Denver And North Carolina Zoos Make Wager On Super Bowl

Let the betting begin.

With the Denver Broncos set to play the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7, organizations from both places have thrown down the gauntlet in support of their football teams.

The Denver Zoo this week announced a wager with the North Carolina Zoo and the Western North Carolina Nature Center. If the Broncos win, directors at the North Carolina facilities will greet guests while sporting orange and blue. A Broncos loss means Denver Zoo president Shannon Block will don a Cam Newton jersey.

The Denver Zoo lost a similar bet in 2014 and had to send Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo a case of trout for their sea eagles.

Not to be outdone, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and the Phamaly Theatre Company have made a bet with two Charlotte theater companies that sets similar terms and then raises the stakes. The losing city’s theaters must incorporate an element of the opposing team into the set of a future production and buy a stuffed version of the opposing team’s mascot to prominently display at their box offices.

Officials from the Denver organizations call a Broncos loss "unlikely," although the Panthers are a six-point favorite to win.