April 9, 2010. According to the Denver Post, the Mayor of Denver, John Hickenlooper, said of the Rockies: “They’re going to the World Series, and I will put their flag on top of City Hall, dye my hair purple for a day, and pour beer before the game at the Sandlot.”
Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category
Denver’s Mayor Hickenlooper Responds to Rockies’ Multi-Million Dollar Ripoff of Denver’s Taxpayers!
Sunday, April 11th, 2010Multi-Million Dollar Rip-off: Coors Field Naming Rights
Friday, May 1st, 2009“In 1995, Adolph Coors Company paid $15 M for the naming rights to Coors Field. The deal is for an indefinite period of time. This was Major League Baseball’s first open-ended naming rights arrangement.”
Even though they paid for the whole shebang, the taxpayers of the metro Denver area got nothing in return for Coors Brewing permanently stamping their name on Denver’s baseball stadium. Not only that, but Coors, now Miller/Coors, got the deal of the century. First, the Rockies sold them the naming rights for 15 million dollars for FOREVER! Second, newspaper articles claim that the Rockies were supposed to share the revenue with the Stadium district (consisting of Denver and surrounding cities), but NEVER DID. Let us compare that to other stadiums, shall we? Citizens Bank named Philadelphia’s stadium for $95 million over 25 years, or $3.8 million per year. Since the Phillies opened the stadium in 2004, they have already earned $19 million before this year started. CitiCorp is paying the Mets $20 million per year for 20 years, or $400 million! In fact, even the lowest priced naming deal is almost DOUBLE the amount Coors paid the Rockies! Many of the other stadiums are in much smaller market areas with far less attendance, too! And remember, the average annual price goes down every year, because it is FOREVER!
One other small detail should be disclosed in connection with this travesty. Namely, that Coors is a part owner of the Rockies! Can you say “conflict of interest”? If Coors and the Monforts wanted to show their fans, as well as the taxpayers, that they are not greedy and dishonest, and are grateful for the support of local government and fans, they would renegotiate the deal for a reasonable price and SHARE THE MONEY with the people that made them possible in the first place. Don’t hold your breath, though.
| Stadium Name | Sponsor | Home Teams | Avg. $/Year |
| Coors Field | Coors Brewing | Colorado Rockies | $882,353 |
| Tropicana Field | Tropicana | Tampa Bay Devil Rays | $1,500,000 |
| PNC Park | PNC Bank | Pittsburgh Pirates | $2,000,000 |
| Safeco Field | Safeco Corp. | Seattle Mariners | $2,000,000 |
| Miller Park | Miller Brewing | Milwaukee Brewers | $2,100,000 |
| SBC Park | SBC Communications | San Francisco Giants | $2,100,000 |
| Chase Field | JP Morgan Chase | Arizona Diamondbacks | $2,200,000 |
| Comerica Park | Comerica | Detroit Tigers | $2,200,000 |
| Citizens Bank Park | Citizens Bank | Philadelphia Phillies | $2,300,000 |
| Ameriquest Field | Ameriquest Capital Corp. | Texas Rangers | $2,500,000 |
| Great American Ball Park | Great American Insur. | Cincinnati Reds | $2,500,000 |
| Petco Park | PETCO | San Diego Padres | $2,700,000 |
| U.S. Cellular Field | U.S. Cellular | Chicago White Sox | $3,400,000 |
| Progressive Field | Progressive Insurance | Cleveland Indians | $3,600,000 |
| Minute Maid Park | Coca Cola | Houston Astros | $6,000,000 |
| Citi Field | CitiCorp | New York Mets | $20,000,000 |
Data from ESPN and ballparksofbaseball.com, as well as independent research.
©Copyright 2009, The Baseball Observer
Bernie Lincicome Hits Rock Bottom
Sunday, January 11th, 2009Talk about your bitter, angry, no-talent sportswriters! Bernie “Linci” Lincicome, the soon-to-be-unemployed hack sports “writer” for the Rocky Mountain News, memorialized earlier on this site for his extremely boorish behaviour, has trumped his earlier forays into the depths of crude writing and rude manners with his latest foray into attempted satire. Saturday, when his paper is the only one published in this one-rag town, “Burnie” took the opportunity to make a weak, spineless attempt at trashing former Broncos coach, Mike Shanahan. In the article, Linci said he was withdrawing his own name from consideration for the position (ha, ha), and then proceeded to suggest alternate careers for Mr. Shanahan, including:
“Ferret impersonator. Or is this too obvious?”
“Furnace repairman. Just as long as someone else takes care of the draft.”
“Opera singer. The game ain’t over till the little man’s eyes turn to slits.”
You get the picture, lame attacks that are as unfunny as they are inaccurate and poorly written. Shanahan is a sure Hall of Fame coach who earned his way with sometimes brilliant coaching that brought two Super Bowl victories to Denver, a gargantuan achievement that is beyond Linci’s ability to comprehend.
Linci is just reinforcing the obvious: that he is a bitter, untalented, know-nothing hack who didn’t have the balls to ask Mike any hard questions during his 14 years in Denver, but now thinks it is cool to pile on with cheap shots now that Shanahan can’t defend himself.
All sports fans will do a little dance when Linci is finally fired and leaves town in ignomy.
The Baseball Observer
