The Colorado Avalanche are expanding a 30-year relationship with Children’s Colorado through a new multi-year partnership that will bring patients closer to the team through special events, game-day experiences and player visits.
The Colorado Avalanche have spent three decades building a relationship with Children’s Hospital Colorado. Now, that relationship is expanding well beyond the rink.
Children’s Colorado and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced Thursday a new multi-year agreement that makes Children’s Colorado the exclusive children’s hospital partner of the Avalanche, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Mammoth.
The partnership will bring patients and families closer to Colorado’s professional sports teams through game-day experiences, player and mascot visits, youth sports initiatives and programs designed to support the physical and mental well-being of young athletes.
For the Avalanche, the relationship carries particular history.
Colorado players have made annual visits to Children’s Colorado for roughly 30 years, creating a tradition that has connected the organization with patients and their families away from the ice. Under the expanded partnership, those interactions will become an even larger part of the team’s community presence.
“Our patients and families are at the center of everything we do,” Children’s Colorado President and CEO Jena Hausmann said. “This partnership helps us continue to create moments that matter, both inside and outside the hospital.”
The Avalanche will have several opportunities to build on the existing relationship. Children’s Colorado patients will take part in game-day roles during the team’s annual Next Generation Night, while patients and team members will also receive an exclusive opportunity to skate on the Ball Arena ice.
The partnership will extend beyond game nights, too.
Children’s Colorado sports medicine and mental health specialists will work with coaches, caregivers and athletes involved in Avalanche and Nuggets youth programs. The organizations also plan to introduce new camps and clinics with the Nuggets, along with a youth hockey day featuring the Avalanche.
Those programs will give young athletes and their families access to resources involving nutrition, mental health, sports medicine and overall health and wellness.
KSE President of Team and Media Operations Kevin Demoff pointed to the long-standing connection between the Avalanche and Children’s Colorado as a foundation for the expanded agreement.
“Our teams, especially the Avalanche, already have a meaningful 30-year history with Children’s Colorado, making annual visits to support patients and their families,” Demoff said. “This partnership allows us to expand that relationship throughout the community, fostering unforgettable moments of joy between patients and their favorite teams.”
The goal, Demoff added, goes both ways. While those experiences can provide a welcome break for children facing difficult circumstances, the players often leave the hospital inspired by the patients they meet.
The Nuggets and Mammoth will also have their own pieces of the partnership.
Children’s Colorado will become the official partner of Nuggets mascot Rocky, with the hospital’s patch appearing on his uniform. Patients and team members will also be invited to a private Court of Dreams event at Ball Arena.
With the Mammoth, Children’s Colorado will serve as a supporting partner of the team’s trading cards. Patients and team members will also receive an exclusive opportunity to play on the Mammoth floor at Ball Arena.
Across all three organizations, the partnership will include educational booths at home games, free health and wellness resources, support for the “My First Game” program and special “Nugget for a Day” and “Avalanche for a Day” experiences.
Those programs will give children facing challenges—or those who have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to their communities—the chance to meet players, go behind the scenes and attend a game.
Mascots and players will also continue making appearances at Children’s Colorado locations and events, while patients and team members will have opportunities to participate in pregame and in-game activities.
For the Avalanche, however, the agreement represents more than a new sponsorship. It formalizes and expands a relationship that has already existed for generations of Colorado hockey fans.
With the Avalanche scheduled to open their home season in September, the first chapter of the expanded partnership will arrive quickly. The Nuggets will begin their season on the road in October, while the Mammoth are set to return to action later this fall.
The result is a partnership designed to put children closer to the teams they love—and give Colorado’s professional sports organizations another way to make an impact long after the final horn.
