Why Does Denver have 5 major league sports teams? (Colorado Springs, Fort Collins: how much, home)

[Scraper Enthusiast]

It's an honest, good question. It makes sense. Why does Denver have a major league sports team in all of the main sports (Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey, Soccer).

Baseball: Colorado Rockies
Football: Denver Broncos
Basketball: Denver Nuggets
Hockey: Colorado Avalanche
Soccer: Colorado Rapids

Why?

Metro Denver is only about 2.5 million at best. Many larger metros don't have a team in every sport. Take San Diego for example. It's a little larger than Denver (SD has about 3.1 million metro), and it only has a MLB team (Padres) and an NFL team (Chargers). Or, even Phoenix (4.1 million metro). They have four teams, but still lack an MLS team. How about Seattle, a metro of about 3.5 million? They have a baseball team (Mariners), a football team (Seahawks), and a basketball team (Sonics), but the latter is in danger of moving, and they have no major league hockey or soccer teams.

Why is Denver gifted in this regard? Is it because it's so isolated, or is it because it has enthusiastic, supportive fans, moreso than other cities?

[denverian]

I have no clue and I have no interest in sports, but it's good for Denver so I'm glad we have all the teams. Why do you care?

[Lovetheoutdoors]

Denver is the largest metropolis in a 600-mile radius. Those other cities you've mentioned are not. Pro sports in Denver has the ability to attract people from within those 600 miles - and it does.

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by Lovetheoutdoors

Denver is the largest metropolis in a 600-mile radius. Those other cities you've mentioned are not. Pro sports in Denver has the ability to attract people from within those 600 miles - and it does.

How much of that 600 mile radius is populated? East of Denver is basically nothing but wheat fields, minus a few small towns. This is basically until you get to Topeka, Kansas.

West of Denver, you do have the mountain communities, but how many people do they actually have. Furthermore, west of the mountains, you do have Grand Junction, but it is not very large, and the eastern Utah desert is basically not populated.

North and south of Denver, you do have the range cities (Fort Collins, Greeley, etc.), and even Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, but is there really that large of a population to really support sports teams in all five major league sports?

[joebaldknobber]

Maybe the Broncos can relocate to Oklahoma City or Northwest Arkansas. They seem to be new hotbeds.

[Spincycle]

Maybe because it has been and still is "an all american city" by many standards. Great weather and sports focused populace. Perhaps even the concept of a "captive audience" may apply as well. To go into additional details would require taking off my "PC hat" to explain why Denver is a magnet city for sports teams and why other US cities lack or lost the luster. Anyone care to open up a can of worms?

[jjacobeclark]

1. Denver has a lot of money to spend on sports teams.

2. The people in Colorado take their sports very seriously.

3. The isolation factor. People from Utah, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming usually follow the Broncos. Kansas can go to Denver or Kansas City. Montana and the Dakotas usually go for either Minnesota or Colorado teams too.

[Spincycle]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

1. Denver has a lot of money to spend on sports teams.

A lot of cities have money. Denver can appropriate money w/less strings attached.

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

2. The people in Colorado take their sports very seriously.

Exactly.

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

3. The isolation factor. People from Utah, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming usually follow the Broncos. Kansas can go to Denver or Kansas City. Montana and the Dakotas usually go for either Minnesota or Colorado teams too.

Thus the "captive audience" factor.

[McGowdog]

Ok. I'll open up the can of worms. Los Angeles.

But first, Denver was the biggest metro area in the Region back in the day, second only to San Francisco. There's your answer. Now let me rant about my take on sports.

LA lost the Rams and El Segundo merely housed the Raiders for a bit. LA lost the Rams and who really cared? The Rams went on to win a Super Bowl-Finally! So let them be. They're better off- in an obviously better and more enthusiastic sports town St. Louis.

I was a Rams fan. When we moved to Colorado back in 77' I really wasn't much of an NFL football fan, but I remembered the Rams, the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins from when we lived in The Valley. So I was so sick of my older brother and many of the kids that I met in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade in rural southern Colorado wet themselves over this Orange Crush! I was so sick of the Broncos that I became an instant and avid Rams fan just to take a stand. But the Broncos did good at the time and had this pretty good defense. Then they got bounced in the Super Bowl and the Wrist Slashing Parties commenced.

That next year, MY TEAM took the stage. The Rams looked pretty good, and they beat my new hated rival, the Cowgirls! But they lost the Super Bowl, but in a more dramatic fashion. They were up 19 to 17 or something like that in the 4th, only to lose 19-31.

Then the Broncos kind of fell off the map until Elway came along. During that period, the Raiders became the LA Raiders. I had this strange love for LA because I was a kid and I missed it and I missed my friends that I knew from months old to the age of 10 (remember those friends?), but when my friend Jeff became Jenny (later down the road- not that there's anything wrong with that!), I started to not miss LA so much. But the Raiders were bustin' some heads! How could you not like the Raiders? Easy. If you were a Bronco fan! So it was really easy for me to be a Raider fan. Because that's how I rolled! And there was great success! My team won the Super Bowl during our Senior year! All the little Raider Haiders went boo hoo, WAA WAA!!!! And the Wrist Slashing Parties commenced again!

Then Elway took the Broncos back to Super Bowls. And the Broncos lost in Biblical Proportions. And the WSPs got worse.

I say all that to say this; I went to Bronco games. I saw what a real game was like up close finally. On TV, they look so much bigger. Some of these dudes are big and all that, but they're human...if you know what I mean. They are just athletes. Winning and losing really isn't everything. If you can win consistently, then that requires more than just a few good players, a good coaching staff, good management, etc. I think it requires good maintenance. A rich environment to thrive in. That magic. That Rocky Mountain Thunder! Luck! There is an energy that you can't deny. If those 77,000 yahoos that sell out Bronco games were somehow wiped out, there'd be 77,000 more yahoos to replace them.

So I went to Bronco games. I saw and heard Elway AND Reeves get booed everytime they were announced or went out onto the field. They'd cheer when there was a touchdown and stuff, but the typical Bronco game is a 16-13 win; regardless of whether they're playing a good team or a bad team. At Mile High Stadium, these Giants started to look pretty human to me.

If anything, it made me a Bronco fan. It made me an Elway fan. That dude is/was such a wicked relentless competitor. Love him or hate him. You're doing something right if you're loved or hated. Talk to me about Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII. God created the NFL for me. I was born, then the Super Bowl was born. We're the same age. Call me a fanatic. Now try to take my Elway reruns away from me, and we're done. Just ask anybody who knows me.

I could care less about the Nuggets, the Avs, or the Rockies. Call me a bandwagon fan if you will. I became a Bronco fan the hard way. They earned my respect.

I could care less about the rest of the US when it comes to sports. But I respect certain places and teams. Cleveland; I hate the Baltimore Ravens and will always root against them and laugh when the Browns beat them and hope Modell...is he dead yet? The Packers. I think the town population of Green Bay triples when the Packers have a home game. That's what your thread should mention as well. Newbies like the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Florida Marlins- I envy. Even though they bought their success like the Avs did, it still feels good. And I think that feeling is good for a town, a city, a state, a region.

So I like your thread for that reason. It's very significant, partly for that reason. Denverian's post is evidence of that. To have a sports team is great. But to have success in that realm is epic. It seems strange that success in a sporting event should matter, but just look at the record. How do you think Boston's inner city businesses did once they finally won another World Series? And success seems to breed success. It's good to win. Watching Elway hoist that trophy. Forgetaboutit!

Baldknobber! Dream on! Go to Branson and catch a show! Go fishing! Go to Silver Dollar City. Oh, but you're welcome to come to a Bronco game too, if you'd like.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by Scraper Enthusiast

How much of that 600 mile radius is populated? East of Denver is basically nothing but wheat fields, minus a few small towns. This is basically until you get to Topeka, Kansas.

West of Denver, you do have the mountain communities, but how many people do they actually have. Furthermore, west of the mountains, you do have Grand Junction, but it is not very large, and the eastern Utah desert is basically not populated.

North and south of Denver, you do have the range cities (Fort Collins, Greeley, etc.), and even Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, but is there really that large of a population to really support sports teams in all five major league sports?

Obviously, there is a population large enough to support them. The Denver metro area is approaching 3 million people. Add in everyone from Cheyenne down to Pueblo, and the entire Front Range population number for 2007 (according to Wikipedia) is 4,175,239.