Rocky Mountain low: Good-bye ESPN Zone
By David Sweet • Jul 2nd, 2009 • Category: bars
Sports fans in Denver awoke Tuesday to grim news. After eight years, ESPN Zone in downtown was shuttered.
It seems hard to believe, given the residents’ passion for both sports and beer. The Denver Broncos sell out regularly; the baseball team plays in a stadium named after a beer (Coors); even the Denver Nuggets captured the attention of the citizenry this spring, going deep into the playoffs.
But just like the Rocky Mountain News died despite its almost 150-year history, ESPN Zone — all 23,000 square feet of it — could not survive in the recession. About 100 employees lost their jobs. ESPN Zone is down to eight cities.
Yet there is a smidgen of good news, according to the Denver Examiner. A new tenant, The Tilted Kilt, has signed a lease for part of the space. It’s also a sports bar, but not quite like the mighty ESPN brand — as the Examiner notes, it’s more like a “Scotch-Irish Hooters.”
If it opens before the British Open, expect a randy crowd.
