Ban On Selfie Sticks Now In Place At Many Denver Venues

DENVER (CBS4) - One of the hottest new gadgets is now banned at most Denver area stadiums, concert halls and museums. We are talking about selfie sticks.

At Broncos games you can take a picture with a selfie stick outside, but you can't bring it inside Sports Authority Field at Mile High. CBS4's Rick Sallinger tried to see what would happen.

"Excuse me ... can I bring this in?" he asked a ticket taker. "You cannot bring that in," he was told.

"Why not?" Sallinger asked.

"I don't know it's not our rules, it's rules (NFL Commissioner) Goodell's."

She said they confiscate the poles -- which are designed to allow someone to take a picture of themselves or a group -- and don't give them back.

Shedrick Garrett was taking a selfie of himself and his friends outside the south entrance to the stadium when Sallinger gave him the news he didn't want to hear.

"They don't allow them in there," Sallinger said.

"Oh they don't? I'm glad you told me," Garrett answered. "I will have to go back over to the car or I'll be selfie stickless."

Ushers said the ban is in place because the sticks can be used as a weapon or at the least block views.

PHOTO GALLERY: The Selfie Stick

But some fans were dismayed, like one woman CBS4 approached who said she wants one

"They are the best things ever and I guess I don't really like that (ban)," she said.

The selfie sticks are now banned at most Denver area venues CBS4 checked:

- The Pepsi Center, home to the Colorado Avalanche and Nuggets plus concerts
- The Denver Center for the Performing Arts
- The Denver Art Museum
- At Coors Field

At the Rockies stadium recently CBS4 found not everyone was aware of the ban.

"Are you going to be able to bring it in?" Sallinger asked Mike Beaman, of Las Vegas.

"I'm an out of towner. First time here, so let's see," Beaman said.

He folded the pole up and had no trouble getting it through security.

All of which raises the question, "If they ban these sticks, why don't they ban other equally as offensive items?"

Brooms are a common sight at Coors Field on occasions when the Rockies could "sweep" another team, and of course there are baseball bats for autographs.

A Rockies spokesman, Warren Miller told CBS4 they, "prohibit all 'sticks' to be brought into the ballpark for safety reasons, and selfie sticks fall into that category."

One woman told CBS4 she heard they can be dangerous.

"I heard on the radio there's more deaths from selfie sticks than sharks," she said.

But a check of local police departments could find no reports of serious injuries using selfie sticks.

The bans have gotten so widespread Pizza Hut posted a video on YouTube warning of the dangers of selfie sticks in places such as swimming pools, and on elevators.

Another video suggests simply finding a friend to take your picture stating, "Many concert venues and museums have already banned selfie sticks but a friend can get through the door."

A popular video making the rounds on the Internet shows a hapless man driving while taking a selfie of himself with the stick hanging out the window. A moment later he runs into the vehicle in front of him with the canoe on top.

Below is a list of just some of the places around the world which have now banned selfie sticks:

- The Colosseum in Rome
- The National Gallery, London
- The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
- The Palace of Versailles, Paris
- 19 Smithsonian museums and galleries
- The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- The Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- The Guggenheim Museum, New York
- The Frick Museum, New York
- The Brooklyn Museum
- The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington
- The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- The Art Institute of Chicago
- The Detroit Institute of the Arts
- The Albertina museum in Vienna, Austria
- Brazilian soccer stadiums
- Soccer stadiums for Arsenal and Tottenham in England
- The Seattle Art Museum
- The Getty Center, Los Angeles
- The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Wembley Stadium, London
- The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
- The Frick Pittsburgh
- Music venues O2 Academy Brixton and O2 Arena, England
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- The Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas
- The Dallas Museum of Art
- Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
- The MTS Centre, a sports arena in Winnipeg
- The National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
- The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra
- The National Portrait Gallery, Australia
- The Canadian Museum for Human Rights
- The Sugarmill nightclub, England
- The 2015 Ultra Music Festival, Miami, Florida
- The Soundwave Music Festival, Australia
- The Qantas Credit Union Arena, Sydney
- Etihad Stadium in Melbourne
- Domain Stadium in Western Australia
- Perth Arena
- Suncorp stadium in Brisbane
- The Hermitage in Amsterdam
- The Kentucky Derby
- Wimbledon
- Disney World
- Lake Winnepesaukah
- Comic-Con
- Six Flags

The following is an update from CBS4's Rick Sallinger: The Denver Art Museum communication staff says there is no ban on selfie sticks there. However when contacted by CBS4 a person identified in operations said they were not allowed. The Denver Art Museum communication staff says that person gave wrong information.

CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.