Expect ticket plan “very shortly”

Broncos chief operating officer Mac Freeman has a message for season-ticket holders awaiting the team’s coronavirusforced seating options: Thanks for understanding.

“We’ve tried to be careful at each turn to run out with adjustments,” Freeman said in a phone interview. “We want to see the full picture and make the best decisions we can. Obviously, this has been tough for everyone. The patience the fans have displayed couldn’t be appreciated more.”

One probable by-product of the coronavirus is the Broncos are unlikely to have single-game ticket sales to non-season-ticket holders.

“I would think not,” Freeman said. “It seems like, at best, we’ll have limited capacity and in that setting, I would probably defer to the priority going to the longtime season-ticket holders. I wouldn’t expect any singlegame tickets to hit the open market.”

On Wednesday, the Baltimore Ravens announced they will limit attendance to 14,000 fans and personal seat license owners will receive priority for single-game tickets. The Ravens and other teams, including Green Bay and Kansas City, have revealed bits and pieces of their 2020 seating strategy, but the Broncos are opting to announce their plans all at once.

“We’re getting to the window where those announcements will have to be made,” Freeman said. “To the fans, I would say we’ll be clarifying our policy very shortly.”

Freeman reiterated fans will receive full refunds if games are canceled and the Broncos have heard from season-ticket holders who still want to attend games. Freeman said the Broncos’ customer service department is in “very regular contact” with season-ticket holders.

“Our fans were eager to (renew) their tickets and are hopeful for football,” he said. “We are, too, but the main priority is obviously the safety of our fans and the safety and health of our fans and employees.”

The most difficult task for the Broncos and every NFL team in a limited-capacity situation isn’t properly social distancing the seats — computer models will do that. It’s preventing bottlenecks of fans entering the stadium.

“All of those moments when you ask people to get in lines becomes big challenges,” Freeman said. “To be honest, (social distance seating) is actually really simple because it’s a physical space and you can do the separation and come up with a pretty exact number. The other processes don’t necessarily happen in a static environment.”

One idea the Broncos are exploring is having different gates opening at different times to control the flow of people entering the stadium.