What's in a name? Colorado Springs' Sunset Amphitheater to be rebranded in upcoming naming rights deal

The sun will set on the Sunset Amphitheater name, even before the new 8,000-seat outdoor music venue hosts its first concert in August on Colorado Springs' north side.

Notes Live, the Springs-based entertainment company that's developing the amphitheater, plans to announce a naming rights deal with a nationally known partner, J.W. Roth, Notes Live's founder and CEO, said Wednesday. As a result, the Sunset name will be replaced with that of a corporate sponsor.

The naming rights partner will be revealed during an 11 a.m. June 4 news conference at the amphitheater, which is under construction at the Polaris Pointe mixed-use development, southeast of Interstate 25 and North Gate Boulevard, Roth said.

He declined, at this time, to disclose the identity of the naming rights partner, the amount it's paying or the length of the deal. More details will be spelled out at the news conference, he said.

"All I can say is, you'll know the name," Roth said. "You won't have to look it up."

Four additional sponsors, who will add their names to various areas of the amphitheater, will be announced within 10 days after the June 4 news conference, he said.

The amphitheater is scheduled to open Aug. 9, with a concert by pop band OneRepublic. Several more shows have been announced, including the Beach Boys, John Fogerty, Barenaked Ladies, Dierks Bentley and the Steve Miller Band.

With 8,000 seats, 92 fire-pit suites and other amenities set against a scenic mountain backdrop, Roth has proclaimed the new venue will be "the most luxurious amphitheater ever built" and a rival to Red Rocks and Fiddler's Green, the open-air venues outside Denver.

Roth said the amphitheater's construction cost is now $90 million, though he added that he's spent another $5 million for more parking and $17 million for additional land, which have pushed the project's overall price tag to $112 million.

The Sunset's naming rights deal will join other agreements that have become popular over the last several decades at football and baseball stadiums, municipal arenas and music halls, among other venues.

Businesses typically pay hefty sums to put their name on a venue over several years — a form of advertising that increases their name recognition. At the same time, such deals reward facility owners with a healthy chunk of cash they can use to cover operations and other costs.

In Denver, the Colorado Rockies have played their games at Coors Field — named for the brewing company — since the ballpark opened in 1995. The Denver Broncos play at Empower Field at Mile High, so named for the retirement planning company.

Ball Arena, home to the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche, is named for the Ball Corp., the international supplier of aluminum packaging for beverages, household products and other items. Before 2020, the venue was called the Pepsi Center and named for the soft drink giant.

In Colorado Springs, The Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs signed a deal a decade ago to put its name on the then-Colorado Springs World Arena.

Roth also operates a smaller indoor music and event facility next to his Bourbon Brothers Smokehouse & Tavern restaurant at the Polaris Pointe development; in 2018, Western apparel retailer Boot Barn signed a naming rights deal and the venue became known as Boot Barn Hall at Bourbon Brothers.

Meanwhile, Roth said the under-construction amphitheater remains on track to open as scheduled Aug. 9 for the first of three OneRepublic shows.

"Ryan Tedder's going to walk out on the stage," Roth said of OneRepublic's vocalist and his personal friend. "It has to be (open). You've got to have your Christmas tree up by Christmas, right?"

Before the venue's Aug. 9 debut, a private concert for amphitheater contractors and their families, investors, fire-pit owners and others associated with the facility and Notes Live will take place Aug. 6, Roth said. He declined to identify the act for that show.

On Thursday morning, concrete is scheduled to be poured for the amphitheater stage, where the roof has been completed, Roth said. The venue's fire-pit suites have been completed and concrete has been poured for fixed-seating areas, except the lower seating bowl that's closest to the stage, he said.

Other work that's taking place: grading to allow for the addition of a lawn seating area, completion of bathrooms and installation of kitchen equipment.

Roth also said he's obtained a grading permit for a 780-space, on-site parking lot that he added to the project last year. That lot will be part of the mix of on-site spaces, adjacent Spectrum Loop street parking and nearby lots that will serve the amphitheater; for the 8,000-seat venue, Notes Live was required under city code to provide 2,000 spaces.

Noise walls, a critical component of the project, will be erected over the next five weeks on the venue's east edge and will be in place before the first concert, Roth said.

The noise walls eventually will be incorporated into a restaurant, bar and event center complex that's now targeted for completion around Valentine's Day next year, he said. That complex will serve as a noise barrier for neighborhoods near the amphitheater, along with other sound mitigation measures, Roth has said.

Some nearby residents had objected to the amphitheater, in large part, because of fears that noise would fill their neighborhoods on concert nights. The Colorado Springs City Council, however, rejected those protests and approved the project in January 2023; it broke ground last July.