The board of the Metropolitan Football Stadium District has voted 7-1 to accept a $120-million offer from Denver-based Invesco Funds Group to rename the $400.8-million, under-construction football stadium to Invesco Field at Mile High.
Invesco, the second-largest mutual fund family in Denver after Janus Capital Co., will pay the $120 million over 20 years. The board has earmarked $60 million to be used to reduce the taxpayers' 75% debt on the stadium, the largest construction project now going on in Denver. The balance will go to the Broncos for advertising inside the stadium. It is the fiscally responsible thing to do, say board members, although they realize it's a compromise.
Board members had listened to more than 20 people who opposed the name change. Only one person had spoken in favor of the re-naming. Local restaurant owner John Hickenlooper had led the charge, claiming the rights are being sold too cheap. He has inferred that a court injunction may be sought to stop the change. Some Colorado legislators already are investigating if they should work to overturn the board's decision.
Denver Mayor Wellington Webb joins Hickenlooper in his distress over the new name. "With this vote by the (district) a piece of Denver history and tradition was lost despite the overwhelming public sentiment to keep 'Mile High Stadium' as the stand-alone name of the new stadium," Webb says. "There are those that are talking about options and alternatives that would challenge the decision of the MFSD Board and I will consider support of those." The board, he says, has sold out to the highest bidder.
"'Mile High Stadium' is Denver," Webb says. "Invesco Field could be anywhere in America. But let it be known - to me and the majority of citizens in the metro area - we will always refer to the home of the Denver Broncos as 'Mile High Stadium.'"
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