Spirits Low in Bronco-Land as Mile High Faces a Tumble

Being a Broncos fan isn’t the joy ride that it used to be. Rabid supporters of the two-time defending Super Bowl champions used to take pride in wearing their blue and orange game-day regalia and marching grandly into the home stadium wearing plastic horse heads.

Now--as the team struggles with an 0-3 record and recovers from the retirement of demigod quarterback John Elway--the Broncos are derisively referred to as the Donkeys. Broncomania has been further deflated by another impending and hurtful loss--of Mile High Stadium, the team’s beloved but shabby home since the Broncos were formed in 1960.

Mile High will be torn down when a new stadium is completed, in 2001. In most cities, the prospect of a state-of-the-art stadium is a joyous event. But the excitement here has been tempered by a standoff between fiscal policy and tradition: When Mile High Stadium is razed, the famous name will be buried with it. There’s more: The Metropolitan Football Stadium District Board--the regional authority charged with planning the $350-million stadium next to Mile High--has let it be known that it will be entertaining offers from corporations seeking naming rights.

The income from such rights could bring as much as $100 million, experts say. That money would be used to pay off the construction debt for the public-private venture. Tax revenue from a six-county area is financing about 75% of the construction cost, and the Broncos pony up the rest.

In truth, the business of slapping corporate names on sports stadiums is so common it stopped being a trend years ago. “The crucial thing to understand with the construction of any arena, is that everything is for sale, everything,” said Jeff Borden, associate editor at Crains Chicago Business. “We are at the point where the tarpaulin that covers the field has logos on it. But you trifle with tradition at risk. More power to Denver if it can keep Mile High. I doubt it.”

Even though a decision about the stadium’s new name is months away, columnists, radio talk show hosts and Denver Mayor Wellington Webb have weighed in on the issue, mostly decrying the commercialization of the modern world and arguing that the name Mile High should not be for sale.

“They are tilting at windmills,” said Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp Ltd., which arranges stadium financing. “It’s a terrific brand that has served Denver well. But the Rubicon has been crossed.”

But many fans say the Mile High is synonymous with Denver and is known around the world.

“It’s been Mile High Stadium as long as I’ve been alive,” said Dan Roder, 29. “I grew up watching the Broncos and going to games at Mile High Stadium. It’s tradition and it’s important.”

Fans here generally get listened to, for good reason. For two years running downtown Denver has been converted to a dangerous mosh pit as Broncos fans gathered in response to the team’s Super Bowl victories. “Rabid” is an oft-used but strictly apt adjective for these fans, many of whom drive from Wyoming, Montana and Kansas to attend games. Mile High Stadium has been sold out for every Broncos game since November 1969.

Matt Sugar, a spokesman for the put-upon stadium board, agrees fans are riled. “It is a very emotional issue,” he said. “It’s reached a high pitch.” And though Broncos owner Pat Bowlen is in favor of keeping the name, he has no say in the decision.

Some of those who complain about the tradition of the Mile High name have forgotten that Mile High began life as Bears Stadium, constructed in 1947 on the site of a city dump to house a AAA baseball team. And, if it’s creeping corporate commercialism that offends, why was there little outcry when Coors Field and Pepsi Center opened, mere blocks from Mile High?

As the debate rages, some are convinced cooler heads will prevail.

“As an elected official, I have a responsibility to the taxpayer,” said Aurora Mayor Paul E. Tauer. “There are many times when my emotions would say one thing, but my responsibility says something else. In this case, I think it would be absolutely ludicrous not to reduce the taxpayer’s burden by $50 to $100 million. Emotion doesn’t pay the bills.”