DENVER – With theirlatest naming rights deal announced this week, the Broncos have yet another new stadium name: Empower Field at Mile High.
It was the sponsor-less Broncos Stadium at Mile High, following Sports Authority's bankruptcy. Before the sporting goods company had its name on the stadium, investment company Invesco was the sponsor since the stadium opened in 2001.
Things have been a bit more consistent in LoDo, and expect it to stay that way.
The Rockies have played their home games at Coors Field since the ballpark opened in 1995, and the Colorado-based brewer can keep its name on the stadium as long as the building stands.
According to the lease agreement between the club and the Denver Metropolitan Baseball Stadium District, which owns the stadium, Coors was granted the ballpark's naming rights "in perpetuity." The Rockies and the Stadium District signed the new 30-year lease in 2017.
Most every other stadium naming rights deal comes with an expiration date.
The Broncos' new deal with Empower Retirement, for example, is a 21-year contract worth about $125-$130 million, sources familiar with the deal told Denver7. The Pepsi Center, home to the Nuggets and Avalanche, was part of a 20-year, $68 million deal, set to expire this year, according to Sports Business Journal.
The Coors Field naming rights go back to the Rockies' inception, when Major League Baseball granted Denver a franchise in 1991. Coors was among the biggest investors in the franchise, pouring a reported $30 million into the club.
The investment was apparently enough to get the Coors' name on the stadium, for good. When Molson Coors – the company formed after a Coors merger in 2005 – sold its 14.5% stake in the club in 2013, the naming rights agreement went unaffected, according to the Sports Business Journal.
If the Coors naming rights ever were to be sold, the revenue would be split between the Stadium District and the Rockies, the lease agreement said.
