The Broncos and Avalanche will raise ticket prices for
their '99 seasons, according to Clay Latimer of the ROCKY
MOUNTAIN NEWS, who reported that the Broncos will increase
prices by an average of nearly 25%, and the Avalanche will
increase prices by 6.2% for their inaugural season in the
Pepsi Center. The Broncos' average ticket price will go
from $32.69 last season to more than $41 in '99. Broncos
Owner Pat Bowlen also "wouldn't rule out" an increase for
the 2000 season as well, the team's last at Mile High
Stadium. Bowlen admitted that "there's going to be a
backlash" to the increase after the recent stadium
referendum. The Avalanche ticket prices will range from $18
to $150 next season, up from between $17 and $140 this
season. Ascent Entertainment VP/Ticket Sales & Operations
Paul Andrews, whose company owns the Avalanche, said a
league-wide TV contract would "assist in taking some
pressure off ticket prices" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 2/20).
BUT YOU SAID NO INCREASES: In Colorado Springs, John
Branch wrote that the Broncos' ticket-price increase is
"interesting" because last year Bowlen said, "A ticket price
(increase) looks wrong to me because we're sitting in Mile
High Stadium, and I'm not really giving the fans any more
there. A ticket increase is not going to solve our
financial problems." Bowlen attributed the price hikes to a
"landscape [that] has changed dramatically" (GAZETTE
TELEGRAPH, 2/20). In CO, Mike Littwin wrote that "it was
probably only a coincidence" that the Broncos haven't raised
ticket prices in the last two years because they "were
anticipating a stadium vote" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 2/21).
