The 1909 Stadium Arena will remain atop The Hill after it hosts the last livestock show of the 2025 National Western Stock Show, bringing agriculture to the historic Denver neighborhoods as an indoor market.

The Master Plan calls for the Stadium Arena building to take on a new role, one that can be used and enjoyed by the public through a variety of possible new uses that may include an active public market, a commercial/teaching kitchen that can be used by the community, and a multi-use events space in the main arena. This space is also being assessed as a possible center for entrepreneurial business and art at National Western and will include incubator business space, and retail uses for goods and services that showcase Western Heritage and food. The plan calls for removing the stadium seating and adding a mezzanine level to increase the building capacity to approximately 90,000 square feet.

The livestock shows will move to their new home in the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center in The Yards. The 30-acre facility will host events year-round, including the green carpet the junior market livestock shows are known for. The 5,000-seat CoBank Arena will hold the shows, and the facility also includes a 200,000 square-foot free-span livestock hall, and a 75,000 square-foot junior market barn with room for more than 1,400 head of cattle. The 700-seat CoBank Auction Arena will be the home of the Sale of Champions, and the facility also boasts a trade show and retail space, meeting rooms, suites and flexible conference spaces, a state-of-the-art HVAC system, an outdoor plaza, and The Cowboy Bar, with retractable doors to let the sunshine in.

The facility is named for Anschutz-Rogers, who in 2006, was the first woman in her own right to receive National Western’s Citizen of the West award.

“The Citizen of the West award is given annually to someone who embodies the spirit and determination of the Western pioneer, and who is committed to perpetuating the West’s agricultural heritage and ideals. Sue Anschutz-Rodgers was — and did — all that in spades, and hasn’t stopped since,” said Pete Coors, chairman and chief customer relations officer of the Molson Coors Brewing Company, as well as chairman of Honoring the Legacy campaign. “Her gift marks a huge step forward for the National Western Center and the Honoring the Legacy campaign.”

Anschutz-Rodgers is perhaps best known for her philanthropy as trustee, chair of the board, and president of the Anschutz Family Foundation, as well as for her service on many nonprofit boards. But she considers herself a rancher first. She grew up in a Kansas family whose ranching background harked back generations, and she owns and operates Crystal River Ranch, a prominent cattle and hay ranch in Carbondale, Colo., which she grew from a single bull and 33 cows in 1987 to a herd of 1,700 today.

“I grew up in the West, and Western heritage has always been a part of my life and who I am,” Anschutz-Rodgers said. “It should be preserved for all.”

In 2022, The Yards and Stockyard Event Center opened. The Yards boast 180 wash stations, a lighted exercise area, and power in each of the 800 pens. The SYEC is a 48,000-square foot facility that includes the Wagner Equipment Company Auction Arena with 630 amphitheater-style seats and the Stow L. Witwer Memorial Show Arena with 805 retractable bleacher seats.

The Herd Sire area was expanded by 25%, with over 150 herd sire stalls available for producers and companies to market genetics. The nearby Herd Sire bar inside the SYEC carries on the atmosphere of the Herd Sire event.