Pro sports flirting with burbs

Municipal caution reigns, in spite of Broomfield center

Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 5, 2007 at midnight

Text size

More Local News

More stories »

Professional sports are wooing Denver's suburbs, lobbying for spanking new stadiums and promising affordable entertainment.

Minor-league baseball has its eye on Castle Rock and Brighton. A NASCAR track is being shopped around Aurora and the northern suburbs. Pro rugby is coming to tiny Glendale.

The lure is powerful: An arena or stadium can define a community, increase sales-tax revenue and give the town a team of its own.

But the caution flag is out.

Often, building a stadium means a tax hike. And what does a city do if public interest wanes or the league folds? How, then, do you fill a 5,000-seat stadium?

'High-quality'

Supporters point to Broomfield, where the Broomfield Event Center, off U.S. 36, is home to the Colorado 14ers, of the National Basketball Association's development league, and the Rocky Mountain Rage, of the Central Hockey League.

Most game tickets are less than $20 in the 6,000-seat venue, which opened in November.

"It's high-quality, professional sports at an affordable price," said Charles Ozaki, deputy city manager.

The center isn't just for sports. Disney on Ice, the Harlem Globetrotters and rock group Megadeath have had successful dates there, and management is going after convention business.

Such diversity is the key to success, Ozaki said.

"If the league folds, we're left with a building that needs users," Ozaki said. "But financially, there won't be any burden because of the way the financial structure was created."

Developers built the $45 million center, the first phase of a planned 215-acre Arista Development that will include commercial and residential areas. The Broomfield Urban Renewal Authority issued property-tax permit bonds, which will be paid for by taxes in the development.

"The typical homeowner isn't paying anything toward it," Ozaki said.

When Arista is developed, Broomfield should get about $2.5 million yearly of extra taxes, Ozaki said. As of March 23, however, the center had yet to make a profit, and management turnover made for a rocky ride early on, according to an article in the Denver Business Journal.

But Don Hinchey, of Bonham Group Inc., a sports and entertainment marketing firm, told the Journal he was optimistic about the Broomfield center's prospects. "There are typically birthing pains associated with the development of any sports facility," he said. "But time fixes a lot of things - everybody gets comfortable, responsibilities get clarified and kinks get worked out."

Different deals

Unlike financing of the Broomfield Event Center, the deals being offered to Castle Rock and Brighton by the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball likely will require sales tax increases. And that means the voters must approve.

The AAIPB, which isn't affiliated with major league teams but features many veteran pros eager for a last shot at the big time, announced early this year that Brighton would start play in 2009. That was premature, city officials say.

"The stadium would cost about $18 million, and it would require us to go to the electorate and get their permission to increase the sales tax," said Manuel Esquibel, assistant city manager for Brighton.

The increase likely would be .2 percent, or 20 cents on each $100 sale. It would continue for 25 years.

The City Council passed a resolution by an 8-0 vote Tuesday night in favor of putting the measure on the November ballot. It also changed the wording of the ballot title to indicate that the funding will be for a "multi-event complex" instead of a multipurpose stadium.

A minor-league stadium in the shadow of Coors Field makes sense because many Adams County residents love baseball but can't afford to attend more than one or two Rockies games a year, Esquibel said.

At the Brighton park, they could spend maybe $50 for the whole family. And it wouldn't be used just for the 45 home games each summer, he noted.

"We could have concerts, entertainment, maybe encourage some Little League finals to come here," Esquibel said. "I've heard maybe rodeos, outdoor movies, plays."

Esquibel likes the idea of a stadium attracting other development, such as retail.

Brighton officials have looked at a few possible sites but don't want to name them for fear of pumping up land costs before talks are done.

3,000 to 4,000 fans

Miles Wolff, commissioner of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, said a city needs to attract 3,000 to 4,000 fans to each game on the 45-game home schedule to be successful.

"We want a presence there because Denver is one of the few major league cities that doesn't have minor-league ball in its metro area," Wolff said.

He noted that St. Paul is just seven miles from the stadium in which the Minnesota Twins play, yet it has been selling out its 4,000-seat American Association stadium almost every game for 15 years.

"In some ways, the ballpark can become a village green," said Wolff, who did so well with the Durham, N.C., Bulls, that the team became the model for the movie Bull Durham.

"It was one of the few places where town and gown, black and white people came together. We'd love to be in the Denver market."

Castle Rock is a few months behind Brighton in considering minor-league ball but has teamed with the Adams County city to save costs on some financial analyses.

"There are no preconceived outcomes," said Mark Stevens, Castle Rock town manager. "We don't know yet whether this is something worth further pursuing."

The league wants Castle Rock to finance the stadium, and the earliest the issue can go to voters is November 2008.

"Some people immediately thought it was a good idea, and others immediately thought it was a bad idea," Stevens said.

"Most people have the same wait-and-see attitude of the Town Council. Let's see what the results of the feasibility analysis and research are."

Not just baseball

It's not just baseball wooing the suburbs. The Colorado Rapids, of Major League Soccer, already make their home at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. The city's share of costs in that venture was handled without raising taxes, city officials said.

By contrast, when International Speedway Corp. officials scouted the area for a possible NASCAR track, the deal would have required a $400 million commitment from Commerce City.

In April, anti-racetrack candidates did well in the City Council elections. And in July, the City Council approved a resolution to ban motor sports from within nine miles of residential neighborhoods.

Kathy McIntyre, editor of the Commerce City Gateway News, was a vocal opponent of the racetrack but said she would love to see minor-league baseball in her city.

"When people come for a NASCAR weekend, they camp out, park their recreation vehicles at the track and drink and eat out of their cars," she said. "They don't eat at restaurants.

"With baseball, you might have the opportunity to support a new retail area."

Not that baseball is fail-safe.

Several cities have seen minor-league franchises arrive with fanfare then disappear when interest wanes. The venerable minor-league Midwest League still operates, but its franchises keep moving from city to city as interest ebbs.

Troy Whitmore, of Brighton, is convinced, though, that baseball would succeed in his city.

"Our demographics, with the residential growth and the young families, fits for this kind of venue," said Whitmore, whose United Power Inc. would be the source of electricity for the stadium.

scanlon@RockyMountainNews.com

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News