BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…May 21, 2014, 10 years ago today:
After 44 seasons as Bronco Stadium, the facility that houses the famed blue turf becomes Albertsons Stadium with the announcement of a 15-year, $12.5 million naming rights agreement with the Boise grocery giant. Boise State was seeking more revenue as cost-of-attendance scholarships were on the horizon (before NIL was even a twinkle in the eye). It was a jarring change for Bronco Nation old-timers, but it was the way of the world. Albertsons Stadium became only the 10th college football facility in the country with corporate identity.
Albertsons’ new ownership, led by CEO Bob Miller, was seeking to re-establish the company as a community leader eight years after the heart of it was sold to SuperValu. It had been just over a year since Albertsons LLC had bought the core of the company back. If Bronco Stadium was going to lose its name, one that actually dated all the way back to 1950 when the original wooden version was built along the Boise River, this seemed like a pretty good idea—a very Boise thing. The current stadium opened in 1970 with a capacity of 14,500. There have been four major expansions since then.
The stadium contract runs at least through the 2028 season, but the future beyond that is murky, as Albertsons and Kroger try to engineer their proposed merger. If the chain’s local guts are ripped out of Boise again—like they were 18 years ago—that would be a bummer. It was Joe Albertson’s supermarket, and his legacy was yanked away at the time. Hopefully it doesn’t happen that way again.
I mentioned Monday that somewhere (McCall?) Gene Bleymaier is smiling. Albertsons Stadium’s blue turf, the former athletic director’s brainchild, was introduced in 1986. Thirty-eight years later, it reaffirms itself as an endearing slice of Americana. Last Friday, EA Sports unveiled its College Football 25 trailer (they called it the “Official Reveal”), and it led off with almost four seconds of the Blue before continuing with some of the most iconic locales and traditions of the sport. The much-anticipated video game is making a grand return on July 19 this summer after an 11-year absence.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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