Following "four hours of debate" yesterday, the CO
House of Representatives decided that the Broncos "should
get a shot at persuading voters next fall" to subsidize a
new $350M football stadium, according to Dan Luzadder of the
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS. The "hotly-contested" plan, which uses
a .1% sales tax to build the stadium, "went through several
evolutions" before a version passed the House. A different
version of the bill has been passed by the State Senate, and
the disparities in the two versions "set the stage for a
conference committee battle" (ROCKY MT. NEWS, 3/24). In
Denver, Peggy Lowe writes that the House bill "would expand"
the six-county stadium taxing district to include all of, or
sections of, four additional counties (DENVER POST, 3/24).
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NOTES: Although naming rights to a new
Broncos stadium still may be sold, the Mile High name "might
be worth more than what a company would be willing to pay"
for those rights, according to an examination of naming
rights by Peggy Lowe of the DENVER POST. Texas Stadium
brings in an estimated $20M a year from endorsement deals,
which is much more than an annual naming rights fee. But,
Lowe notes, "no one knows for sure if Mile High's name could
be as lucrative as Texas Stadium's" (DENVER POST, 3/24).
