Mile High Stadium (known as Bears Stadium until 1968) was a
baseball, soccer and football stadium that stood in Denver, Colorado from
1948-2001. It hosted the Denver Broncos of the NFL from 1960-2001, the
Colorado Rockies of the NL from 1993-1994, the Colorado Rapids of MLS from
1996-2001, the Denver Gold of the USFL from 1983-1985, and the Denver
Bears and Denver Zephyrs of minor league baseball's Western League,
American Association and Pacific Coast League from its completion in 1948
until 1992.
At
a glance...
MILE HIGH STADIUM
Facility
statistics
Location
Denver
Broke
ground
1948
Opened
April
19, 1966
First
Rockies Game
April
9, 1993
Last
Rockies Game
August
7, 1994
Closed
2001
Demolished
Fall
of 2002
Owner
City
& County of Denver
Surface
Grass
Construction
cost
$?
Replaced
by
New
Mile High Stadium (Broncos, 2002) Coors
Field (Rockies, 1995)
Left
Field - 335 ft
Center Field - 420 ft
Right-Center - 400 ft
Right Field - 370 ft
Backstop - 60 ft
Mile High Stadium was originally built as Bears Stadium for minor
league baseball by Bob Howsam in 1948 on top of an old city dump. The
stadium initially consisted of a single 17,000-seat grandstand stretching
along the north side from the left field foul pole to the right field foul
pole on the west side.
In the late 1950s there was an attempt to form the Continental League
lead by the famous Dodger General Manager, Branch Rickey. Bob Howsam
joined ranks with Rickey, pleading for a major league team in Denver.
Advised that to get a major league franchise Denver would need a much
larger ballpark, Bear Stadium would begin the first of its many
expansions. Over eight thousand seats were added to the south stands,
bringing stadium capacity to 23,100. The new east stands increased seating
to 34,657. The final bill, including cost overruns, came to just under
$500,000.
Fly
to Mile High Stadium!
If you have Google
Earth installed, click here
to be "flown" to the site of old Mile High Stadium. (If
you do not have it installed, get
it from Google. It allows you to view virtually anywhere on
Earth in 3D using satellite imagery.)
Major League Baseball’s answer to the Continental League was to expand
the league, which would eventually lead to the folding of the paper
Continental League. Although Denver was not awarded a franchise, MLB
promised teams in the future for Denver and other cities. Howsam was now
trapped with a large stadium and debt he could ill afford. Frantically
searching a solution he turned to football. Meeting with Lamar Hunt, Bud
Adams, and George Halas, Howsam helped form the American Football League
(AFL) and Denver was awarded the Broncos. A large bleacher section was
added along the south side and temporary east stands were built in 1960,
raising the capacity to 34,000.
Howsam's ownership in the AFL was short-lived as overwhelming debt
forced Howsam to sell all his sports interests in 1961. His dream of major
league baseball in Denver would be placed on hold for another 30 years.
The stadium was sold to the city in 1968, which renamed it Mile High
Stadium and built the upper deck along the west side, raising capacity to
50,000.
Denver had to settle for the minor league Bears and the AFL Broncos who
resembled the early New York Mets version of football. Looking comical in
their yellow & black vertical stripped socks, mustard yellow and brown
uniforms, the fans in the stands would sing, "Send in the
Clowns" when the Broncos would take the field. It took a few years to
gain a following. In 1961 they drew fewer fans in a year than the Broncos
now draw in a single game. In the middle of the 1960s uniforms changed,
there were some wins, attendance turned around and people caught Bronco
Fever.
Primary
research by Jim Herdman & David Vincent
Courtesy of Retrosheet.
As ticket sales increased, the stadium expanded to 51,706 seats. With a
$25 million bond issue in 1974 another stadium renovation added 20,000
more seats. By 1975 seating was up to 75,100. An ingenious expansion that
took place from 1975-1977 raised the capacity to nearly 80,000 by
extending the upper deck along the north side and building a movable
triple-decked stands along the east side. When fully extended, the stands
would form a horseshoe for football, but when fully retracted by 145 feet
(44 m), the stadium could still fit a normal-sized baseball field. The
structure was 535 feet (163 m) long, 135 feet (41 m) tall and 200 feet (61
m) deep, weighing nearly nine million pounds (4,000 t). In order to move
the stands over more than 90,000 square feet (8,000 m²) of runways, water
was pumped onto the runways and formed a .003 inch (76 micrometre) sheet
upon which the stands rested. Hydraulic rams then pushed the stands
forward at the rate of three feet per minute (15 mm/s), taking about two
hours from start to finish. In 1986, 77 luxury suites were added atop the
west stands, increasing the official seating capacity to 76,123.
The large size of the stadium ensured that the expansion Rockies were
able to set Major League Baseball attendance records (which still stand)
before moving to Coors Field for the 1995 season. In fact, the attendance
was so good that club officials increased the capacity of the still
unfinished Coors Field to 50,000.
Indeed, the stadium was known for its loudness, the sound bouncing
around within the horseshoe. Because of the huge size of the outfield and
foul territory, as well as the 30-foot (10 m) high fence in center field,
the stadium was not as problematic for pitchers as Coors
Field proved to be.
Mile High Stadium was closed in 2001 after the Denver Broncos and
Colorado Rapids moved to neighboring New Mile High Stadium (sponsored by
Invesco). Mile High was demolished later that year.
Our sites have always been by you and about you. If
you check
our TV Forums or our Technology & Science forums, you'll find literally thousands of messages from fans
of 1970s TV shows, survivors of hurricanes or aircraft accidents, etc. from all over the world sharing their memories, asking
questions, making comments. Our baseball section is new, but don't let
that stop you from sharing
your memories of the first game you went to, your favorite player, a
now-forgotten stadium, etc. Of course you can also ask questions, post
trivia, tell the world what you think of Barry Bonds, or just read what
others are saying.
Logos and team names may be trademarks of their respective franchises or leagues. This site is not recognized, approved, sponsored by, or endorsed by Major League Baseball nor any sports league or team. Any marks, terms, or logos are used for editorial/identification purposes and are not claimed as belonging to this site or its owners. Any statistical data provided courtesy of Retrosheet (see credits).
Notice from Retrosheet:
The information used here was obtained free of
charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested
parties may contact Retrosheet at 20 Sunset Rd.,
Newark, DE 19711.
.gif)
.gif){kind=small}
.gif){kind=small}
(80).jpg&S=&L=1337&O=7/18/2008)
Stadiums
(180).jpg)
