football League teams this season.

The Broncos play two preseason games -- Saturday against New Orleans and Aug. 31 against San Francisco -- at the new, $400 million venue. They open the regular season when the New York Giants come to town for a Monday night game on Sept. 10.

Denver players will count on vociferous, foot-stomping Bronco fans to create "Rocky Mountain Thunder," the noise level that caused many problems for the Broncos' opponents at Mile High Stadium when they tried to communicate and call plays.

"(Invesco Field) has the potential to be a loud stadium," said Matt Sugar of the Metropolitan Football Stadium District. "When we get 76,000 people in there that first time, we might find out."

The stadium was designed to be a noisy place during NFL games.

Seating is almost totally on steel treads and risers. Unlike Mile High Stadium, the south end is enclosed. And Invesco Field at Mile High has a steep incline in the upper sections, which caused sound problems for the Eagles concert, but at a football game should help create a boisterous noise level that could bother other NFL teams.

"(Creating a noisy atmosphere) was a consideration in the design -- that 12th-man-on-the-field effect, the Rocky Mountain Thunder," Sugar said. "It's mostly the structure. There is more steel in this facility than at Mile High, so it has the potential to be louder.."

The Eagles organization, sound technicians and the Metropolitan Football Stadium District may continue to disagree on whether the stadium's design makes it impossible to hear concerts from the upper-bowl seats.

But the Broncos are only worrying about giving fans enough reasons to make noise and create unbearable sound that will rattle the visiting teams.

Contact Jim Benton at (303) 892-2597 or sports@RockyMountainNews.com.