DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Broncos’ season began with a game unlike any played before at Empower Field at Mile High.
No fans were in the stadium. Where more than 75,000 people usually sit, a small number of friends and family along cut-outs of fans could be seen.
While 5,700 fans will be allowed in for Week 3, Monday night’s game was unique.
Before kickoff, fireworks were set off, but empty seats could be seen from outside the stadium.
Elsewhere outside Empower Field, parking lots that would normally be filled with cars and tailgaters were just open pavement.
When Noah Fant scored the first touchdown of the season, cheerleaders – along with mascots Miles and Thunder – celebrated outside. With no music blaring, you could hear the Pom Poms and each clap of Miles’ hands.
While viewers watching Monday Night Football on TV heard crowd noise, a quick glance around the stadium was a reminder that the audio was being pumped in.
Before the game began, one of two skydivers landed – without cheering fans – in the same area outside the stadium that the cheerleaders later celebrated in.
While the number of fans will be slightly increasing, most of these seats will remain empty on game day. “Empower Field at Mile High will look and feel very different this year,” Broncos VP Brittany Bowlen said when announcing plans.