DENVER—Invesco Field at Mile High will now be known as Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
The Metropolitan Football Stadium District board unanimously agreed Tuesday to have Sports Authority Inc. take over the rest of Invesco’s naming rights agreement, which had been set to expire on July 31, 2021. The stadium is home to the Denver Broncos.
The board will decide later whether to allow sports authority to extend the agreement and for what price.
Sports Authority planned to have workers at the stadium Wednesday to start putting the new name.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
The sporting goods retailer Sports Authority is making its pitch to put its name on Invesco Field at Mile High, where the Denver Broncos play.
The Englewood, Colo.-based company is set to make a presentation Tuesday to the board of the Metropolitan Football Stadium District to assume naming rights for the stadium. The district board could vote on Sports Authority’s proposal as early as Tuesday or decide it needs more information, district spokesman Matt Sugar said.
The district oversaw construction of the facility, which replaced Mile High Stadium and was financed with private and taxpayer funds.
Polls showed fans preferred keeping the facility’s old name, but in 2001, the district sold 20-year naming rights to the stadium to Invesco Funds Group for $120 million, with the stadium district and the Broncos splitting those revenues equally. Invesco has some offices in Denver but is based in Atlanta.
The stadium district’s share of naming rights revenues helps defray taxpayers’ $300 million share of the $400 million cost of the stadium.
The Denver Post reports Sports Authority is offering to pay $150 million over the next 25 years for the right to put its name on the stadium. Its offer would replace the 10 years remaining on Invesco’s naming rights deal and extend it through 2035. The revenue split between the stadium district and the team would remain the same, according to the newspaper.
The Broncos kick off the regular season at home against the Oakland Raiders on Sept. 12.
