Gold Kings scrape for ad revenues

Before every Colorado Gold Kings game, World Arena receives a face lift - a surgery performed by volunteers.

A cast of almost 100 volunteers does everything from preparing the "Chuck-A-Puck" intermission contest to hanging sponsor banners to putting helium in the motorized blimp.

At World Arena, the Gold Kings take a back seat to Colorado College. In fact, the Gold Kings are third in priority for selecting dates there, according to Colorado general manager Jeff Newman.

That means a significant drop in sponsorship opportunities and revenues, which has forced Newman to rely heavily on his staff and a squadron of volunteers for each of the 36 home games this season.

It's not uncommon for Gold Kings staff to arrive up to five hours before a game.

The most visible of their many behind-the-scenes tasks is the placement of advertisements around the rink.

This dasher-board advertising represents a major portion of the team's revenues. The large decals used have to be put up and taken down for each game as part of the team's deal with World Arena.

"No one likes it, but our contract with the arena requires us to do this, among many things," Newman said. He pointed out that in most arenas with two teams, the revenues are shared. That's not the case here.

World Arena board chairman Pete Susemihl confirmed that major tenants do share marketing and sponsorship revenues in many arenas. But the two major teams at World Arena don't split the dollars.

"We've tried to get the two teams to work together, but it hasn't happened," he said. Susemihl added that the possibility of potential conflicts due to NCAA regulations are one reason no cooperative agreement exists.

Volunteers play a large part in other areas as well. Everyone from the 21 off-ice officials and scorers to the people that put on the "human bowling" promotion donate their time.

"It's a real family atmosphere," said Mary Ann Ryan, a Gold Kings staff member. "We each have our own areas of responsibility, but it's great that everyone comes together and gets things done before and after the games."

- Scott Jones may be reached at 636-0250 or gtsports@gazette.com

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