The one thing to plan first
Getting to Empower Field at Mile High is the easy half. Getting out is where evenings go wrong, and it is worth deciding how you are leaving before you decide how you are arriving.
Here is the detail most people find out the hard way. The stadium’s rideshare drop off is close to the building, at the northeast corner near Gate 5 on Mile High Stadium Circle. The rideshare pick up is not. It is at 5th and Walnut Street, at the Ball Arena rideshare lot, which the stadium itself describes as roughly a fifteen minute walk east. So the app that dropped you at the door will collect you three quarters of a mile away, in the dark, in a crowd of seventy thousand people who are all trying to do the same thing at the same minute.
Everything else in this guide is straightforward. That is the part worth planning around.
The basics
- Address: 1701 Bryant Street, Denver, CO 80204, just west of downtown across I-25.
- Gates: for Broncos games, general gates open two hours before kickoff. Club and suite gates open three hours before.
- Parking lots: open four and a half hours before kickoff. Lot C, the early tailgating lot, opens six hours before and sells a very limited number of spaces first come, first served. It tends to sell out within an hour of opening.
- No re-entry. Once your ticket is scanned and you leave the building, you are not getting back in on it. Plan your car, your bag and your layers accordingly.
Your realistic options for getting there
Driving and parking
Workable if you are early and patient. Onsite permits are frequently sold out well in advance, general lots open four and a half hours before kickoff, and the surrounding surface lots fill from the inside out. The cost is not really the money, it is the ninety minutes on the way out while the whole lot funnels onto the same three streets.
RTD light rail
The E and W lines stop at Empower Field station, about an eight minute walk from the stadium. This is the best value option on the list and genuinely good if you are coming from downtown or from a station on either line. It is less good after a night game with a group, or if you are carrying anything, or if your evening does not end at a station.
Rideshare
Fine on the way in. See the section above for why the way out is the problem. If you are using an app, budget the fifteen minute walk to Ball Arena and expect surge pricing at exactly the moment everyone requests at once.
Private car
What you are buying here is the exit. Your chauffeur uses the same designated drop off area on the way in, so arrival looks much the same as any other option. The difference comes afterward: you agree a meeting point and a time before the game, your driver is already nearby when the fourth quarter ends, and you walk to one specific spot rather than into a crowd of several thousand people refreshing an app. For a group, for a client, or for anyone who does not want to end the night with a three quarter mile walk, that is most of the value.
It also solves the problem the no re-entry rule creates. Anything you decide you do not want inside, you leave in the car rather than walking it back to a lot.
Timing, honestly
For a typical afternoon kickoff, arriving ninety minutes to two hours before is comfortable. It clears security without a queue, and it gets you inside while concessions still move quickly. Arriving inside the last thirty minutes means standing in the longest lines of the day.
Coming from Denver International, add real margin. The run from the airport to the stadium is straightforward in open traffic and considerably less so on a weekday afternoon or a Sunday with an event downtown. If you are flying in on game day, treat the drive as the least predictable part of the trip and build in a buffer. Our Denver airport black car service page covers how we handle the airport end.
What you can bring
Empower Field runs a clear bag policy. In short: any bag no larger than 4.5 by 6.5 inches is allowed with or without a strap, and any clear bag no larger than 12 by 6 by 12 inches is allowed, including clear backpacks and zip lock bags. Each ticket holder may carry one approved clear bag plus a clutch.
The prohibited list includes outside alcohol, non service animals, artificial noisemakers, laser pointers, stainless steel water bottles, weapons, video cameras, and hard signs over three by five feet. Policies do get updated, so check the stadium’s own A to Z fan guide before a game rather than trusting a blog post, this one included.
Accessibility
Limited accessible parking is sold on game days on a first come, first served basis, in Lots L, D and G. The stadium runs an ADA hotline on 720-258-3337 for specific questions about services inside the building. If you are booking a car and someone in your party needs a particular kind of access at the curb, tell us when you book rather than on the day, so we can plan the drop off around it.
Beyond Broncos games
The same logic applies to concerts and other stadium events, only more so. Concert crowds leave in a tighter window than football crowds, since everyone exits within a few minutes of the last song rather than trickling out from the third quarter. If you have been to a show at Red Rocks, the pattern will be familiar: the arrival is easy and the departure is the whole game.
For a group doing dinner downtown before a game or a show, booking the car by the hour is usually simpler than booking two separate trips, because it covers the gap in the middle without you having to guess when the gap ends.
Common questions
Where do cars drop off at Empower Field?
The designated drop off area is at the northeast corner of the stadium near Gate 5, on Mile High Stadium Circle. Private cars and rideshare use the same area on the way in.
Why is the pick up somewhere different?
The stadium moved app based pick ups to the Ball Arena rideshare lot at 5th and Walnut Street to keep the streets immediately around the stadium clear after events. It is about a fifteen minute walk east. A pre booked private car does not use that lot, which is why the return leg is where the two options genuinely differ.
How early should I be dropped off?
Ninety minutes to two hours before kickoff for a comfortable arrival. Gates open two hours before, and the last half hour before kickoff is the busiest stretch at security.
Can I leave bags in the car?
Yes, and it is one of the more useful reasons to book one. The stadium’s clear bag rules are strict and there is no re-entry once your ticket is scanned, so anything that will not pass the gate is better left in the vehicle than carried back out to a lot.
Do you handle groups?
An SUV seats up to six, and for a larger party we can talk through running more than one vehicle. Tell us the group size and whether you are doing dinner first, since that usually decides whether an hourly booking or two point to point trips makes more sense.
What does it cost?
It depends on where you are coming from, the size of the vehicle, and whether you want the car held between stops. Our pricing structure is on the rates page, and you can request a quote for a specific game or event.