Early years as Bears Stadium (1948–1959) Mile High Stadium was originally built as Bears Stadium for minor league baseball by
Bob Howsam in 1948 at the site of a former
landfill. The stadium initially consisted of a single 18,000-seat grandstand stretching along the north side from the left field foul pole to the right field foul pole on the west side. In its first full season in 1949, the Bears averaged over 6,600 per game to lead the
minor leagues in attendance.
1970s '''Early '70s expansion''' The Broncos sold out every game in their inaugural NFL season. Every Broncos game—preseason, regular season (not including games with replacement players) and playoffs—has been sold out since, a streak that continued after the Broncos left Mile High. As ticket sales increased, the stadium expanded to 51,706 seats. With a $25 million bond issue in 1974 another stadium renovation added more seats. By 1976, seating was up to 63,532 as the upper decks construction was completed along the north end zone (third base line).
The east stands An ingenious expansion that took place from 1975 to 1977 raised the capacity to 75,103 by extending the upper deck that was along the north side and building movable, triple-decked stands along the east side. When fully retracted toward the field, the stands would form a horseshoe for football, appropriate considering the team was the
Denver Broncos. Yet when fully extended by 145 feet (44 m), the stadium could still fit a normal-sized baseball field with outfield distances of down the left-field line, to left-center and 423 to center field. The movable structure was 450 feet (137 m) long, 200 feet (61 m) wide, and weighed nearly 9 million pounds (4,500 short tons, 4,000 metric tons). When a game or event required moving the stands the in or out, engineers pumped water into 163 water bearings spaced out beneath the stands, lifting the structure off its foundation. A sheet of water ⅓-inch thick formed under the structure. Hydraulic rams then pushed the stands forward at the rate of two feet per minute, taking stadium engineers about six hours from start to finish to move the stands.
1980s Mile High Stadium, in the 1970s and 1980s, was the only professional-caliber baseball facility to have an all grass infield, with sliding pits around bases. This unique feature was similar to several newer Major League Baseball stadiums that also used sliding pits, except those other stadiums all had artificial turf infields. In
1986, 77 luxury suites were added atop the west stands, increasing the official
seating capacity to 76,123.
1990s baseball game at Mile High in 1994 The stadium's large capacity combined with enthusiasm for the new team and the lowest MLB ticket prices allowed the expansion Rockies to set
Major League Baseball attendance records before moving to
Coors Field for the
1995 season. The stadium was known for its loudness with the sound of fans stomping in the bleachers echoing within the horseshoe. The large center and right fields, foul territory areas (although left field was shorter than average), and center field's 30-foot (10 m) high fence, was not as problematic for pitchers as
Coors Field would be. The club's
1993 season attendance was 4,483,350 in 79 home dates (81 games – 2 doubleheaders), an average of 56,751 per home date. The Rockies were on pace to exceed the record during the strike-shortened
1994 season. They had drawn 3,281,511 in 57 home dates (also 57 games), an average of 57,570 per home date. (Season attendance figures from
The Sporting News Baseball Record Book, 2007, p. 234; Game counts are from game logs on Retrosheet.) The
Colorado Foxes of the
American Professional Soccer League, moved into Mile High Stadium in 1994 and drew an average of 4,100 spectators in their first year. They were displaced in the 1996 season by the
Colorado Rapids, one of the founding franchises of the top-flight
Major League Soccer (MLS).
Final years (2000–2001) The final football game at Mile High Stadium was December 23, 2000, in which the
Broncos routed the
49ers, 38–9. The Broncos had defeated every visiting franchise from the stadium's opening to close, enjoying perfect records against the
Arizona Cardinals (3–0),
Baltimore Ravens (1–0),
Carolina Panthers (1–0),
Green Bay Packers (5–0), and
Indianapolis Colts (5–0). The Rapids were the final professional team to play in Mile High Stadium, staying until 2001. The team had sought a
soccer-specific stadium as early as 1999 due to the lack of control at Mile High. Team captain
John Spencer became the first Rapids player to record a
hat-trick during a 3–1 win against
D.C. United on Independence Day 2000 in front of 60,500 fans, a team attendance record. The Rapids played the last professional sporting event ever held at Mile High on September 8, 2001, a 2–0 loss to the
Los Angeles Galaxy with 17,129 in attendance. The team were scheduled to move to
Empower Field at Mile High for their season finale on September 12, Mile High Stadium was closed in 2001, after the Colorado Rapids and Denver Broncos moved to neighboring
Empower Field at Mile High (then known as Invesco Field at Mile High), upon completion of the new stadium. The demolition of Mile High Stadium began in January 2002, an event covered extensively by local newspapers and broadcast live on television. The demolition was performed by Spirtas Wrecking Company of
St. Louis, Missouri, the same group that led the demolition of arenas and stadiums in St. Louis,
Pittsburgh and
Seattle. Conventional demolition was chosen over implosion. The stadium demolition was completed by April. The former stadium is now a parking lot for Empower Field at Mile High. A miniature replica of the stadium is in the parking lot. The historical site of many games and events for 40 years is marked by the hills forming the west and north stands, the corner between them descended by a staircase, much as the stands were. The location of home plate is identified by a marker located at . ==Notable events==