The Steelers will be getting a whole lot of money for nothing.
After averaging $2.85 million per year for 20 years to call their home stadium “Heinz Field,” the Steelers will apparently quadruple (and maybe quintuple) their annual rate by selling the rights to Acrisure.
Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, who broke the news on Sunday night that Heinz is out and on Monday morning that Acrisure is in, reports that Acrisure will pay more than $10 million per year for the privilege of having its name mentioned in connection with games played in Pittsburgh’s premiere football stadium.
SoFi pays $20 million per year in L.A. for a two-team stadium that hosts plenty of other events and occupies a spot in the Super Bowl rotation.
So it’s very good news for the Steelers, who will unleash a much better revenue stream in exchange for a merely cosmetic adjustment. And it’s a reminder to fans who get upset when players opt to go to the highest bidder that, sometimes, teams do as well.
And to those of you who hate the new name, rest assured that, for more than $10 million per year, the Steelers will gladly ignore your complaints.