The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially changed their stadium's naming rights to Acrisure Stadium, and it's here to stay. President Art Rooney II and Acrisure CEO and co-founder Greg Williams met with the media to officially announce the new stadium name. The name officially is no longer Heinz Field, beginning Tuesday.
Williams has been a lifelong Steelers fan, alongside his wife. Now, he is partners with the Steelers in addition to his role within the Acrisure company. While Acrisure takes over the naming rights, Rooney discussed the team's longtime relationship with Heinz.
"We appreciate the 20-plus year partnership that we have had with Heinz," Rooney said in the press conference. "We are optimistic and hopeful to continue a sponsorship relationship with them. We are having discussions [on that].Who knows, the ketchup bottle[s] could be apart of that."
Yes, you read that right. There's hope for the ketchup bottles to stay. Beyond the iconic name in itself, the two Heinz ketchup bottles have become symbolic for Steelers football and the city of Pittsburgh over the last 20+ years. This would help make up for the name change, at least a little bit. Many fans have complained on the historic name being tweaked, but keeping the ketchup bottles may quiet that noise to some extent.
PITTSBURGH - AUGUST 26: Giant Heinz ketchup bottle sits atop the Heinz Field scoreboard inside Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Panthers football teams in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 26, 2016. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
Rooney continuously mentioned that the plan is for this all to be done relatively quickly, including the sign itself in front of the stadium. Most of it is expected to be done by the beginning of the season, as he admitted there's a lot of work to do in this transition process. While he wouldn't disclose the financial specifics of the agreement, he did acknowledge that it's a 15-year contract with Acrisure. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac reported on Tuesday that it's worth over $150 million.
SOURCE: Steelers naming rights deal with Acrisure is worth $150 million over 15 years. More than triples the 20-year, $57 million deal they had with Heinz when stadium opened in 2001.
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) July 12, 2022
Rooney referred to the importance of being competitive with the peers around the league in terms of the stadiums. This deal moves the Steelers closer into that category. As is the case every season, there are additional plans to improve the overall atmosphere at Acrisure Stadium.
Credit: NFL.com
As for the stadium and field itself, Rooney did re-assure that the plan is to stay in Pittsburgh for 15 years and "hopefully more." Of course, things can change, as we've seen with this recent situation. What do you guys think about the ketchup bottles potentially staying? Does it take some of the hurt away from the name change? Let us know your thoughts on all of this in the comment section below!
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