The Pittsburgh Steelers family is undergoing an iconic Heinz field name change – and an examination of buyers reveals how the deal fell through.
As Pittsburgh Sports Radio host Andrew Philbonee eloquently put it, RThe ketchup bottles are dropping. Heinz Field will be no more, and in its place will appear a new corporate address: Acresor Stadium.
Not many Steelers fans are keen on the name, which certainly doesn’t have the same allure that the Heinz Field moniker developed over twenty years as the Steelers’ home. Back in 2001, the Steelers Moved from Three Rivers Stadium to Heinz Field, and the field has become synonymous with Pittsburgh football.
The uproar reminds us of what happened in Los Angeles last fall when Staples Center became Crypto.com Arena. Like the legendary Los Angeles basketball franchises that followed Future Money, the Steelers made a smart financial decision, likely facilitated by a minority shareholder on the team.
As Philbone pointed out, Acrisure is a Michigan-based insurance brokerage. Pittsburgh sports writer Alan Saunders explained the relationship between the insurance company and the Penn State team: Acrisure bought Pittsburgh-based Tulco AI, which is owned by Thomas Tal, a minority shareholder in the Steelers.
Steelers Connection shows Heinz Field renamed Acrisure Stadium
While heartbreaking for generations for Steelers fans, corporate sponsorship makes this a relatively common phenomenon in the sport. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, where several Super Bowl championships have been held, recently became the Caesars Superdome.
Typically, the companies that drive these often unpopular brands represent the immediate future of the trade. It is no coincidence that a cryptocurrency company has acquired naming rights in Los Angeles and that the sports betting company has reclaimed its famous dome in New Orleans.
Of course, insurance has always been big business, but Acrisure is connected to the future in a distinctive way: it uses “The best of human and artificial intelligenceaccording to their website.
While Acrisure may be the future of insurance, it’s not necessarily the future Pittsburgh sports fans were hoping for when they headed to the stadium to watch the Steelers play.
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