The Broncos are in the NFL playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, but it doesn’t mean a big problem for the stock show and its events on game days.
The relationship between the Broncos and the National Western Stock Show, which opens Saturday and runs through Jan. 25 at the National Western Complex in northeast Denver, benefits both organizations, said Karen Woods, director of marketing with the stock show.
National Western again will offer game-day admission discounts to attendees dressed in Broncos gear. Denver plays host to Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon (2:40 p.m. kickoff at Sports Authority Field), with the winner playing again Jan. 18.
“Two factors we have that we don’t have control over are weather and the Denver Broncos,” said Woods, who added that National Western officials and the team have fostered a “really good working relationship.”
Thunder, the Broncos’ Arabian horse mascot that gallops across the Mile High turf after touchdowns, is a regular at the National Western. There are big-screen TVs around the complex tuned to the game, and many stop by to watch a few plays.
“I really see the Broncos as being complementary to us and we being complementary to them,” said Paul Andrews, president and CEO of the National Western.
This is the 21st season that Denver has made the postseason since 1977.
When the Broncos hosted NFL playoff games last January, game-day attendance at the stock show was down about 10,000, Andrews said. But by the end of the 16-day run, total attendance was up by 10,000 visitors.
Many of those football and rodeo fans who pass up a Sunday stock show visit to watch a Broncos game still visit, Andrews said.
“The people who normally would have come on that day find another day,” Andrews said. “It isn’t as though we are losing them.”
If the second-seeded Broncos win Sunday, they would play in the AFC championship Jan. 18. The AFC title game would be in Denver if the Broncos win and the Baltimore Ravens beat New England on Saturday. The title game would be in New England if the Patriots beat Baltimore.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
