After Broncos owner Pat Bowlen died last week, fans started a petition to name the team’s stadium “Pat Bowlen Field at Mile High Stadium.” At the time of this writing, the petition has received over 3,500 signatures.
During a press conference Monday, team president/CEO Joe Ellis was asked about the petition.
“I’ve seen that and I’ve listened to that,” Ellis said. “I would say sometimes when I look at things that involve Pat personally that come up now that he hasn’t been present and he hasn’t been here, I try to think of what he would want. I don’t think he would want that, so I don’t think we’re going to do that. We’ve honored him with a statue, with a Ring of Fame pillar, his plaque on the Ring of Fame, and I think we’ll do some things this season to honor him.”
Denver will honor Bowlen by wearing a helmet decal this season — the team will also honor the late owner in weeks 2 and 6. Ellis believes “Mr. B” wouldn’t have wanted the stadium named after him.
“If we were to put his name on the stadium — I can remember him when he knew I was off track saying, ‘Joe, just a second here,'” Ellis said. “I think that would be his reaction. There are probably those that disagree, and I respect that, but for now that is not something that would be in our plans.”
The Broncos have been without a stadium naming-rights partner since Sports Authority went bankrupt in 2016. Before the company went under, Sports Authority paid the team around $6 million a year for the rights. The stadium has been temporarily named Broncos Stadium at Mile High until a new naming-rights partner is found.
