The Denver Broncos have new owners, with Walmart heir Rob Walton, his daughter and son-in-law, and an assortment of other rich folks agreeing to a $4.65 billion purchase price. And now all anybody wants to know, it seems, is when are they gonna demand a new stadium already to replace the one that’s almost 21 years old?
- Mile High Sports, which appears to be both a radio station and a print magazine and maybe a sports betting portal, calls late former owner Pat Bowlen “the greatest owner in the history of Denver sports” and says getting the current stadium built in 2001 was part of his “legacy,” then immediately speculates that the Walton clan will want a new $2 billion stadium with a retractable roof, or “that’s the rumor, anyway.” (Journalism!) Then it notes that there was a fire at the current stadium this winter; acknowledges that this is no reason in itself to build a new stadium; wonders where a new stadium would go if it can’t be built in the parking lot like the current stadium was; and declares that fans are “excited for the possibility of a new stadium,” apparently without asking any actual fans.
- Out There Colorado, which mostly seems to cover hiking, speculates that a new stadium could be built near the airport or in Commerce City, cites two fans on Twitter saying that they hope not because those sites would be a long drive, then asserts that “being able to bring a Super Bowl to Denver could bring huge economic benefits with it,” apparently without asking any actual economists.
- The Denver Channel, which is definitely a TV station and also a website, asks a bunch of fans, one sports radio host, a marketing professor, a city planning professor, and the manager of a taco restaurant about the idea of a new stadium, and gets back a lot of the old place isn’t that old, but sure maybe? “You would think there’s no way the team could ever leave Denver, and while I agree that is highly, highly unlikely, to think that it is impossible is probably a little bit naïve because there have been other markets who thought, ‘There’s no way the league would ever let this happen,’ and then it happens,” says the sports radio host. “And then you’re without a team.”
- Paul Klee, a sports columnist for the Gazette, which is Colorado Springs’ newspaper, says that Walton will want out of downtown Denver because crime is up and Klee’s family closed its cellphone store at a downtown mall.
None of this, mind you, is coming from Walton, who hasn’t said a word about wanting a new stadium; all of the articles cite current team president Joe Ellis’ month-old statement that a new building is “the No. 1 decision the new owner will have to make.” (After deciding whether to keep on Joe Ellis, presumably.) And nobody seems to be wondering whether Walton would want to plunk down $2 billion for a stadium on top of spending $4.65 billion on the team, or whether he would demand that Denver kick in towards the cost, or why taxpayers would want to do that — aside from the lure of a Super Bowl or the fear of the team leaving. Walton inherits the Broncos’ lease that runs through 2030, but that’s apparently not worth mentioning either, not when there are restaurant managers to interview.
In short: New rich guy buys team from estate of old rich guy, everyone wonders when he will demand money to build new stadium to replace the one that isn’t yet old enough to drink. We saw all this already a month ago when Walton was first identified as one of the frontrunners, but apparently it’s just going to continue regardless of anything Walton does or doesn’t say. Hey, it worked with the Buffalo Bills owners, maybe it’ll work in Denver!
Meanwhile, in Chicago, the McCaskey family starts running their own numbers as they’re convinced the Bears franchise would be worth far more than the Broncos.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune has already been on Chicago SPORTS talk radio this am and speculated on this issue
Arguing that the Bears value would increase if they own their own stadium instead of the lease at Soldier Field and therefore the Bears are worth more
Seems like the value of Bears goes up by $2 billion if they get someone else to build them a stadium, and down by $2 billion if they build their own stadium.
“does surviving Denver’s record crime or a vast space of suburban restaurants and sportsbooks sound like a better investment?”
Oh, well, sure ….when you frame it like THAT..
If only anyone could actually put those crime rates into historical context. Like, maybe a real newspaper could try. Oh wait…
https://www.denverpost.com/2022/01/23/colorado-crime-rate-homicides-shootings-assaults/
The Broncos have no leverage. There is no comparable market left in the US. And the non US options are expensive risky bets that other owners have better leads on. Also, playing outdoors in the snow is part of Denver’s thing. Like the Packers in the cold. Put the Broncos indoors and they become the Vikings.
They don’t have any leverage. Neither did the Bills.
Sports stadium shakedowns are exactly like 1950s monster movies… the monster you don’t/can’t see is worse than any actual monster they could create.
A move threat from Buffalo (46th largest metro area) probably seemed more believable than a move threat from Denver (19th largest).
“Seemed” being the operative word, since market size really doesn’t matter in the NFL since almost all its revenue is national.
Market size probably matters at the extremes. The kinds of people who would buy luxury boxes don’t want to make their executives or clients go too far and those boxes can be used more often outside of game days if they’re in a central location.
From what I read, stadiums *bring* more crime to a neighborhood on game day, but don’t have much impact on it outside of those times.
But then I really don’t understand the economics or psychology of luxury boxes.
I’m not sure if anyone has studied how the placement of a stadium increases or decreases the risk of crime for the people attending events. I don’t know how one could do a randomized trial of that.
>”You would think there’s no way the team could ever leave Denver…”
The Greensboro Broncos has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
Excellent!
Nah, that’s more of a Shelbyville idea…
Some years ago when the dolphins were talking renovation (at taxpayer expense of course) I was invited to come on a radio show and talk about it with the host and someone who was all for it.
My general credentials: I had been blogging about the team for years, saw the financial picture (out of towner buys team and wants money from the yokels) and of course had been reading up on Neil’s work (among others)
Show starts and I’m on hold. Host winds up talking with the proponent for 15 or so minutes and then runs out of time.
The proponent was a local fan who simply didn’t want his team to leave town.
The host was happy to be a shill for the owner.
Journalism at its finest.
Wow. I’ve been on a lot of bad radio shows, but that may be the worst story yet.
It was memorable. And a sort of claim to fame. ;)
The Gazette is right-wing, which is why it played up the blood-and-guts crime angle. That daily also has a local Denver online/print edition called the Denver Gazette.
As well, “The Denver Channel” is actually Denver7 News (KMGH-TV).
The obvious answer here is for the Waltons to build a new stadium as part of the world’s biggest Wal-Mart supercenter. That way Kroenke can make some dough out of this as well and all the actual stadium jobs can be reserved for employees who make so little money that the company helps them to apply for food stamps as part of the hiring process.
John – there is a somewhat amusing connection to hard rock stadium in Miami.
My memory of the exact series of events may be a little fuzzy, but there was some acreage just south of the stadium on which H Wayne Huizenga tried at various times to build something.
When everything fell through, the land changed hands (not sure whether it was sold or relinquished or was never really his?)
On that land, up went a Walmart. So there literally is a Walmart across from the dolphins stadium.
So perhaps H away be was a trail blazer?
* so perhaps H Wayne was a trailblazer.
I remember that! Huizenga tried to build all kinds of stuff on that parcel(s)… Of course, back then Blockbuster was the new Kodak/Polaroid… which, um, I guess it still is???
Please don’t give them ideas John! If Jerry Jones can put his stadium inside a shopping mall…..
Big business does not operate that way.