Columbus Crew, MAPFRE Insurance announce stadium naming rights deal
The Columbus Crew announced on Tuesday that it is partnering with MAPFRE Insurance on a multi-million dollar agreement for naming rights to its stadium. Crew Stadium will now be known as MAPFRE Stadium.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with a world-class company like MAPFRE Insurance and thank them for their support of Crew SC and our efforts in Columbus,” team chairman Anthony Precourt said in a statement. “This agreement is a culmination of the thorough, thoughtful planning and hard work that we promised Columbus and our fans from the first day Precourt Sports Ventures purchased the team 19 months ago.”
Since purchasing the club, Precourt added a new scoreboard on the south side of the stadium and installed two 42-foot-long LED ribbon displays on the façade of the upper deck.
Last season, the team made the playoffs for the first time since 2011 and set franchise records for attendance and sellouts.
• STRAUS: Look back at MLS' original branding, logos
Crew Stadium was Major League Soccer's first soccer-specific stadium and has become the go-to home for the U.S. men's national team's World Cup qualifying matches against rival Mexico. The USMNT coined its Dos-A-Cero phrase at Crew Stadium in 2001 against Mexico, the first of four consecutive home World Cup qualifying triumphs over El Tri by a 2-0 scoreline.
- Phil Watson
