Denver On A Roll

Has Denver become the testing ground for a roller derby revolution?

Pollstar previously reported that the Denver Roller Dolls, who’ve signed a deal with AEG and Kroenke Sports, have a new home at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Co., and it appears another league in the area has entered an equally high-profile partnership.

The Rocky Mountain Roller Girls recently inked a deal with Live Nation to hold bouts at The Fillmore in Denver, meaning the titans of the concert world could soon stand skate to skate.

And although players may reject the notion of any sort of ongoing opposition between the two leagues, which split apart in 2005, one can’t deny it makes for good sporting.

Live Nation Denver’s Sean O’Connell told Pollstar that while the leagues do play one another occasionally, there isn’t too much rivalry.

“[The Denver Roller Dolls] play out in the suburbs, we play in the city. We’ve got the original roller derby team from Denver,” he said. “I think that Denver has certainly got enough fans that both teams can succeed but, obviously, I think that we’ve got the best place for it and the best team.”

PJ Shields, AKA Dangerous Leigh A’zon of the RMRG, admitted the leagues may be athletic rivals, but said they’re always supportive of one another and simply want to help take roller derby to the next level.

“We go to each others’ events,” she told Pollstar. “We just want to grow the sport and we don’t care how it’s done.”

While the RMRG is still skater-owned and -operated, the new partnership with LN has given the league an opportunity to better accommodate its fan base in a larger-capacity venue with historical ties to the sport. The Fillmore opened in 1907 as the Mammoth Roller Rink and hosted the Transcontinental Roller Derby in the ’30s.

The deal has also bolstered the league’s ability to purchase and position advertising and spread the word about roller derby, Shields said.

“Our relationship with Live Nation and roller derby in Colorado in general is being watched nationally because leagues here are making really big bold moves, developing major partnerships that could mean explosive growth for the sport.”

The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, of which RMRG was a founding member, currently counts 78 leagues in the U.S. as members.
O’Connell credited the WFTDA as being instrumental in roller derby’s resurgence around the country.

“There are folks that are playing in arenas, there are folks that are playing in indoor soccer stadiums and there are folks that are playing in places like the Fillmore,” he said. “Anywhere that there’s a big flat open floor, and some room for fans to watch them, they can make it work.”

And the sport seems to have a following with groups of all ages, drawing everyone from children and families, to the rock ‘n’ roll crowd, to grandparents.

“It’s a unique event,” O’Connell said. “It’s a great way for us to add to the use of the venue, and it’s the kind of event that works really well here.”