32-735: Historic Crew Stadium , previously known as Columbus Crew Stadium and Mapfre Stadium , is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio , United States. It primarily served as the home stadium of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 1999 until 2021, when the team moved to Lower.com Field . Historic Crew Stadium is the current home of the Crew's training facility, the OhioHealth Performance Center and MLS Next Pro team Columbus Crew 2 . Historic Crew Stadium
64-486: Is also the site of a variety of additional events in amateur and professional soccer, American football, lacrosse, and rugby, and is a regular site for outdoor concerts due to the permanent stage in the north end zone. Built in 1999, it was the first soccer-specific stadium built by a Major League Soccer team, starting an important trend in MLS stadium construction. The stadium was named for Madrid –based Mapfre Insurance after
96-404: Is generally disfavored for soccer matches since players are more susceptible to injuries. However, some soccer specific stadiums, such as Portland's Providence Park and Creighton University's Morrison Stadium , do have artificial turf. The seating capacity is generally between 18,000 and 30,000 for a Major League Soccer franchise, or smaller for college or minor league soccer teams. This
128-437: Is in comparison to the much larger American football stadiums that mostly range between 60,000 and 80,000 in which the original North American Soccer League teams played and most MLS teams occupied during the league's inception. As opposed to gridiron-style football stadiums, where the front row of seats is elevated several feet above the field of play to allow spectators to see over the heads of substitute players and coaches on
160-652: Is particularly visible in European American football leagues and conflicts between teams sharing the stadium (a notable example are Eintracht Braunschweig and the Braunschweig Lions which share a stadium) and (often municipal) owners of the stadiums sometimes arise, leading to attempts at single sport-specific venues. In Australia the term has much the same meaning as that in the United States. The dominance of Australian rules football in
192-475: Is primarily for soccer. Some facilities (for example SeatGeek Stadium , Toyota Stadium and Historic Crew Stadium ) have a permanent stage at one end of the stadium used for staging concerts. A soccer-specific stadium typically has amenities, dimensions and scale suitable for soccer in North America, including a scoreboard, video screen, luxury suites and possibly a roof. The field dimensions are within
224-616: Is sometimes used in countries where the sport is known as football rather than soccer, although the term is not common in countries where football is the dominant sport and thus football-specific stadiums are quite common. The term tends to have a slightly different meaning in these countries, usually referring to a stadium without an athletics track surrounding the field. Some soccer stadiums in Europe are also used for other sports, including rugby, American football, and field hockey. The problem with oversized stadiums designed for another sport
256-404: The 1990s, after the multi-purpose stadium era. The term "soccer-specific stadium" was coined by Lamar Hunt , who financed the construction of Columbus Crew Stadium , the first soccer-specific stadium constructed specifically for Major League Soccer. In the 2000s, other Major League Soccer teams in the United States began constructing their own stadiums. Canada's first soccer-specific stadium
288-604: The 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier in February 2001 between the U.S. and Mexico known as La Guerra Fria (The Cold War) due to sub-freezing temperatures. During the 2003 Women's World Cup , the stadium was one of the venues used during the group stage of the tournament. In 2018, Mapfre Stadium was one of three sites selected to host the SheBelieves Cup . Historic Crew Stadium has also hosted events outside of professional soccer. The NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship
320-567: The Crew home games, Historic Crew Stadium has also hosted other Major League Soccer and professional soccer events. It was the site of the 2001 MLS Cup championship and was the host stadium for the Major League Soccer All-Star Game in 2000 and 2005 . The stadium also hosted the U.S. Open Cup final on two occasions, in 1999 and 2002 . Both the United States men's and women's national teams have played numerous matches at Historic Crew Stadium, most notably,
352-620: The Range , an annual festival of performances by rock bands that was held from 2007 to 2018, and replaced by Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival in 2019. Concerts by Rascal Flatts also closed out the Ohio State Fair in 2006, 2007, and 2009. A permanent stage, built in 2008, was constructed in the north end of the stadium to accommodate concerts after the closing of Germain Amphitheater . The addition replaced about 2,100 seats in
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#1732776111677384-484: The U.S. winning four of the five matches by the same score of 2–0 (with the U.S. fans adopting the rallying cry of dos-a-cero ). The national team was beaten by Mexico on November 11, 2016, by a score of 1–2, prompting Mexico's first ever win in Columbus, and the U.S.'s first World Cup qualifying defeat on home soil in 15 years. It hosted a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Guatemala on March 29, 2016, which
416-538: The US won, 4–0. Since the opening of Historic Crew Stadium, it has hosted three MLS Cup Finals, once as a neutral site, and twice as home side Columbus Crew played host. The latter two occurred following a 2012 MLS rules change which did away with a neutral site for the Final, and instead has the club with the best overall regular-season record hosting the match. The stadium hosts numerous concerts annually, most notably Rock on
448-421: The United States and Canada, is a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-purpose stadium which is for a variety of sports. A soccer-specific stadium may host other sporting events (such as lacrosse , American football and rugby ) and concerts, but the design and purpose of a soccer-specific stadium
480-513: The annual Westerville Football Classic, featuring the Westerville Central , Westerville North , Westerville South , and New Albany football teams. It has also been host to the local high school football rivalry of parochial schools Bishop Watterson High School and St. Francis DeSales High School . The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was played in the United States. Historic Crew Stadium hosted several group game matches. Since
512-619: The automobile industry, which stood vacant for decades between the Conrail railroad tracks and Interstate 71 before its demolition in the '90s. Historic Crew Stadium opened on May 15, 1999, as Columbus Crew Stadium with a match between the home side and the New England Revolution . It is the second soccer-specific stadium built in the country, after Steel Athletic Field was built in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1913, and
544-589: The campus of the Ohio State University . During games, large sections of the stadium were blocked off to reduce capacity from approximately 90,000 to 25,243. Although the Crew enjoyed success at Ohio Stadium during their tenure there, the large seating capacity and limitations to the field size made the stadium ill-suited for soccer. Additionally, Ohio Stadium then required rented lights for night matches. These problems, along with planned renovations to Ohio Stadium, which began in 1999, were all factors in
576-601: The company signed a 5-year sponsorship agreement announced on March 3, 2015. In December 2020, the deal expired and the Crew renamed the stadium. The listed seating capacity is 19,968. In 2015, Mapfre Stadium and Director of Grounds Weston Appelfeller were honored with the prestigious Field of the Year award by the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) for the professional soccer division. The Crew played their first three seasons at Ohio Stadium on
608-472: The development of Historic Crew Stadium. The construction cost of US$ 28.5 million was covered entirely with private funds from Crew owner and oil billionaire Lamar Hunt and his Hunt Sports group. It is located on the grounds of the Ohio Expo Center and State Fairgrounds , between East 17th Avenue and East Hudson Street. The site was previously home to Columbus Auto Parts, an OEM factory supplying
640-458: The first Major League Soccer stadium constructed in the United States. It has been credited with inspiring the wave of construction of soccer-specific stadiums throughout the league. In the 2010 Showcase issue of Stadia Magazine , Ian Nuttall stated "Who'd have thought when it opened in 1999 that Major League Soccer 's first purpose-built stadium would kick-start the wave of dedicated soccer-specific stadiums that continue today?" The seating capacity
672-461: The new stadium having opened on July 3, 2021, Historic Crew Stadium was to be redeveloped into the Crew's training center and community sports park, as well as a concert venue. The OhioHealth Performance Center training facility opened in June 2021, but the stadium still remains. In 2020, a new authority will own Historic Crew Stadium and its adjacent city sports park, with the team continuing to control
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#1732776111677704-522: The north end. As part of the new ownership proposal for the Crew unveiled in 2018, the club announced plans to build a new stadium, eventually known as Lower.com Field , west of the Arena District near Downtown Columbus. At the time of the proposal, the new stadium would seat 20,000 spectators and include 30 suites and 1,900 club seats. Construction on the new stadium began in October 2019. With
736-486: The opening of Historic Crew Stadium, it has been a regular site for the United States men's national soccer team matches, hosting ten games through 2013. The men's national team held an unbeaten record of 8–3–0 in all competitions, outscoring opponents 19–1. This was until the U.S. was beaten by Mexico on Veterans Day 2016. The stadium has hosted five consecutive World Cup qualifying matches against Mexico, with
768-407: The range found optimal by FIFA : 110–120 yards (100–110 m) long by 70–80 yards (64–75 m) wide. These soccer field dimensions are wider than the regulation American football field width of 53 + 1 ⁄ 3 yards (48.8 m), or the 65-yard (59 m) width of a Canadian football field. The playing surface typically consists of grass as opposed to artificial turf , as the latter
800-490: The sidelines, soccer-specific venues typically have the front row closer to the level of the pitch. In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, first-division professional soccer leagues in the United States, such as the North American Soccer League and Major League Soccer, primarily used American football fields, many of which were oversized in terms of seating capacity and undersized in terms of the width of
832-515: The soccer field; they often used artificial turf (none of which, at the time, were approved for international soccer under FIFA rules). Although many of the baseball parks had smaller capacities, natural grass, and a wider field, these parks were generally in use during summer, when North American–based soccer leagues, such as Major League Soccer, also hold their seasons, and the irregular field dimensions and sightlines were often considered undesirable. Soccer-specific stadiums first came into use in
864-633: The southern states means that unlike in New South Wales and Queensland , rectangular stadiums and grounds capable of hosting top level A-League soccer are rare. Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, South Australia is an example of such a soccer-specific stadium, being built in the 1960s and progressively updated, the vast majority of matches played there are soccer, with very rare Rugby League or Rugby Union games. The Wyndham City Stadium and Wyndham Regional Football Facility are also examples. Many of
896-489: The stadium in terms of its use as a practice facility and their second-level team. The Crew played their final game at Historic Crew Stadium against the Chicago Fire FC , winning 2–0. Starting in the 2022 season, the Crew's second-level squad, Columbus Crew 2, play in the stadium, with the first game on April 15, 2022, against Orlando City B . Soccer-specific stadium A soccer-specific stadium , mainly in
928-554: Was BMO Field in Toronto , home to Toronto FC . This stadium was renovated to accommodate Canadian football for the 2016 and subsequent seasons. The distinction is less prominent in Canada, where MLS's attendance figures are comparable to those of the domestic Canadian Football League , and the CFL's wider field means fewer compromises must be made to accommodate both; Tim Hortons Field
960-450: Was built purposely to both soccer specifications and CFL regulations. Of the three Canadian cities that host both MLS and CFL teams, only one (Montreal) has separate stadiums for each. All USL Championship teams and USL League One teams will be required to play in self-owned, soccer-specific stadiums by the 2022 season. The following is a list of current USL stadiums that are soccer-specific stadiums: The term "football-specific stadium"
992-472: Was held at Crew Stadium in 2001 and 2003. In 2002, it hosted the Steinfeld Cup , the championship game of Major League Lacrosse . In June 2010, Historic Crew Stadium hosted the inaugural USA Sevens Rugby Collegiate Championship Invitational. The venue was a regular site for Ohio High School Athletic Association state championship tournaments in soccer. In the local Columbus area, it is the site for
Historic Crew Stadium - Misplaced Pages Continue
1024-577: Was originally 22,555 until 2008 when construction of a permanent stage in the north end zone reduced seating capacity to 20,455, with room to expand to 30,000 total seats for concerts. as of 2023, the seating capacity for a soccer game is 19,968. After nearly 15 years of the stadium not having a corporate sponsor, the Crew announced naming rights were sold to Madrid -based insurance company Mapfre on March 3, 2015. The team had been searching to sell stadium naming rights since it opened in 1999, but had been unable to come to an agreement. In addition to hosting
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