HOME TO NFL TEAM the Denver Broncos, Invesco Field at Mile High has been renamed Sports Authority Field at Mile High under a new naming rights deal, August 16.
Unanimously agreed by the board of the Metropolitan Football Stadium District, the agreement will initially see sporting goods retailer Sports Authority Inc take over the remaining ten years of Invesco’s twenty-year, $120m contract through 2021.
Ambiguity surrounds the exact value of the remainder of the deal with various reports in the US suggesting $32m is to be paid by Sports Authority, while others suggest $60m in accordance with the fact that half of the contract remains unfulfilled.
Colorado-based Sports Authority originally proposed a $150m, 25-year package to absorb the existing Invesco deal and further extend the naming rights through 2035. However, the board has shelved the proposal to ensure that any further extensions to the current terms are competitively priced.
Investment management company Invesco insist that the new naming rights deal will allow them to re-focus their marketing strategy as a result of a change in their business model.
In their place, Sports Authority intends to maximise their presence at Mile High via plans to engage fans with painted slogans, video booths where fans can record messages to players and invitations for high school teams to hang their helmets inside the stadium.
"A home town team should have a home town sponsor," says Jeff Schumacher, Chief Marketing Officer for Sports Authority. "With the Denver Broncos and the Stadium District we will work to preserve the traditions of Mile High while elevating the stadium and fan experience to new heights."
Taking effect immediately, the newly-named stadium will play host to a pre-season match between the Broncos and the Buffalo Bills on August 20 before an official unveiling slated for Denver’s first home game of the new NFL season against the Oakland Raiders on September 12.