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My own survey, taken informally among the few people I
know who care about such things, found unanimous support
for keeping the name Mile High
for the new football
arena under construction in Denver.
It should be noted that neither I nor anyone I surveyed resides within the stadium district, nor spends money there if there's any way to avoid it, and so the issue of saving money for the taxpayers was not a real concern.
However, a survey of district residents last week showed
that 64 percent wanted to keep the Mile High
name.
That should settle the matter, but the stadium district
board seems to feel otherwise, as do the stadium's tenants,
the Denver Broncos.
The main reason that taxpayers in the six-county district agreed to build the new stadium was that Broncos owner Pat Bowlen needed more revenue from luxury boxes, which were in short supply at Old Mile High Stadium. Bowlen promised he'd never be the one to move the Broncos away from Denver, but without that extra revenue, he said he might be forced to sell the team to someone who would.
The Bronco organization reportedly wants the stadium naming rights to be sold, so that the team can do some tie-in marketing with the buyer. Some marketing experts say that a hyphenated stadium name, like Qwest-Mile High Stadium, would reduce potential income, and it certainly appears that there is an unwritten provision in the state constitution which requires every citizen to maximize the income of the Broncos.
So, the majority of taxpayers want to keep the Mile High name, and are willing to pay to do so. The majority of people whose opinions matter want to sell the naming rights.
Is there a solution to this classic American dilemma?
At hand are the business white pages of a 1997 Denver telephone directory (1997 because QUS-West or whatever it is charges outrageous sums for out-of-town directories, so I have to rely on hand-me-downs from my mother).
Including all the variations (Mile Hi, Mile-High, etc.), I find approximately 310 listings for Mile High enterprises, ranging from Mile-Hi Asphalt Coatings through Mile High Academy and Mile Hi Escorts to Mile-High Women's Clinic.
Instead of selling the naming rights to the stadium, the
district board could instead charge these firms to use its
valuable Mile High
brand. If the naming rights are
worth $90 million, then each enterprise could pay its fair
share, about $290,000, and everyone benefits. The majority
gets to keep the Mile High stadium name, the taxpayers save
money, and the owners of those free-loading businesses who
have for years enjoyed the benefits of having a stadium
named after them without paying the requisite fees will be
able to enjoy restful nights without all the tossing and
turning and fretting that their guilt must have
inspired.
Of course, there's no guarantee that the Broncos would get a piece of this action, but there's a way around that, too.
As far as I know, there's no reason that they have to be
the Denver
Broncos. If poor Pat Bowlen needs some
money from selling naming rights, there's one he could
sell, and the bidding could be spirited.
It would be only fair to limit the contenders to stadium district geographic entities, but even then, well, wouldn't some spots pay a pretty penny for increased public awareness, as with the Sheridan Broncos or the Federal Heights Broncos? What would it be worth to Glendale to associate its name with something other than police brutalizing suspects?
And wouldn't that treeless stretch of western Kansas
commonly known as Saudi Aurora
spend handsomely for
a chance to improve its image? And if the rules were
stretched just a little, how about those Golden -- don't
run a parkway through our town -- Broncos
?
This shouldn't be a problem with the NFL (not yet the National Felons League, but I've heard they're working on it), since there are other teams who use the name of one place but play in another, like the Detroit Lions that play in Pontiac and the New York Giants whose home field isn't even in the same state.
So if it comes to having the Bow Mar Broncos playing in the Mile High Stadium in Denver, well, so what? Everybody comes out ahead this way, and that's more than you can say about any other naming scheme.
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