Heinz may leave Heinz Field
Heinz Field may be gone in a couple of years. Not the stadium itself, but the name.
That’s according to Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, which cited industry experts in reporting that Kraft Heinz Co. may give up naming rights to the North Shore venue when its 20-year deal expires in 2021. In a statement released Monday, the company did not exactly sack such speculation, committing only to finishing out the last two years of its current agreement.
Pittsburgh’s H.J. Heinz Co. paid $57 million for the naming rights to the Steelers home turf in 2001, just months before the new stadium opened to the public. The agreement cemented the relationship between two of Pittsburgh’s iconic franchises. But a lot has changed since then.
Heinz isn’t even Heinz anymore. It merged with Kraft Foods in 2015 to become Kraft Heinz. The company is now co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh, its local presence, has steadily diminished. This year has been a rocky one for the big food company. In February, it took a $15.4 billion writedown and reported weaker-than-expected profit.
Should Kraft Heinz give up the rights to Heinz Field, any number of local companies could be contenders to replace it. They include UPMC, the health giant which has its name high atop U.S. Steel Tower, Downtown’s tallest building; PNC, the bank which holds the naming rights to the Pirates’ ballpark; Highmark, another health industry player which has naming rights to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Station Square stadium; and First National Bank, which has been expanding.
https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2019/07/29/Heinz-Field-Kraft-Heinz-Naming-Rights-Pittsburgh-Steelers-PPG-football-advertising/stories/201907290112
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