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_-_aerial_photo.jpg) Aerial view of the stadium, 2018 | |
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| Former names |
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|---|---|
| Address | 1 Black and Gold Boulevard |
| Location | Columbus, Ohio |
| Coordinates | 40°0′34″N82°59′28″W / 40.00944°N 82.99111°W /40.00944; -82.99111 |
| Operator | Columbus Crew |
| Capacity | 22,555 (1999–2008) 20,145 (2008–2015) 19,968 (2015–2021)[3] 25,000–30,000 (concerts) |
| Field size | 115 × 75 yards |
| Surface | Kentucky bluegrass (1999–2020) The Motz Group synthetic turf (2021–present) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | August 14, 1998[1] |
| Opened | May 15, 1999 |
| Construction cost | US$28.5 million ($53.8 million in 2024 dollars)[2] |
| Architect | NBBJ |
| Structural engineer | Korda/Nemeth Engineering Inc.[1] |
| General contractor | Corna/Kokosing Construction Co.[1] |
| Tenants | |
| Columbus Crew 2 (MLSNP) 2022–present Columbus Crew (MLS) 1999–2021 | |
Historic Crew Stadium, previously known asColumbus Crew Stadium andMapfre Stadium, is asoccer-specific stadium inColumbus, Ohio, United States. It primarily served as the home stadium of theColumbus Crew ofMajor League Soccer from 1999 until 2021, when the team moved toLower.com Field. Historic Crew Stadium is the current home of the Crew's training facility, theOhioHealth Performance Center andMLS Next Pro teamColumbus Crew 2. Historic Crew Stadium 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 forMadrid-basedMapfre Insurance after 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.[4] The listedseating 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.[5]
The Crew played their first three seasons atOhio Stadium on the campus of theOhio 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 the development of Historic Crew Stadium.[6] The construction cost of US$28.5 million was covered entirely with private funds from Crew owner and oil billionaireLamar Hunt and his Hunt Sports group.[6] It is located on the grounds of the Ohio Expo Center andState Fairgrounds, between East 17th Avenue and East Hudson Street. The site was previously home to Columbus Auto Parts, anOEM factory supplying the automobile industry, which stood vacant for decades between theConrail railroad tracks andInterstate 71 before its demolition in the '90s.[citation needed]
Historic Crew Stadium opened on May 15, 1999, as Columbus Crew Stadium with a match between the home side and theNew England Revolution. It is the secondsoccer-specific stadium built in the country, afterSteel Athletic Field was built in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1913, and 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 ofStadia Magazine, Ian Nuttall stated "Who'd have thought when it opened in 1999 thatMajor League Soccer's first purpose-built stadium would kick-start the wave of dedicated soccer-specific stadiums that continue today?"[7] The seating capacity 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.[8][9] 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 toMadrid-based insurance companyMapfre 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.[10][11]
In addition to hosting the Crew home games, Historic Crew Stadium has also hosted other Major League Soccer and professional soccer events. It was the site of the2001 MLS Cup championship and was the host stadium for theMajor League Soccer All-Star Game in2000 and2005. The stadium also hosted theU.S. Open Cup final on two occasions, in1999 and2002.
Both the United Statesmen's andwomen's national teams have played numerous matches at Historic Crew Stadium, most notably, the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier in February 2001 between the U.S. and Mexico known asLa Guerra Fria (The Cold War) due to sub-freezing temperatures. During the2003 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 theSheBelieves Cup.
Historic Crew Stadium has also hosted events outside of professional soccer. TheNCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship was held at Crew Stadium in 2001 and 2003. In 2002, it hosted theSteinfeld Cup, the championship game ofMajor League Lacrosse. In June 2010, Historic Crew Stadium hosted the inaugural USASevens Rugby Collegiate Championship Invitational.[12]
The venue was a regular site forOhio High School Athletic Association state championship tournaments in soccer. In the local Columbus area, it is the site for the annualWesterville Football Classic, featuring theWesterville Central,Westerville North,Westerville South, andNew Albany football teams. It has also been host to the local high school football rivalry of parochial schoolsBishop Watterson High School andSt. Francis DeSales High School.
The2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was played in the United States. Historic Crew Stadium hosted several group game matches.
| Date | Team #1 | Result | Team #2 | Round | Spectators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 20, 2003 | Germany  | 4–1 |  Canada | Group C | 16,409 |
Japan  | 6–0 |  Argentina | |||
| September 24, 2003 | Germany | 3–0 | Japan | 15,529 | |
| Canada | 3–0 | Argentina | |||
| September 28, 2003 | Sweden  | 3–0 |  Nigeria | Group A | 22,828 |
North Korea  | 0–3 |  United States |
| Date | Teams | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| October 3, 1999 | United States 5–0 South Korea | Friendly |
| September 28, 2003 | United States 3–0 North Korea | 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup Group A |
| May 17, 2011 | United States 2–0 Japan | Friendly |
| October 30, 2013 | United States 1–1 New Zealand | Friendly |
| September 15, 2016 | United States 9–0 Thailand | Friendly |
| March 1, 2018 | United States 1–0 Germany | 2018 SheBelieves Cup |
| November 7, 2019 | United States 3–2 Sweden | Friendly |
Since the opening of Historic Crew Stadium, it has been a regular site for theUnited 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 byMexico onVeterans Day 2016.
The stadium has hosted five consecutive World Cup qualifying matches against Mexico, with 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 ofdos-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 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 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.[15][16]
| Date | Teams | Competition | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 21, 2001 | LA Galaxy 1–2San Jose Earthquakes | 2001 MLS Cup Final | 21,626 |
| December 6, 2015 | Columbus Crew SC 1–2Portland Timbers | 2015 MLS Cup Final | 21,747 |
| December 12, 2020 | Columbus Crew SC 3–0Seattle Sounders FC | 2020 MLS Cup Final | 1,500 (COVID-19 Pandemic restrictions) |
The stadium hosts numerous concerts annually, most notablyRock on the Range, an annual festival of performances by rock bands that was held from 2007 to 2018, and replaced bySonic Temple Art & Music Festival in 2019. Concerts byRascal Flatts also closed out theOhio 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 ofGermain Amphitheater. The addition replaced about 2,100 seats in the north end.
| Date | Artist(s) | Opening act(s) | Tour | Tickets sold | Revenue | Additional notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 20, 2001 | NSYNC | Amanda | PopOdyssey | — | — | |
| May 17, 2008 | Stone Temple Pilots | — | 2008 Reunion Tour | — | — | This concert was part of Rock on the Range. |
| July 29, 2008 | Dave Matthews Band | Ingrid Michaelson | 2008 Summer Tour | — | — | LeRoi Moore did not play due to injury.[17] |
| May 23, 2009 | Kenny Chesney | Lady Antebellum Miranda Lambert Sugarland | Sun City Carnival Tour | 25,088 / 25,088 | $1,943,542 | |
| June 26, 2011 | Billy Currington Uncle Cracker | Goin' Coastal Tour | 20,321 / 25,657 | $1,414,354 | ||
| August 5, 2011 | Journey | Foreigner Night Ranger | Eclipse Tour | — | — | This concert was part of the Ohio State Fair. |
| June 29, 2013 | Kenny Chesney Eric Church | Eli Young Band Kacey Musgraves | No Shoes Nation Tour | 27,571 / 27,571 | $2,273,594 | |
| September 14, 2014 | Jason Aldean | Florida Georgia Line Tyler Farr | Burn It Down Tour | 26,350 / 26,350 | $1,370,903 | |
| May 17, 2015 | Linkin Park | Of Mice & Men Rise Against | The Hunting Party Tour | 40,000 / 40,000 | — | This concert was part of Rock on the Range. |
| June 16, 2018 | Kenny Chesney | Thomas Rhett Old Dominion Brandon Lay | Trip Around The Sun Tour | 26,455 / 27,207 | $3,186,820 | |
| August 17, 2021 | Green Day Fall Out Boy Weezer | The Interrupters | Hella Mega Tour | — | — | |
| August 18, 2022 | Kenny Chesney | Dan + Shay Carly Pearce | Here and Now Tour | — | — | |
| May 9, 2025 | Metallica | M72 World Tour | ||||
| May 11, 2025 |
As part of the new ownership proposal for the Crew unveiled in 2018, the club announced plans to build a new stadium, eventually known asLower.com Field, west of theArena 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.[18] With 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.[19] The OhioHealth Performance Center training facility opened in June 2021,[20] 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 the stadium in terms of its use as a practice facility and their second-level team.[21] The Crew played their final game at Historic Crew Stadium against theChicago Fire FC, winning 2–0.[22]
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, againstOrlando City B.[23]
| Events and tenants | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Home of the Columbus Crew 1999–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Host ofMLS Cup 2001 2015 2020 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Host ofMajor League Lacrosse championship game 2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Host of theCollege Cup 2001 2003 | Succeeded by |
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