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Dear Santa Claus of Sports: I want a Super Bowl…in Denver. I promise I’ll be real good for the next decade if you throw in the Winter Olympic Games, too. Here’s a couple ideas for my stocking: an All-Star game, a hockey game at Sports Authority Field, and an NCAA Final Four. I don’t mean to be greedy, but I believe in you.
The new executive director of Denver Sports may lack the frosty beard and fleet of reindeer, but he’ll be the one working to bring top-notch athletic events to our fair city. Ken Chin is moving into town this week and hasn’t wasted any time getting started in his new role. The former vice president of business development and events for the Atlanta Sports Council has already attended a national sports conference and met with the NFL in New Jersey, along with Denver Broncos president Joe Ellis, to talk about a Super Bowl bid for the Mile High City—all in his first week before being officially announced in his new position at a Denver press conference on September 17. “We want to bring sports events to the city that will generate an economic impact,” Chin says. “We want to enrich our community and support Denver’s brand as an active city.”
Chin’s résumé also touts time as the vice president of the NHL’s events and entertainment department, and includes helping out with the 2001 NHL All-Star game at the Pepsi Center. What does that mean for us? He knows how effective bringing All-Star games to a city can be and already has plans to extend bids to be a future host. The hockey connections don’t stop there, as Chin said he’d like to see the hockey rink moved outside with an outdoor exhibition for the Avalanche, much like has been done in the Winter Classic. “Denver is a city that knows how to think big and set the bar high,” Chin says. “It’s exciting to be coming to a city with that type of mentality.”
What sporting events would you put on your wish list to be played in the Mile High City?
—Image courtesy of Denver Sports
Follow editorial assistant Lindsey R. McKissick on Twitter at @LindseyRMcK.