By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
What a week for the arena that opened off Speer Boulevard in 1999 to replace the old McNichols Sports Arena on the other side of I-25 in Denver.
There was an NHL playoff game Sunday. Then an NBA playoff game with two overtimes Tuesday. And an entertaining and dramatic NHL playoff game with an overtime Wednesday.
LVSportsBiz.com caught up with Chris Joswick, vice president of venue operations at Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, for a Q and A on what was known as the Pepsi Center for so many years in Denver. (Disclosure: I reported on the arena’s groundbreaking in November 1997 for The Denver Post after the city/county of Denver and Ascent reached a deal on the arena). Ball Corp. reached the naming rights deal with Kroenke in 2020. The arena opened in October 1999.
LVSportsBiz: How many events do you typically have a year (non-COVID years) and what’s it like for a quick turnaround like tonight when you have a Nuggets game tonight and an Avalanche game Wednesday?
Chris: Joswick:
- Ball Arena is the home of the Colorado Mammoth (National Lacrosse League), Denver Nuggets (NBA) and Colorado Avalanche (NHL). Between the 3 professional sports teams, the venue hosts 90 regular season games. In addition to sporting events, over 50 special events and concerts take place throughout a typical calendar year.
- With our busy events schedule our Conversion team is quite busy moving from sports playing surfaces to concert setups to unique events like Monster Jam or High School wrestling championships. Typical turnaround time from Basketball to Hockey or vice versa is 4 hours.
- The Nuggets vs. Trail Blazers double overtime game Tuesday night compressed that turnaround time significantly but the Conversion staff did a tremendous job of meeting the necessary timeline to provide our ice maintenance crew with enough time to prep the ice for morning skate for the Avalanche vs. Golden Knights Game 2 playoff game.
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LVSB: What was it like to change from Pepsi Center to Ball Arena since it was known as the Pepsi Center for so many years?
CJ: After a 20-year relationship with an outstanding partner in Pepsi, KSE is fortunate to enter into a new naming rights agreement with an equally outstanding partner in Ball Corporation. We are excited to partner with Ball Corporation to advance sustainability and reduce waste, on our path to become a more sustainable and eco-friendly venue.
Changing the venue name was not as sample as crossing out Pepsi Center and writing in Ball Arena! After 20 years our venue was embedded with signage (a surprisingly large amount of hard signage), sponsorship elements, and 18,000 stickers on our cup holders(!) all of which needed to be removed, replaced or refurbished. It was quite an undertaking, but we have the best Facilities team in the country and they did an unbelievable job of making a seamless transition.
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LVSB: Every sports venue has its interesting quirks. What are some interesting features the arena has for hockey?
CJ:
- One of the Zambonis in the venue is the original from when we first opened in 1999. Zambonis are custom made upon purchase it takes approximately 6 months to complete the build.
- Jake Schroeder has sung the National Anthem at over 950 Avalanche games. He’s considered a good luck charm for the Avs!
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LVSB: What have been some of the major changes or improvements to the arena since it first opened?
CJ:
- Renovation of reception/administration area to Blue Sky Grill (now Breckenridge Brewery Mountain House) restaurant.
- Exclusive club for rinkside and courtside ticket holders: Club Lexus
- Upgraded ice plant.
- New arena bowl seats, other upgraded furnishings throughout the venue
- KSE has grown from 300 employees when I began employment in 2005 to 1300 throughout the U.S.
- Altitude Sports and Entertainment TV network launched in 2004
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LVSB: What’s it like having an arena integrated into a downtown area that has a college campus and other entertainment uses — and how do most people reach the arena, is it by car?
CJ: Ball Arena is uniquely located between Mie High Stadium (home of the Denver Broncos) and Coors Field (home of the Colorado Rockies) providing a nice blend to the downtown area, which has seen exponential growth since Ball Arena opened in 1999. Patrons can spend time downtown prior to an event and easily access Ball Arena by rail, on foot or by car.
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