In an enemy bubble: Broncos fan co-owner of Broadway Patriots bar prepares for ‘rowdy’ game day
It’s been loud most Sunday afternoons this winter inside South Broadway’s Historians Ale House, but none may be louder than the one this week.
An island of blue in a sea of brazen orange, the bar and grill is one of the few New England Patriots establishments left in the Mile High City. On gameddays, it sees a crowd of Patriots fans partaking in pints of Samuel Adams while dressed in red, white and blue getups.
And within that island, there’s an owner who doesn’t share that same allegiance.
“I’m a Denver Broncos fan,” said co-owner Richard Kohn, who has worked at the bar since 2017. “But it doesn’t bother me at all.”
Kohn was part of the group that just bought the bar this year from its longtime Boston-born owner, who established the loyal Patriots crowd. That tradition, Kohn said, is something that the new ownership was not going to give up.
“They come out and fill the entire bar, so it’s pretty much an all-out Patriots bar when it comes to Sundays,” Kohn said.
A fan of the sport before any individual team by his own admission, Kohn said that the energy of this NFL season has far outpaced that in recent years when neither the Broncos or the Patriots were as good. He also noted that the bar usually sees fans of both teams, as the games usually are not at the same time.
But on Sunday, both teams will clash at 1 p.m. a few miles away at Empower Field at Mile High with a Super Bowl berth on the line.
“The last couple years, the Patriots would be out of it by now or out of it by midseason. We’ve been fortunate to have a good year when it comes to football,” Kohn said. “It’s been nice for everybody to find a home, or second home since they can’t make it out to Gillette Stadium.”
The Patriots, led by MVP candidate Drake Maye, will take the field with one of the most explosive offenses in the league. The Broncos, riding one of the best defenses in the sport, will be without starting quarterback Bo Nix, who broke a bone in his ankle at the end of Denver’s divisional round victory.
Despite his allegiance to his customers, Kohn maintains a bit of friendly competition when it comes to a clash between the Broncos and Patriots.
“Brady being considered who he is and that franchise, who they were for all those years, they’ve never had a winning record against the Broncos,” Kohn said. “Hopefully that continues on, from my standpoint.”
For a game he described as “the bar’s Super Bowl,” Kohn said he expects an energized and passionate crowd inside Historians on Sunday.
“I think it’s going to be a rowdy one this week,” Kohn said. “We’ve got the two houses coming together.”




