The start of Broncos training camp always has a special feel. Food trucks dot the parking lot outside the team’s fieldhouse, white party tents line the field for radio hosts and families and friends of players. And the media contingent expands at least three-fold to accommodate the interest of a new season and new roster.



Most years, a sea of fans wearing orange and blue fill the grassy berm, all eager to watch their team up close for free.



This year was a bit different. On the first of 19 open practices to the public, the Broncos welcomed a sparse crowd of 1,257 fans, which was the lowest-reported attendance on the first day of camp in at least the last five years and roughly a third of the crowd that showed for last year’s opener. The spectators that flocked to see Peyton Manning and Von Miller, or even the quarterback battle between Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch, didn’t flock to see this crew.



Maybe it was the near-100-degree heat.