A night at Ball Arena

Ball Arena sits on the far side of Speer Boulevard from LoDo, on a sea of parking that is about to become a neighborhood. Until it does, the trick to an arena night is to treat LoDo as your parking lot and your dinner, and to walk.

Before

The walk from Union Station to the arena doors is fifteen to twenty minutes down Wynkoop or Wewatta and across Speer at 14th or Auraria Parkway. That puts the whole southwest corner of LoDo on your way:

• Rhein Haus at 14th and Market for brats and indoor bocce, and Wally's Wisconsin Tavern next door; both are built for groups and both fill on game nights.
• The Celtic on Market for a proper pint, Bao Brewhouse off Larimer Square for dumplings with a group, Coohills at 14th and Wewatta if you want a real dinner and a bar that opens for arena events.
• Oskar Blues on Market for the beer hall version, Tavernetta or Ajax Downtown behind Union Station if the night deserves it.
• On the arena side of Speer, Brooklyn's at Ball Arena is the sports bar in the parking lot, and Tivoli Brewing on the Auraria campus is the beer in a 160-year-old brewhouse that almost nobody thinks of.

Getting there

Light rail is the honest answer: the Ball Arena / Elitch Gardens station on the E and W lines is at the arena's west door, and the trains run late after events. From Union Station take either line one stop. Walking is a close second. Driving into the Kroenke lots costs $30 and up and getting out takes the better part of an hour.

What is coming

In October 2024 the City Council approved Kroenke Sports & Entertainment's plan to redevelop the fifty-five acres of parking around the arena into housing, offices, a park and a small performance venue over roughly twenty years, with the teams committed to Denver through 2050. The first phase (a hotel, two residential towers, the venue) is planned for the old Tundra lot at Chopper Circle. In July 2026 the Council also approved the Wynkoop Crossing, a pedestrian and bike bridge over Speer from LoDo (near the Downtown Children's Playground) to Chopper Circle, paid for by the developer's metro districts and expected around 2029. When it opens, the walk from Larimer Square to the arena will drop to a few minutes.

After

The arena empties toward LoDo. Corridor 44 on Larimer Square pours Champagne until 2am; Mario's Speakeasy Pizza on Market does slices until 3am on weekends; the Market Street bars go late and loud. For quiet, cross the Highland Bridge to My Brother's Bar (closed Sundays) or walk up 17th to the Cruise Room, which has been the right last drink since 1933.