History of Coors Field
The history of Coors Field begins with the people of Denver requesting a baseball team. At first the city tried to get a team to move to Denver. In 1978, the Athletics agreed to move to Denver, but the deal did not work out. Then in 1985, both the Giants and the Pirates talked about moving to Denver, but no deal was finalized. After none of these deals worked out, Denver began talks of adding an expansion team. These talks were not to serious for several years, but the citizens of Denver continued to ask for their city to become the home of a Major League Baseball Team.
On August 14, 1990, a sales tax is passed that will fund a future baseball stadium as long as the MLB will award them with an expansion team. Later that year on September 18, Denver gave a presentation to the National League Expansion Committee, and three months later, the committee came out with a list of six potential sites for an expansion team, one of which is Denver. On March 26, 1991, the committee revisted Denver, where they sold 21,000 tickets to future fans with a promise of a new franchise. Later that year, the National League president Bill White visted Colorado to announce that Denver would be the location of a new MLB team. Soon after, plans for the construction of Coors Field were under way, and on October 16, 1992 construction began.
On April 5, 1993, with Coors Field still under construction, the Rockies had their first opening day against the New York Mets. On April 9, 1993, the Rockies had their first home game against the Montreal Expos, which was at Mile High Stadium, their temporary home. This is when you can first see the potential effect Coors Field could have on Denver, as they attracted an attendance of 80,227 for their first game, and a MLB record of 4,483,350 total fans that year. On April 26, 1995, after several years of construction, Coors Field opened.
Since then Coors Field has been attracting many fans to come watch the Rockies play, and this has many different effects on Denver... starting with gameday.
On August 14, 1990, a sales tax is passed that will fund a future baseball stadium as long as the MLB will award them with an expansion team. Later that year on September 18, Denver gave a presentation to the National League Expansion Committee, and three months later, the committee came out with a list of six potential sites for an expansion team, one of which is Denver. On March 26, 1991, the committee revisted Denver, where they sold 21,000 tickets to future fans with a promise of a new franchise. Later that year, the National League president Bill White visted Colorado to announce that Denver would be the location of a new MLB team. Soon after, plans for the construction of Coors Field were under way, and on October 16, 1992 construction began.
On April 5, 1993, with Coors Field still under construction, the Rockies had their first opening day against the New York Mets. On April 9, 1993, the Rockies had their first home game against the Montreal Expos, which was at Mile High Stadium, their temporary home. This is when you can first see the potential effect Coors Field could have on Denver, as they attracted an attendance of 80,227 for their first game, and a MLB record of 4,483,350 total fans that year. On April 26, 1995, after several years of construction, Coors Field opened.
Since then Coors Field has been attracting many fans to come watch the Rockies play, and this has many different effects on Denver... starting with gameday.
If you want to learn more about the history of Coors Field and the Rockies, click here.