ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The world is competitive everywhere, whether in the NFL or medical field.
The Denver Broncos have struck a 10-year deal with Centura Health to become the naming rights holder of their training facility and official healthcare provider.
It’s considered to be one of the most significant business partnerships in franchise history. The two organizations, located only a short distance from each other in the Centennial area, are both prominent within Denver.
Coming off an eight-year naming rights agreement with UCHealth for the team’s training facility, the Broncos will host Centura Health executives for a press conference later today to announce the partnership. To demonstrate the significance of the deal, Broncos owner Greg Penner will join Broncos president Damani Leech and Centura Health CEO Peter Banko at the press conference.
Per its website, Centura Health is a healthcare system founded in 1882 and delivers whole person care across Colorado, and regions of Kansas and Utah.
“We share an enduring commitment to mission and core values, a pioneering legacy and a strong history of fabled accomplishments,” Banko said in a statement. “The announcement of this new and exciting partnership is only the beginning of what these two longstanding Colorado organizations can do together. I am most excited about working closely together to activate this powerful relationship today, tomorrow and in the years to come in service to our neighbors, our communities and our mutual fans.”
According to sources familiar with the deal, Centura Health first showed interest in partnering with the Broncos about a year ago as the naming rights deal with UCHealth was set to expire after the 2022 season. After it became public knowledge last month that Broncos’ headquarters would no longer bear UCHealth’s name, word around the Denver business community was that Centura Health was aggressively pursuing a naming rights deal with the NFL franchise.
Officials from the Broncos and Centura Health finalized the deal in recent weeks. During the Broncos’ rookie minicamp practice Saturday, 9NEWS observed what appeared to be covered signage going up at various points around their facilities.
In return for their financial commitment, Centura Health will receive prominent visibility alongside the Broncos, including signage at Broncos headquarters and Empower Field at Mile High. The plan is for Centura Health to work together with the Broncos in the community with the healthcare system promising a significant annual donation to the Broncos’ newly revised Denver Broncos Foundation with youth, hunger and DEI initiatives.
The Broncos’ deal with Centura Health could be seen as another example that while the team’s on-field product has been among the NFL’s worst in recent years, the popularity of the team and strength of the brand remains. As proof, the Broncos just wrapped up their season-ticket renewal period with north of 98 percent of fans renewing their ticket packages.
The naming rights agreement is the latest major announcement in what has been an active and successful few months for business operations under the new leadership of Leech alongside first-year owners with the Walton-Penner group.
“We’re excited to team up with Centura Health as part of this significant partnership highlighted by our training facility naming rights and, most importantly, a shared commitment to serving our community,” Leech stated.
Last week, the Broncos announced a doubled financial commitment to the community through a refreshed Broncos Foundation. That news came as $100 million in renovations are going on at Empower Field at Mile High, while a third-party study on the future of the stadium began.
As for the Broncos’ practice facility, it has undergone more than $60 million in upgrades over the past 9 years, the most notable enhancement being the addition of the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse. 9NEWS reported last month that Penner, his wife and fellow co-owner Carrie Walton Penner, and Leech have been touring other sports teams training centers as a research step towards either expanding and refurbishing the Broncos’ current headquarters, or in building an entire new facility within the same property at the corner of Broncos Parkway and Potomac.
And now it’s known that if the Penners do build the Broncos a new training complex, it will include the Centura Health name.
Empower Field scoreboard construction
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