If Empower Field at Mile High was the house that John built, the next Mile High can be the palace that Bo built.

No pressure, No. 10.

Here’s an educated hunch the next Mile High Stadium will come with a price tag of $2.5-$3 billion, give or take a couple million from under the Walton-Penner family couch cushions. So what’s the easiest way to sell a Personal Seat License to a proud member of Broncos Country?

Pair it with a side of winning.

That’s where Bo Nix comes in, similar to John Elway’s wild success that helped lead to the construction of Empower Field at Mile High in the olden days of Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII. And the latter was a contentious pitch.

What’s a PSL? It’s a one-time fee that allows a season-ticket holder to purchase a seat at the stadium. And considering their popularity (with teams, not fans), they are all but certain to be part of the Broncos’ stadium plans. The Raiders sold PSLs to help fund the construction of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Same for the Atlanta Falcons with Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Minnesota Vikings with U.S. Bank Stadium, a favorite visit of the Broncos’ ownership group.

The Bills and Commanders are building new sports ball cathedrals with the aid of PSL sales, an easier sell when Josh Allen and Jayden Daniels are 20-something megastars and NFL MVP winners or candidates at quarterback.

If the Broncos choose to not utilize PSLs, it would be the upset of the stadium arms race.

Same for Broncos fans embracing a new fee with open arms — unless the beloved is winning.

Can Nix elevate to the status of Allen, Daniels, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson as a must-see quarterback in the AFC? Time will tell. But what has been most impressive about the 25-year-old Nix is the cool, calm manner with which he’s shouldered a heavy load as Colorado’s aspiring quarterback. His maturity in the role is no joke.

Between Nix and star cornerback Pat Surtain II, the Broncos have a pair of pillars who can ball out. They also can stroll into a Denver high school auditorium as trustworthy role models.

Next comes the winning. And while a 31-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the wild card round last January quenched a painful playoff drought, simply reaching the postseason does not qualify in Denver as winning.

Since 1980, only the Patriots, 49ers and Giants own more Super Bowl titles than Denver’s three.

While Sean Payton’s Super Bowl talk is premature, an effort to galvanize belief in the locker room, this season will be a success if the Broncos win a playoff game for the first time since 2015.

To close the gap in the AFC West with the Chiefs, the Broncos have plopped down a $260 million bet on themselves. No team returns more players from their 2024 roster than the Broncos, who brought back 86% of the players who finished third in their own division.

The Broncos’ 53-man roster includes 39 players who appeared on the initial 2024 roster.

Can you tell the lay-down-the-law firm of Payton and Paton like their guys a little bit?

“We feel like we have a franchise quarterback. We like the weapons we have on offense. And we play really good defense,” said George Paton, the general manager whose roster turnaround will depend on good health. “That’s a recipe to win a lot of games.”

The Broncos not only returned the bulk of the roster for another run at the Chiefs. They’ve wagered the core is in place for several seasons after this one, handing out long-term extensions to Surtain, Quinn Meinerz, Garett Bolles, Jonathon Cooper, Courtland Sutton and Zach Allen that total over $300 million in guaranteed money. Expect a bag for Nik Bonitto, too.

Money talks. How the Broncos have spent theirs says they believe this group can win big — and help convince Broncos Country to fork over PSL costs for a new orange-and-blue palace.

Winning Super Bowls doesn’t come cheap.

Neither do football stadiums.

***

The newest NFL stadiums — and their reported costs:

Opened in 2020: Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas) — $1.9 billion

2020: SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, Calif.) — $5.5 billion

2017: Mercedez-Benz Stadium (Atlanta) — $1.6 billion

2016: U.S. Bank Stadium (Minneapolis) — $1.06 billion

2014: Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara, Calif.) — $1.3 billion

2010: MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, N.J.) — $1.6 billion

2009: AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas) — $1.3 billion

2008: Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis) — $720 million

2006: State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Ariz.) — $455 million

2003: Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia) — $512 million

2002: Ford Field (Detroit) — $500 million

Note: Denver’s Empower Field at Mile High opened in 2001 ($400.7 million)

—Paul Klee, The Denver Gazette