Venue Detail
Columbus Crew
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
February, 2012
Columbus Crew
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2121 Velma Ave Columbus, OH 43211 Phone: 614-447-2739 Fax: 614-221-4109 URL: www.thecrew.com Owner: Hunt Sports Group and local investors League: Major League Soccer, Eastern Conference
Venue
Crew Stadium, 2121 Velma Ave, Columbus, OH 43211 Owner: Hunt Sports Group and local investors Managed by: Team Built: 1999 Capacity: 22,485 Permanent concession stands: 6 Concessionaire: Sodexo Soft drink: Pepsi Cola
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $288 to $1,890 Single tickets range from $15.00 to $31.00
Attendance
2009 average attendance: 14,446 2010 average attendance: 14,642 2011 average attendance: 12,185
Suites
Quantity: 18 Term: 3 to 5 years Price: $27,000 to $30,000 Seats: 12 to 18
Club seats
Quantity: 1,157 Term: 1 to 1 years Price: $720 to $720
Financing
The $17 million venue was privately financed.
After voters in Dublin, Ohio, rejected $11 million in funding for the first stadium built in the U.S. just for professional soccer, the team found a host in the Ohio Expositions Commission. A new stadium was built at the state fairgrounds on land owned by the Commission.
The stadium is owned by team owner Hunt Sports Group, seats 22,000 and cost $17 million. The team pays $50,000 in land rent and $120,000 in parking a year. The venue opened in 1999 and can expand up to 45,000 seats.
When the building opened, it had 20 loges, but no luxury suites. That changed for the 2004 season. The loges were converted to suites in a two-phase project. A new club, the Huntington Club, was built to accommodate 125 people outside and 200 inside. The club will serve the outdoor club seats in phase one. Phase two encloses 18 of the loges into suites with open fronts.
The suites seat 12 to 18 and lease for $25,000 to $30,000 on three- to five-year terms. A party suite hosting 18 fans costs $2,000 per game.
Open air loges are available. They will hold 12 to 14 fans and lease for $1,060 to $1,230.
As other MLS teams build soccer specific stadiums around the country, the Columbus Crew is making plans for expansion.
Crew general manager Mark McCullers is exploring the possibility of building a suburban training facility for the Crew that would be the focal point of a soccer complex once its current lease with the city of Obetz is up in 2009.
On other fronts, naming rights and improved parking are high on his list of things to do to improve the “fan experience.” Beyond that, new and improved signage and sound systems are on his wish list, as is the addition of permanent staging which he said would shave $150,000-200,000 from the production costs of every concert.
McCullers says the stadium is in need of improvements and if those can’t happen, the team may have to consider other possibilities.
“There has to be some investment in the infrastructure of the site. We'll have to look at other options if that doesn't happen,” McCullers said. “We can't continue to grow and evolve with an inferior traffic and parking infrastructure. Our fans have not tolerated it, and we've lost fans because of it. It's not the visitor experience that anybody in the city or state wants to deliver.”
McCullers said local officials agree that improvements are needed, but that it’s not on their list of top priorities. (Facilities, Financial, MLSMLS, Professional Sports)