November 13, 2023
My Spark Denver Is Just the Start of What City Will Do With Broncos Sale Revenue
Mayor Mike Johnston has been passionate about the My Spark Denver program, which is using funds from the 2022 Broncos sale to fund after-school activities.
Westword: Catie Cheshire
With the Denver Broncos winning just eight NFL games since the Walton-led team of new owners bought it last summer for $4.65 billion, it’s unclear when the crew will actually start to see the fruits of its investment.
Pretty soon, though, there will be 4,000 happy Denver students who get to reap the benefits of that purchase. City officials recently unveiled My Spark Denver, a program that will give $1,000 to middle-schoolers to pursue out-of-school activities, and is partially funded by revenue that the city got from the Broncos sale.
A provision in the 1998 lease and management agreement between the Metropolitan Football Stadium District (MFSD) and Stadium Management Company — a subsidiary of the Denver Broncos — specified that in the case of a sale, at least 2 percent of the profit (and a minimum of $1 million) would go to members of the MFSD for youth activities.
The City and County of Denver is one of over forty metro-area municipalities that got money, cashing in the largest check of them all at over $12 million. It has big plans for the dough, with the most visible example yet being My Spark, which was originally pushed by Gary Community Ventures, the philanthropy group focused on children’s wellness where Mike Johnston worked before he became mayor.