The economic downturn has claimed the Bonham Group, the well-known Denver-based sports-marketing company.

For two decades, founder Dean Bonham and his staff specialized in the valuation of sports marketing deals, including high-profile stadium naming-rights contracts. Its most recent work came in the renaming of the Cleveland Indians' Jacobs Field to Progressive Field, for the insurance company.

But, Bonham said Thursday, his primary banker, Merrill Lynch, began a "dramatic reduction" in his company's credit line about 18 months ago in the midst of a planned international expansion. At the same time, Bonham Group began to lose business.

"Our company is an early indicator of the economy - when the economy begins to have problems, our company feels it sooner because contracts with a company like mine are one of the first things to go," Bonham said.

Roughly 15 employees are out of work with the closure. Bonham has licensed the name to former employee Chuck Costigan, who will run a venture called Bonham Sports & Entertainment.

Bonham chose not to place the companies into bankruptcy. "I think it's better for the creditors and for my reputation, frankly," he said. "In any situation like this, not everybody is on board, but I've done what I think is best."

One of those creditors is Bonham, who says he has wiped out his own net worth. "I lent all of my personal assets back to the company in an effort to save it, so I'm as broke as my companies," he said.

Bonham said he still has a binding noncompete agreement with Bonham Group, however, so his future work must occur outside the United States. This leaves it unclear, he acknowledges, how the Bonham Group corporation can earn money in the future to settle claims with its creditors.

Other naming-rights deals negotiated by the company include the Seattle Seahawks' Qwest Field, the San Diego Padres' Petco Park, and the O2, the London entertainment center owned and operated by Anschutz Entertainment Group. At its peak, the company had $5 million in annual net revenue. Bonham said.

Bonham, with colleague Don Hinchey, co-wrote a monthly column for the Rocky Mountain News called "Boardroom Sports."