9/26/2018 Broncos CEO Joe Ellis shares vision for future - Denver Business Journal

MENU Account

From the Denver Business Journal: https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2018/09/19/broncos-ceo-joe-ellis-future-football.html

Broncos CEO Joe Ellis shares vision for future of and football in Denver

Sep 19, 2018, 11:48am MDT Subscriber-Only Article Preview | For full site access: Subscribe Now

While in town to study Denver’s economic success, regionalism efforts and population growth, more than 130 Louisville, Kentucky, leaders had dinner Monday night at Coors Field — home of the Rockies — and toured Broncos Stadium at Mile High Tuesday morning.

The tour of the stadium proved to be one of the high points of the trip. U.S. Bank asked Broncos President and CEO Joe Ellis to address the group and discuss some of the NFL team’s business

principles, according to David Wombwell, Louisville market president MARTY FINLEY for U.S. Bank. (The Broncos are a U.S. Bank client). The sun bathes Broncos Stadium in Denver Tuesday during the 2018 GLIDE Denver trip hosted by GLI. GLIDE attendees toured the stadium as part of the Ellis led Greater Louisville Inc.’s annual GLIDE trip attendees in a 15- trip. minute huddle in the visitor’s locker room. The locker room held a surprise: Each attendee’s name was draped atop one of the NFL lockers as a keepsake to take home from Denver.

Broncos Stadium opened in 2001 at a cost of about $400 million, about two-thirds of which was funded through public funding across a multi-county region, Ellis said.

In addition to Broncos games, the facility is used year-round to host concerts, one-off sporting events, weddings and corporate events. The stadium hosted more than 280 events last year, Ellis told the group.

The team and its owner, , hold the stadium’s operating rights and collect the lion’s share of the revenue.

As the stadium approaches two decades of use, Ellis said, the team is preparing for the future and the millions in needed upgrades to ensure another stadium won’t be needed anytime soon.

To help fund those expenses, the team plans to develop a multi-use commercial district on a lot it controls south of the stadium. The district would include a hotel, office space, residential units, restaurants and retail. An amphitheater also is possible as a way to raise lease revenue as the landlord.

Ellis is convinced the district also will enhance the game-day experience for fans.

“It’s going to be its own little extension of downtown,” he said. https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2018/09/19/broncos-ceo-joe-ellis-future-football.html?s=print 1/2 9/26/2018 Denver Broncos CEO Joe Ellis shares vision for future - Denver Business Journal Throughout the trip to Denver, the underlying theme was collaboration through regional partnerships. The Broncos share that regional philosophy, Ellis said.

“As the game grew and pro football grew and the NFL grew, so grew the Broncos and so grew Denver,” he said. “We’ve grown up together.”

But the Broncos’ following, he said, cannot be taken for granted. Instead, fans must be nurtured and cultivated.

Part of that cultivation comes through capturing the attention and support of Denver’s millennials and younger population. Ellis said the team is working to expand its fanbase digitally through social media, mobile ticketing and advanced market intelligence.

“You have to connect with that next generation of people, and those are our next generation of our fans,” he said.

At the same time, the team stays plugged into Denver’s corporate and philanthropic worlds — urging its players to give back to local communities.

“We strive to be good players, a good organization on the field, but good citizens off the field as well,” he said. “It’s really important to our business model.”

Marty Finley Reporter Louisville Business First

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2018/09/19/broncos-ceo-joe-ellis-future-football.html?s=print 2/2