Though the Steelers will no longer play their home games in a stadium named after food processing company Heinz, the condiment corporation that was founded in the Keystone State will not completely vanish from the arena.
Kraft Heinz has reportedly reached an agreement with the Steelers on a five-year deal for the company to maintain a presence at the newly-dubbed Acrisure Stadium, according to Mark Belko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The financial terms of the agreement are not yet known.
“We’re happy to say we’re going to continue to work with Heinz,” Steelers vice president of sales and marketing Ryan Huzjak said. “Heinz is going to continue to be a corporate partner of ours.”
Kraft Heinz will continue to sponsor the Heinz Red Zone, and one of the giant fiberglass ketchup bottles that used to be perched alongside the scoreboard could be reinstalled.
“There’s a lot that needs to be covered in terms of detail but we’re working on an opportunity where we can have a bottle visible at the stadium,” Huzjak said. “There are some challenges because the bottles are old and the materials provide some challenges. But we’re hopeful to have them on display in a Heinz-sponsored area so the fans can continue to sort of enjoy the history of the building and enjoy that aspect of it.”
The decision to rename the stadium came after Heinz opted to not extend its naming rights contract with the Steelers, despite team owner Art Rooney saying he was “optimistic” that a deal would get done earlier this offseason.
Acrisure Stadium opened in 2001 and serves as the home venue for the Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh’s football team. It was named Heinz Field from its opening until last week’s renaming deal was announced. The new naming rights deal will run for 15 years.
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